What are pressure groups
• Pressure groups are composed of people who share a common view or goal and work together in order to benefit or progress their interest in Westminster and beyond
What is pluralism
- Pluralism is the theory that power should be as fragmented and dispersed as possible in society, with all groups of people being represented.
- Power should be exercised by a larger amount of people rather than the select elite in Westminster, pluralism therefore opposes elitism – more than one center of power (plural)
- Power can be administered to the people in a number of ways, through pressure groups for example
- Allows for the voices of minorities to be heard
- All power is dispersed equally, no one group should have more power than another
What is the link between elitism and pressure groups?
- Elitism – small group of minorities hold the power – economic elite
- Relates to insider pressure groups – groups that work closely with the government to benefit their cause
- These groups are often sectional and therefore only represent a portion of the population, and they will often be more powerful than outsider pressure groups due to their connections in government
- These groups will have specialized, educated, well financed members who consult with the government
- Less financially supported groups who support the views of minorities are then shut out
- Creates elite class of pressure groups – combats pluralism, pressure groups centralize power
Describe two ways in which pressure groups promote political participation:
- Demonstrations and protests – outsider pressure groups will often hold large demonstrations or protests to raise awareness for their cause and attract the attention of the government e .g. Fathers4Justice
- Pressure groups also may align themselves with a political party – Fathers4Justice and Lib Dems. Greenpeace and the Green Party – therefore encourages people to vote for a party which they believe will share their interests
What is the link between pluralism and pressure groups?
- Pluralism is the theory that power should be as fragmented and dispersed as possible in society, with all groups of people being represented.
- Pressure groups allow the views and voices of minorities and under-represented people to be heard by the government
- Any minority which feels overlooked by the government is at liberty to form a pressure group and there can be any number of pressure groups formed if enough people share your beliefs – this reinforces pluralist idea of broad scope of views being represented
What is an insider PG
- Insider pressure groups are ones that hold a close relationship with the government and are therefore regularly consulted by Ministers and Civil Servants regarding policy.
- E.g the BMA would be considered an insider pressure group as they are regularly included in policy drafting stages on issues involving Doctors. This was seen with the proposed new contract with Junior Doctors.
How do pressure groups promote functional representation?
- Pressure groups promote functional representation as they provide voters with the opportunity to voice their views
- Political parties, in order to gain mass support, aggregate their policies.
- Pressure groups, however, allow specific groups of people’s interests (e.g. trade unionists) or specific interests (e.g. Stop HS2 pressure group) to be heard
Pressure Groups fail because of aims
Some pressure groups may have unrealistic goals/aims but hope to raise enough awareness to affect some change – e.g. anti-globalization pressure groups are unlikely to reverse globalization but can raise awareness on the negative impact of the process and hope to provide some accountability and oversight so they don’t happen again
Pressure Groups fail because of
Pressure groups are likely to fail if they don’t have public support – pressure groups rely on the support of the people, and therefore if their issue isn’t well supported in society by the people they hope to affect then they will be likely to fail
e.g. Ash (anti-smoking) had large public support at the time of the smoking ban in public places was being debated compared to Forest (pro-smoking) who did not – the public turned on junior doctors and BMA after the 7-day strike
Pressure Groups fail because of
A powerful government which can withstand pressure groups will lead to pressure groups failing – e.g. the “Stop the War” pressure group against the Iraq war had huge public support however was facing a strongly pro-Iraq government and therefore had limited chance of success
What are the main objectives of PG’s
Their main objective is to influence the government to try and benefit their cause
They do not seek office
What are promotional PG’s
Promotional pressure groups have narrow, specific aims on which they lobby for.
For example, the Royal Society for protection of the Birds is solely concerned with protecting Britain’s birds.
What are sectional PG’s
Sectional pressure groups on the other hand represent a certain section of society and therefore promote one group within society rather than one issue. For example, the British Medical Association
What are outsider PG’s
- Outsider pressure groups are not invited to counsel with government departments and are more likely to turn to direct action
- E.g. Fathers 4 justice are an outsider pressure group - they do not have a direct relationship with the government.
