...There are numerous different factors that can result in some pressure groups being more successful than others. A pressure group is a group of likeminded people that seek to influence government policy without seeking election for themselves. These different factors include specialist knowledge, methods, human resources and timing. The relevance of this question can not be understated as the membership of Pressure Group’s (PG) is increasing and the membership of Political Parties is decreasing. In 1997, Tony Blair remarked ‘we should resist the tyranny of pressure groups’. One factor that can result in some PG’s being more successful than others is a PG’s specialist knowledge. The homelessness PG Shelter helped draw up the 2002 Homelessness Act. Their specialist knowledge helped them get access to law makers and as a result, they achieved their stated goal and were very influential in it too. This view is supported by Pluralists such as Robert Dahl and Charles Lindbolm, who argue that law makers sometimes need the expertise of PG’s. This is a factor as to why some PG’s are more successful than others as a PG’s specialist knowledge can help them gain access to Whitehall and exert their influence. Another factor that can result in some PG’s being more successful than others is a group’s methods. The National Campaign against Fees and Cuts organised the use of ‘direct action’ to protest an increase in Tuition Fees in 2010. The protests turned violent and arrests were made...
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...think that pressure groups have become more important, this is due to new emergent forms of communication and advances in media coverage, also because of the rise in the number of members to groups such as the The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has over 1 million members. This is in contrast to political parties whose membership has fallen in recent decades, at the end of 2011, Labour had 193,300 members compared to reported Conservative Party membership of between 130,000 and 170,000. Pressure have become more important in recent years because of the emergence in 24 hour mass media. Due to the nature of the news stories being about visualised and having a broad appeal it has allowed smaller pressure groups to promote their cause, however it has allowed groups who use methods such as direct action to become more significant, such as Fathers 4 Justice, this can make pressure groups who use these methods be seen as not as important as they are not helping aid political discussion by acting in this unconventional way. There is the argument that pressure groups have risen in importance due to the use of direct action in their campaigns, it is often used when a group wants to gain maximum publicity. Improved levels of education have led to a greater public concern over issues such as the environment and world poverty and increased public willingness to participate in different forms of direct action related to those issues. Some 'radical' pressure groups have come...
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...Participation is a key function of pressure groups as it gives citizens an avenue of participation between elections in a structured and moderated manner to get an issue or issues across to MPs. Given the behaviour of pressure groups such as the EDL it is unlikely that politicians will have sympathy for their concerns. For example on 8 September 2013, 160 EDL members were arrested following a protest in Tower Hamlets after a clash between counter-demonstrators. However, the majority of pressure groups stay true to the function of participation and in many cases bring about change in the government. By participating more peacefully whilst still being effective, MPs are more likely to consider supporting the views of the pressure group in parliament. In 2010, following a series of Greenpeace campaigns such as climbing onto a plane at Heathrow airport, the coalition government scrapped plans to build a third runway which shows how pressure groups can be effective and true to the function of participation. A function of pressure groups is agenda setting which is where they have the ability to influence the importance of topics on the public agenda so as a news item is covered more frequently and prominently, the audience will regard the issue as more important. A successful example of this is where in 2000, the People’s Fuel Lobby successfully managed to shut down the country by protesting on the entrances to fuel depots and blockaded roads over the issue of fuel prices. Of course...
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...Friends of the Earth (EWNI) History sheets of stickers were part of the Schweppes campaign Friends of the Earth was founded in England in 1971, two years after the group was first founded in San Francisco in 1969. Its first leader was Graham Searle, a former vice president of the National Union of Students. One of the first campaigns was to dump 1,500 glass bottles in front of the HQ of soft drinks giant Schweppes in Connaught House, London in protest at the company's policy of having non-returnable bottles. The group had eight local branches in 1971. By 1976 there were 140, and by 1980 it had 250 and 17,000 registered supporters. Between 1984 and 1993 its director was Jonathan Porritt a former teacher and chairman of the Ecology party. Porritt left in 1993, by which time its membership hit 226,000. The next executive director was Charles Secrett who held the position till 2003. Between 2003 and 2008, FoE EWNI's executive director was Tony Juniper. Structure and funding FoE (EWNI) has a dual structure, comprising a trust, which is a registered charity, and a limited company, which carries out political campaigning - something a charity is forbidden to do under UK rules. FoE gets 96 per cent of its funding from individuals. Total income for FoE EWNI Ltd for the year ending May 2010 was £2,978,015 while total expenditure £3,039,618, making a deficit of £61,603. Campaigns The major campaign issues of Friends of the Earth in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are: ...
