| A | B |
|---|
| Actual group | That part of the potential group consisting of members who actually join. |
| Collective good | Something of value (money, a tax write-off, prestige, clean air, and so on) that cannot be withheld from a group member. |
| Electioneering | Direct group involvement in the electoral process. Groups can help fund campaigns, provide testimony, and get members to work for candidates, and some form political action committees (PACs). |
| Elitism | A theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization. |
| Free-rider problem | The problem faced by unions and other groups when people do not join because they can benefit from the group's activities without officially joining. The bigger the group, the more serious the problem. |
| Hyperpluralism | A theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened. It is an extreme, exaggerated, or perverted form of pluralism. |
| Interest group | An organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve those goals. They pursue their goals in many arenas. |
| Iron Triangle(sub governments) | A network of groups within the American political system that exercise a great deal of control over specific policy areas. They are composed of interest group leaders interested in a particular policy, the government agency in charge of administering that policy, and the members of congressional committees and subcommittees handling that policy. |
| Lobbying | "communication, by someone other than a citizen acting on his own behalf, directed to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing his decision." |
| PAC | Political funding vehicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms. A corporation, union, or some other interest group can create one of these and register it with the Federal Election Commission, which will meticulously monitor its expenditures. |
| Pluralism | A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies. |
| Potential group | All the people who might be interest group members because they share some common interest. It is almost always larger than an actual group. |
| Public interest lobby | Organizations that seek "a collective good, the achievement of which will not selectively and materially benefit the membership of activities of the organization." |
| Right-to-work laws | A state law forbidding requirements that workers must join a union to hold their jobs. It was specifically permitted in states by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 |
| Selective benefits | Goods (such as information publications, travel discounts, and group insurance rates) that a group can restrict to those who pay their annual dues. |
| Single-issue group | Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics. These features distinguish them from traditional interest groups. |
| Union shop | A provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring all employees of a business to join the union within a short period, usually 30 days, and to remain members as a condition of employment. |
