Answer to Question 1
An ideal response will:
1, Select one of the five functions (to serve as a government watchdog, to represent constituents, to provide a means of political participation, to educate the public, and to build agendas) and elaborate upon it. For instance, when discussing the watchdog role, one could explain that this means monitoring programs and assessing their effectiveness. When discussing the agenda-building role, one could explain that this means drawing attention to issues that might be ignored otherwise.
2, Provide a rationale for the importance of the selected function, using one or more concrete examples of actual interest groups as support. For instance, when discussing the representation function, one could note that government allocates more attention to groups than individuals and use the example of the National Rifle Association.
Answer to Question 2
An ideal response will:
1, Note that all kinds of organizations use this tactic, though public interest groups engage in grassroots lobbying more often.
2, Provide a logical reason to explain why a group might use this tactic, such as when a group is working on a particularly pressing issue or is unable to gain direct access to lawmakers.
3, Explain that grassroots lobbying places pressure on elected officials via public opinion, and elected officials are known to respond to public opinion.
