9 UK Pressure Groups Flashcards
(105 cards)
1
Q
What do all pressure groups have in common?
A
A desire to influence decision making and promote a particular cause
2
Q
Key difference between a pressure group and a political party?
A
Pressure groups do not run for office
3
Q
Example of how pressure groups can occasionally seek office, if indirectly?
A
Dr Richard Taylor, member of Wyre Forest’s Independent Community & Health Concern, was MP for Kidderminster for 10 years.
REPRESENTED THE HEALTH CONCERN AS A PARTY
4
Q
2 ways to categorise pressure groups?
A
- Insider or outsider?
- Promotional or interest?
5
Q
Another word for interest group?
A
Sectional group
6
Q
2 features of outsider groups as compared to insider groups?
A
- Tend to represent more controversial or marginalised campaigns
- More likely to use direct action to achieve their aims
7
Q
2 reasons insider groups are listened to?
A
- Expert knowledge
- Powerful
8
Q
Which groups - insider or outsider - are more influential?
A
Insider
9
Q
Example of an insider group?
A
National Farmers’ Union (NFU)
10
Q
Example of how pressure groups in the UK don’t just target UK government?
A
NFU kept many contacts in Brussels and Strasbourg - Brexit changed all this
11
Q
Example of NFU lobbying?
A
Successfully campaigned post-Brexit for short-term seasonal work visas for seasonal fruit pickers
12
Q
Key determinant of whether a group is insider or outsider and example?
A
Party in power
Trade unions and Labour
13
Q
3 examples of how Labour and unions are close?
A
- Until 2014, the block vote
- Last 4 months of 2019 - Unite gave 3 million
- ‘Beer and sandwiches at No. 10’
14
Q
Evaluative comment on trade union insider group status?
A
- Has declined for Labour since 1990s reforms
- 1973 - Joe Gormley and forcing Ted Heath to play on the thing
- 22% of UK workforce are in the unions, a significant decline from 13 million in the late ’70s
15
Q
Evidence trade union exile from Labour is temporary?
A
With Corbyn in power, things changed
- Close relationship with Len McCluskey
- Pledge to repeal 2016 Trade Union Act
16
Q
Are insider groups always partisan though? Example?
A
No
E.g. RSPCA
17
Q
How do non-partisan insider groups often get support?
A
APPGs
18
Q
How many APPGs are there?
A
Fluctuates wildly. In 2022 there were 755
19
Q
Why are APPGs better for pressure groups?
A
Non-partisan
20
Q
Example of an insider group supporting an APPG? Eval?
A
RPSCA - 2017 gave 16500 to the APG for Animal Welfare
Does work; in 2019, the APGAW gave oral evidence to an inquiry on abattoir provision and drafted a report for DEFRA. Also wrote to Chinese ambassador asking for dog meat to be banned.
21
Q
Example of an interest insider group?
A
Business groups such as the CBI or British Finance
22
Q
Example of how pressure group influence is hard to define?
A
2008 - after financial crisis, government provided 850 billion of bailouts and temporary nationalisations. Of course British Finance supported this, but the Government probably would’ve done it anyway.
23
Q
4 subdivisions of insider groups?
A
- Core insiders
- Specialist insiders
- Peripheral insiders
- Prisoner groups
24
Q
Core insiders and example?
A
Groups with a longstanding bilateral link with Government.
NFU
25
Specialist insiders and example?
Groups with insider status but which only have a specific area
## Footnote
British Meat and Poultry Federation
26
Peripheral insiders and example?
Insider groups who are only rarely consulted due the nature of their interest
## Footnote
Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (SANDS) - stillbirth definition lowered from 28 weeks to 24 weeks by 1992 Act of Parliament
27
What is a prisoner group and example? Eval?
A group which cannot break away from insider status because they are either a public body or reliant on government funding
## Footnote
Historic England
May be forced to cave to Government demands e.g. Historic England and not standing in the way of HS2 if it affected historic places in order to maintain government funding.
