In 2018, media reports had it that USTelecom, a lobbying group that represents major telecommunications conglomerates, had asked federal regulators to stop enforcing rules that allowed smaller Internet service providers to purchase access to their old copper-wire networks at what regulators deemed “reasonable” rates. The smaller companies, however, lobbied to keep the rules in place. How typical is such inter-industry lobbying competition in the United States?

Public-assistance programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Medicaid, which provide benefits to people based on their need rather than taxes paid by them, are often popularly referred to as “welfare” programs. To federal government analysts, however, they are referred to as __________________ social programs.

To ensure that their populations are equal, U.S. House and state legislative districts must be redrawn every:

If you join the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) now, the mailing reads, you will receive this free bag, perfect for the traveling you can do more of with member lodging discounts. Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association (NRA) will offer free accidental death and dismemberment insurance if you join today. Both will send you a members-only magazine. Why do the AARP and the NRA, like many other interest groups, offer such benefits and gifts?

In several states, notably among them Iowa and Nevada, the presidential nominating process begins with party caucuses, which are:

Which term describes the strategy of obtaining political influence by gaining access to key decision makers in government, or using the courts to exercise influence?

True or False? Elected officials in the United States today are generally selected from single-member districts.

Americans are less likely to vote for minor-party candidates, and more concerned in close elections with wasting their votes, than voters in many other democratic countries because ______________.

In Marbury v. Madison, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall ruled that he could not force Secretary of State James Madison to carry out a previous president’s appointment to a lower judge. In so doing, he established the legal power of the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review. This was the case because:

Prior judicial decisions that are applied to a given case, whether in a federal or state court, are known as: