Approaching Democracy Chapter 11

Front 1

actual groups

Back 1

interest groups that have already been formed; they have headquarters, an organizational structure, paid employees, membership lists, and the like.

Front 2

collective action

Back 2

the political action of individuals who unite to influence policy

Front 3

factions

Back 3

according to james madison in THe Federalist, no 10: "a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse or passion or interests"

Front 4

free riders

Back 4

members who invest no money or time in an interest group but still share in the collective benefits of group action

Front 5

grassroots activity

Back 5

teh rallyin of group members, as well as the public, behind a lobby's cause

Front 6

gridlock

Back 6

a condition in which major government initiatives are impossible because a closely balanced partisan division in the government structure, accompanied by an unwillingness to work together toward compromise, produces a stalemate

Front 7

group maintenance

Back 7

activities by an interest group designed to affect policy. includes enrolling new members and providing benefits for them

Front 8

interest roups

Back 8

formal organizations of people who share a common outlook or social circumstance and who band together in the hope of influencing government policy

Front 9

iron triangles

Back 9

informal three-way relationships that develop among key legislative committees, the bureaucracy, and interest groups with a vested interest in the policies created by those committees and agencies

Front 10

issue advertisements

Back 10

advertisements in a political campaign funded by an interest group advocating a position on an issue but technically not supporting a specific candidate

Front 11

lobbying

Back 11

the formal, organized attempt to influence legislation, usually through direct contact with legislators or their staff

Front 12

netizens

Back 12

groups of people joined in a cyber-society for political purposes

Front 13

policy entrepreneurs

Back 13

leaders who invest in, and who create the conditions for, a potential group to become an actual interest group. ralph nader stands as a classic example of a policy entrepreneur.

Front 14

policy networks

Back 14

networks characterized by a wide-ranging discussion of options as issues are resolved, ocnveying a more inclusive and less conspiratorial image of the policy process than iron triangles do

Front 15

political action committees (PACs)

Back 15

committees formed as the fund-raising and financial distribution arm of specific interest groups.

Front 16

potential groups

Back 16

interest groups that could form under the right circumstances; as yet, they have no substantive form and my never have one, but they cannot be discounted by political participants

Front 17

public interest groups

Back 17

groups that focus not on the immediate economic livelihood of their members, but on achieving a broad set of goals that represent their members' vision of the collective good. examples include the national taxpayers union, the league of women voters, and common cause

Front 18

soft money

Back 18

campaign contributions directed to advaning the interests of a political party or an issue in general, rather than a specific candidate.