FINAL STUDY GUIDE!
DISCLAIMER: This study guide is NOT definitive. You are responsible for everything in your texts and in your notes.
What is the definition of “organized interest?” Why does your instructor use the term “organized interest” instead of “interest group?” What is the difference between a party and an OI? What types of OIs make up the OI universe? What types of OIs are most numerous? What is a: peak association, trade association, labor union, think tank, professional association, charity, citizen group, coalition, political action committee? What other types of OIs are there? Why do people join OIs? Where do OIs get their money? What is the “free-rider” problem? What is the cost problem? What is a selective incentive (benefit)? What types of selective benefits do OIs offer? Where does coercion fit in? What is the political efficacy problem? What is a collective good? How do OIs overcome the barriers to OI formation and survival? Which types of OIs are the most likely to form? Why? Which are the least likely to form? Why are some interests in society better represented by OIs than others? What is a patron? Why are patrons important? What types of patrons support OIs? What is direct mail? Why do OIs use direct mail? What is lobbying? What kinds of OIs lobby? Which kinds do not? What is the difference between indirect and direct lobbying? What is the difference between formal and informal lobbying? What are the characteristics of lobbyists? What do all forms of lobbying have in common? What do indirect and direct lobbying have in common? How do OIs lobby the president? What is the OPL? How do OIs lobby the bureaucracy? What are regulatory hearings? Why are they important? How do OIs lobby Congress? What is the most effective legislative lobbying technique? What do legislators get from OIs? How do OIs lobby the judiciary? What is an amicus brief? What is indirect lobbying? What are the various techniques of indirect lobbying? Is such lobbying effective? Why or why not? Which forms are effective? What are the two goals of indirect lobbying campaigns? What is an advertorial? How do OIs lobby with money? What are PACs? What do PACs do? What is election issue advocacy? What is PAC independent spending? What is “soft money?” What is the difference between “soft money” and hard money? What happens at a congressional hearing? What are the provisions of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995? What is a “Hill Blitz?” What gifts can lobbyists give to members of Congress? Why do lobbyists generally tell the truth? What is policy analysis? What is legal analysis? What is political analysis? What is the Congressional Record? What, according to Donald E. deKieffer, are the characteristics of an effective congressional lobbying campaign? What makes a letter to a member of Congress effective? What factors have contributed to a proliferation of OIs in the last 50 years? Why does this country have so many OIs? What factors led to the creation of breast cancer OIs? What is collective entrepreneurialism? How and why do environmental groups use the Internet? What characteristics do environmental group web sites typically share? Who do Bosso and Collins say will likely benefit from the Internet (see CL, ch. 5)? How does Rogan Kersh study corporate lobbyists? What do corporate lobbyists do? Is it fair to say they ignore their employers? On what do corporate lobbyists spend most of their time? What do corporate lobbyists want from government (see CL, ch. 10)? How do corporate lobbyists seek what they want? Where does regulation fit in? What is the “private goods hypothesis”? Why do PACs contribute money to candidates? What is an affiliated PAC? An unaffiliated PAC? What is a leadership PAC? How do OIs lobby “outside the law” (see CL, ch. 7). Why is election issue advocacy so controversial? How did the campaign finance reform of the 1970s affect PACs? What are the limits on PAC giving? Do PAC contributions appear to affect legislators’ voting behavior? Why is it difficult to answer this question? Answer this question in two words: How influential are OIs? What is a subgovernment? What do OIs do other than lobby? What is pluralism? Under what conditions are OIs most likely to be influential? What can OIs do to improve their chances of success? How has OI politics changed since the 1970s (see CL, ch. 18)? What do Cigler and Loomis mean when they say that OIs are always involved but rarely central? What is the difference between a political party and an OI? What are the major functions of a political party? What are the various nominating methods that parties use? What is a caucus? What is a primary? What is a national convention? What are the differences between closed, open, blanket, and nonpartisan, and runoff primaries? How has the presidential nominating system changed over the last 25 years? Describe how the parties nominate their presidential candidates. What are the pros and cons of the current presidential nominating system? What about the system used in the past? Describe the basic goals of every electoral campaign. What happens at a national convention? Where do candidates get their campaign money? Which sources are most important? Which are least important? What role do parties play in campaign finance? How do they help candidates? What are the major components of the campaign finance laws passed in the 1970s? How is the federal government involved in campaign finance? How have they changed the ways campaigns are run? How have they changed the role of parties in campaign finance? What is “soft money?” What is party identification? What role does party identification play in determining people's attitudes, opinions, and behavior? What evidence is there that party identification no longer plays a large role in determining how people behave politically? What evidence is there that PID does play a large role in determining how people behave politically? What is realignment? What is dealignment? What is a party era? How loyal are partisans (see ch. 1 of CFK)? What is the “partisan campaign?” What confounding factors confound the relationship between PID and vote choice? How important is PID in vote choice? Describe the trends in partisanship among ordinary citizens (see CFK, ch. 3). Has the electorate become more or less polarized in recent years? What is “personal democracy?” Is it good or bad? What role do parties play today in the electoral process? How has this role changed since the late 1800s? What types of things do party organizations do? Just how “coherent” are the two major parties in the U.S. (see CFK, ch. 6)? What is “party responsibility?” What does it mean to say that the two major parties are “institutionalized” (see CFK, ch. 7)? What do the parties’ national committees do? How active are they in campaign finance? How have the parties responded to campaign finance legislation?