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...‘’Membership size is the crucial factor in determining the impact of pressure groups’’ Discuss A pressure group can be defined as a number of people who work together to make their concerns known tho those in government and to influence the passage of legislation. In the USA pressure groups fulfil the role of representation and participation for people who may not necessarily have been active in pressure groups before. There are a number of factors which influence the impact of pressure groups in the United States, and membership size can be seen to be a crucial one of them In Gun control, the NRA, a wealthy group of 4 million people, is clearly the dominant force in comparison to the much smaller, weaker, gun control groups like Handgun Control Inc. This is one main reason why the second amendment is still so rigidly enforced, because one of the most powerful pressure groups in the USA continues to campaign for this approach. Similarly, the influence of industry against the influence of environmental campaign groups is clearly unequal and unfair. Again this shows that it is the elite of USA who hold power - the influential pressure groups, the legislature, the bureaucrats, and so on. Small scale pressure groups with little funding find it extremely difficult to be listened to by those in power. For example in 2013 the top U.S. gun lobby rejected Obama administration proposals to reduce gun violence saying it expected to have enough support in Congress to fend off bans...
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...To assess the significance of certain factors on a pressure groups success, it is first necessary to define what is meant by success. In the case of pressure or interest groups success can be defined by the effects caused on legislation, whether that be altering, blocking or helping pass it. Membership size is undoubtedly a key factor in a pressure groups success as a large size gives greater weight to a groups demands and allows a greater base from which resources and candidates can be drawn. There are other factors of significance such as the wealth of a group, the nature of government in power and the contemporary public opinion, which all contribute to the success of a pressure group, but ultimately the size of a pressure groups membership is the crucial factor in determining success since it indicates the support and the resources of a group and if large enough can span all political philosophies as to remain successful in times of partisanship. One argument that supports the notion of size being the crucial factor to a pressure groups success is that of if a pressure group has a large support base their demands carry more weight behind them, for example the AARP (American Association for Retired Persons) has over 37 million members therefore their demands will be much more adhered to by the government compared to a smaller group for fear of losing their support come election time. Practical examples of this include the statistics corroborated by the AARP indicating that...
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...A pressure group is an organization that seeks to influence government decision makers (public policy) and or protect or advance a particular cause or interest. They often use websites and the media to educate people/spread propaganda. Groups campaign a specific issue and raise it up the political agenda. Campaigning raises funds for and inevitably resources for that cause. Outsider groups are those whose aims do not enjoy/ have the support of the Government. They tend to adopt media based, high profile campaigns to capture public attention. E.g. Animal Liberation Front. Insider groups have the support and attention of Government. Government will often approach them for advice. They will often have long standing and regular discussions with Government. A good example here is the work of Scottish members of the British Medical Association. Sectional groups represent and defend the interests of particular sections of society - often economic interests, but also consumer and professional interests. E.g. Trade union. Promotional groups are usually formed for a specific purpose - to promote a particular cause or campaign on a particular issue. In this sense, they have no other function apart from their role as pressure groups E.g. Green peace. Ad hoc groups are formed on temporary issues and tend to be on a temporary basis. The group disband once their cause has disappeared. Pressure groups often experience division amongst their members, and can therefore end up as merely temporary...
