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Guided Questions
1. What Parties do for Democracy
a. What are the major functions of parties?
Evaluate their performance in each category.
b. What three methods have been used by parties
to select candidates? Which method is the most common today?
c. Are political parties an appropriate vehicle
for social reform?
d. What is the role of third parties?
e. What contributions to American government
have third parties made?
f. Why do third parties usually fall? What are
the two types of third parties?
2. American Parties Today
a. What characteristics do both major parties
share today?
b. How do Americans view political parties today?
c. How are parties organized at the national level? Describe the role of the presidential
convention; the national committee; the national party chairperson.
d. What is the role of congressional and senatorial campaign committees?
e. How are parties organized at the state, county
and local level?
f. How do political parties operate in the Congress; Executive Branch; Judicial Branch,
State and Local Governments?
g. What distinctions have existed historically
between Democrats and Republicans? How do they differ today?
h. What are the different ways citizens view party partisanship?
i. How important is party identification? What is party alignment?
j. Why is "soft money" significant?
3. Interest Groups and Social Movements
a. What are "special interests"?
b. What is an interest group?
c. Why are they organized?
d. What makes public interest groups distinctive?
e. How do movements differ from interest groups?
4. Major Interest Groups: Size and Scope
a. What are the important economic interest
groups?
b. What are the major professional interest
groups?
c. Name three non-occupational interest groups.
Name a public interest group.
d. What groups are organized to influence foreign
policy?
e. Why do single cause interest groups offer
a challenge to democracy?
f. What is a government interest group?
5. Characteristics and Power of Interest Groups
a. What advantages do large interest groups
have? What weaknesses?
b. How is overlapping membership a limiting factor?
c. What factors contribute to an effective interest group? Name a public interest
group.
d. How do interest groups attract members and get financial support?
e. How do interest groups use each of the following
techniques in lobbying: persuasion, elections, litigation, mass/e-mailing, rule making?
f. What is cooperative lobbying?
g. Why are militia groups a cause for concern?
6. The Influence of Lobbyists
a. Who are lobbyists?
b. What are the functions of lobbyists?
c. What is the "iron triangle" and
the "revolving door"?
7. Money and Politics
a. What is a PAC? What is "soft money"?
b. How do PACs allocate their contributions?
c. Why has PAC money become so important in
congressional races?
d. How much influence does PAC money have on
elections and legislation?
8. Curing the Mischiefs of Faction/Reform
a. How would Madison react to the modern lobbying
scene?
b. What constitutional issue is raised when
we try to control interest grooups?
c. Why is it difficult for Congress to reform
campaign finance?
d. Is lobbying a good or evil force in the United
States?
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