Political Interest Groups

Interest groups use political action committees (PACs) to

• Provide expertise to members of Congress when they are writing legislation

• Lobby the executive bureaucracy when they are considering new rules and regulations

• Raise and spend money on election campaigns

• Generate research that can be used to influence public opinion

Groups which seek goals they believe will benefit all of American society

• Public-Interest groups

• Foreign-Interest groups

• Business groups

• Environmental groups

Probably the most important thing that interest groups do is

• gather information they can provide for elected officials.

• create political parties support groups

• pressure public opinion

• all of these

Which of these are arguments AGAINST interest groups

• some interest groups are so powerful that their voices are able to crowd out all the others

• people who are really poor can't offer campaign contributions

• Corporate interests, which by and large represent wealthy people, vastly outnumber the groups representing working people, like labor and cooperative groups

• All of these

Interest groups are usually policy _____, whereas political parties are usually policy _____.

• managers / specialists

• generalists / specialists

• generalists / managers

• specialists / generalists

Private meetings, providing political information, and supplying nominations suggestions are examples of what process?

• political parties

• lobbying

• cohesiveness

• pluralism

What is a term for a group of people that share the same common goal and actively attempt to influence lawmakers?

• ideology group

• interest group

• political party

• political action committee

How do interest groups affect the impact of public policy?

• providing campaign assistance

• filing lawsuits in court

• direct contact with policymakers

• All of the above

Which of these describes the main purpose of an interest group?

• To influence government officials on a specific issue

• To form legislative committees that study public policy

• To regulate the economy by setting federal lending rates

• To select cases for hearing in appeals courts

an independent political organization that promotes the cause of a particular interest group, usually through raising money and campaigning to elect candidates who support the group's views

• Political Action Committee (PAC)

• public opinion

• Interest Group

• public policy