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...Pressure groups are defined as organisations that seek influence over those in power, as opposed to power itself, their biggest distinction is some seek to represent institutions and others represent individual americans with shared interests. Their significance over political institutions varies per branch, I will explore how their impact varies upon the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Firstly, pressure groups seek to influence how congress vote so legislative changes can adhere to their own agendas. Members of congress struggle to remain adequately informed on all issues and turn to lobbyists to sustain an updated perspective on these issues. Because lobbying is a key pressure group activity, they can pass their ideas and information to members of congress frequently. Committee membership in congress is often small (16 in the Senate, 40 in the House - per committee), and therefore allows lobbyists to build key relationships with members of both chambers. These connections present a clear impact as committee’s often influence voting on legislation through lobbied reports and data. Secondly, pressure groups often seek to maintain a strong connection with the relevant executive departments, particularly when their agenda requires influence from federal regulatory work. Some will find themselves courted by the White House for their support, in 2005, G. Bush’s political director, K. Rove kept in close contact with Christian Rights groups to secure the Supreme...
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...In general terms there are four principal methods that a pressure group can use in order to fulfil their functions. These four are; Electioneering and endorsement, Lobbying, Publicity and Organising grassroots activities. I would argue that Lobbying and organising grassroots activities is the most effective method that a pressure group can use as it is direct access to legislators as well as important political figures, whereas the use of electioneering and PAC is effective in a way it is not highly consider. The1970’s campaign finance reforms considerable alter the role of pressure groups and political fundraising, consequently the reforms limited the amount a pressure group could give to a candidate in a federal election. Therefore, the reform encouraged the setting up of political action committees commonly known as PACs that could make donations. A PAC is an organisation whose sole purpose is to raise funds which is then given to candidate campaigns running for political office. The 2006 mid-term elections were the first to run under the McCain-Feingold law of 2002, which had significant changes to federal election finance. The 2006 mid—terms themselves were an opportunity for the Democrats to regain control of both houses of Congress, with these factors as well as it being the most expensive election to date — an increase of 25% on what was spent in 2002, a majority of this increase was by PACs. PAC spending in 2006 exceeded $1billion and also with an increased emphasis...
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...A pressure group is an association that may be formal or informal, who's purpose is to further the interests of a specific section of society or to promote a particular cause. They have several functions and methods. There are several ways pressure groups can be seen to enhance democracy such as educating the electorate on important social issues, holding the government to account and increasing participation in politics. Firstly, pressure groups are democratic as they can be seen to educate and inform the public about important issues. Pressure groups promote debate and argument making the public more informed on issues and decisions they wish to have an influence on. This can be done through the use of the media which allows pressure groups to get widespread recognition and awareness of their cause, whilst giving several methods to allow the public to engage. Furthermore many pressure groups can force the media to cover issues that may have been lost. For example the BMA presents important facts and figures through the media such as 1/3 of adults in England are obese. They convey this information through the media attracting public attention to such shocking figures, highlighting important issues educating the electorate whilst informing public of their cause. However pressure groups can be undemocratic as they can be seen to wield more influence than their place in society warrants, through drastic action recognised by the media. This promotes views on very small issues...
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...Are Pressure Groups Good For Democracy? Pressure groups are political associations that are filled with liked minded individuals who aim to promote and protect the interest of a section of the community, or promote a particular cause in order to influence the government and their decisions. Examples of pressure groups include the country side alliance which preserve to protect the country side, others include the anti abortion organisation Life which seeks to prevent the bill that allowed the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. Pressure groups like this create things such as petitions,in fact Life had over 2 million names and they would also compile post card campaigns. These are few methods, demonstrations, marches and sit ins in popular areas such as outside parliament are also very popular and effective as it causes disruption and demands media attention. Pressure groups can be seen as good for democracy in many ways. Democracy is the idea of enhancing the view of the people and trying to get them to engage Into political participation through methods such as voting at elections. Pressure groups allow greater education from a different perspective, informing and educating the public about important issues. This may be things like fracking and the pressure group Greenpeace who educate through the media on the issue and what the negatives are which the government do not want to say in order to have a certain amount of consent from the electorate. In addition to this...
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...Responsible Business Pressure Groups-F.O.E. | Pressure Groups | 1. Introduction Like a mantra, so has responsible business been for the current generation. There are many interpretations of the different underpinning concepts but, with contested definitions. Externally pressure groups seek to pressure the government and business to pursue sustainable policies and practises. The government have a role to ensure societal expectations of business are met. Thus, section two shall review various interpretations of responsible business. Section three shall outline and evaluate the issues surrounding pressure groups, whilst section four shall evaluate the role of government as an enabler and barrier. To achieve these, academic, government and expert materials shall be cited. 2. Copious studies (Carroll 1999; Kerlin 2006; Elkington 1997) have attempted to explain what constitutes ‘Responsible Business’ (RB) through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Sustainable Business (SB), Corporate Responsibility (CR), and Social Enterprise (SE). To have an overview of RB, it is necessary to define the term responsible. And also, answer questions such as to whom, for what is business responsible and how are those responsibilities defined. Argandona and Hoivik (2009; 12) defined ‘responsible’ “as being accountable” i.e. assuming an obligation to care. Friedman (1970) argued that business...
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...between diverse interests and stages in which political pressure groups take different strategies. Australian society has had an increasing number of pressure groups, one of main concerns of which has been public welfare policies. As the history of Australian welfare state has developed with substantial inputs from pressure groups, it is worth questioning whether their influence is still considerable in shaping or changing public policy outcomes. This essay will argue that the history of Australian welfare state development has largely prevented pressure groups from establishing a solid foundation in the welfare policy area, and that their participation in the welfare policymaking process...
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...General Info They were formed originally in 1983. Their headquarters is in London. What do they do? Republic look to build up public support, and seek to abolish the Monarchy and transition to a Republic. Their plan would be to replace the Monarchy with a head of state. Interest or Cause? The concept would be that republic are a cause group, as they wouldn’t care who the person is, as long as they didn’t want the Monarchy. Insider or Outsider? Due to their big media and social media gathering of support, they are an Outsider type of Pressure Group. How many Members? They have a supporter base of around 30,000, they also have a board of directors and an executive office. Methods They have a great emphasis on getting a lot of support from Social Media and Media in general, they do this by promoting the campaign on social media, supporting a growing network of local campaigns and encouraging individual activism. As part of this work, they regularly give talks in schools and take part in debates in every part of the country. In order to support all of this, and to help themselves grow, they also run regular membership recruitment campaigns and fundraising appeals. Finances With their own website, they have a ‘Join’ tab, ‘donate’ and also a merchandise online store. With them being quite popular, that would be their main source of income, as for a yearly membership, it is £10, however, with their magnitude of members, that would be a good and steady source of income...
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...5 mark questions practice What is politics? Politics, in its broadest sense, is the activity through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules under which they live. Although politics is also an academic subject (sometimes indicated by the use of ‘Politics’ with a capital P), it is then clearly the study of this activity. Politics is thus inextricably linked to the phenomena of conflict and cooperation. On the one hand, the existence of rival opinions, different wants, competing needs and opposing interests guarantees disagreement about the rules under which people live. On the other hand, people recognize that, in order to influence these rules or ensure that they are upheld, they must work with others – hence Hannah Arendt’s definition of political power as ‘acting in concert’. This is why the heart of politics is often portrayed as a process of conflict resolution, in which rival views or competing interests are reconciled with one another. However, politics in this broad sense is better thought of as a search for conflict resolution than as its achievement, as not all conflicts are, or can be, resolved. What is the difference between power and authority? Power is the ability of an individual or institution to force people to do things, whether they wish to or not. There are various forms of power, the strongest of which is coercion – the use of physical force. The most extreme cases of coercion are seen under totalitarian regimes, where execution, torture...
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