28
5 unique properties of insider groups?
1. Proximity to government
2. Resources
3. Government inquiries
4. Historic ties
5. Laws and regulations
29
Advantages and disadvantages of insider groups' proximity to government?
Advantage: Close enough to get pre-legislative input, very powerful
Disadvantage: 'POLICY ENTRAPMENT' - getting to the point of not being able to criticise. REDUCES INDEPENDENCEM
30
Advantages and disadvantages of insider groups' access to resources?
Advantage: Well-funded and resourced, so can fund APPGs e.g. RSPCA 16500 in 2017 or hire lobbyists
Disadvantages: No guarantee of success. They may not spend on elections and have severe charity restrictions so less to use them on.
31
Advantages and disadvantages of insider groups' input into government inquiries?
Advantage: Often called forth to give evidence e.g. 2013 King's Fund gives evidence into a select committee inquiry into emergency services and care
Disadvantage: Not always the case e.g. 2020 UK Cladding Action Group, an outsider group, called on instead.
32
Example of how Historic England is a prisoner group?
Funded by Department for DCMS
33
Advantages and disadvantages of insider groups' ties to political parties?
Advantage: Reciprocal relationship when in power
Disadvantage: When out of power, influence is diminished
34
Advantages and disadvantages of insider groups' input into laws and regulation?
Advantage: often called upon for detailed evidence e.g. Health and Social Care Act 2012 - BMA feedback at the NHS Future Forum in the "listening exercise".
Disadvantage: Some MPs criticise this as corruption and prefer independent advice.
35
Major case study of an insider group?
National Trust
36
3 facts about National Trust?
1. 5 million members, larger than any party or trade union
2. Largest conservation charity in Europe
3. Major landholder
37
3 ways the National Trust is a typical insider group?
1. Close personnel links to government e.g. Dame Helen Ghosh, former director-general, had been a civil servant at the Home Office
2. Since 1907 has been allowed to declare its land 'inalienable' and only be built on with specific Parliamentary approval
3. Effectively lobbies government
38
Example of the National Trust effectively lobbying government?
2011 - opposed changes to planning law, and set up a petition signed by thousands
## Footnote
Government backed down.
39
Caveat to National Trust membership figures and eval?
5 million mostly 'chequebook membership', they join up for perks like free parking, and not active membership
## Footnote
Trade unions largely the same.
40
Example of how outsider groups are often more direct action focussed?
July 2015 - Plane Stupid break into Heathrow and occupied runway - 25 flights cancelled
41
Example which shows that the line between outsider and insider groups is not always clear cut?
Stonewall - founded against the 1988 Local Government Act Section 28 which banned the promotion of homosexuality in UK schools. By 2019, Amanda Spielman was talking at the Stonewall conference.
42
Main cause of outsider groups at the moment is...
Environmental concerns
43
Most extreme form of outsider group activity?
Terrorism
44
Example of how outsider groups often represent marginalised or unpopular causes?
Howard League - votes for prisoners and some early releases
45
3 types of outsider group and explanation, with examples?
1. Potential insiders; groups which could be insiders but lack the experience and the connections to achieve this. For instance, until 2009 the Gurkha Justice Campaign was marginalised. It took the membership of Joanna Lumley in November 2008 to turbocharge things.
2. Outsiders by necessity; groups whose tactics or causes make them impossible to take seriously, for instance the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
3. Outsiders by choice; groups who deliberately, for reasons of independence, avoid government proximity, for instance Amnesty International.
46
Eval on outsiders by necessity?
Some groups who ought to be outsiders by necessity become insiders by necessity if their disruption becomes excessive. For instance XR and net zero by 2050 or the IRA and the soft Irish Border.
47
4 properties of an outsider group and eval?
1. MEDIA; easier to get publicity, but can be bad publicity
2. DIRECT ACTION; the ability to have your people sent to prison can make you martyrs - it is more likely to make you seem lunatic, though
3. LINKS TO GOVERNMENT; distance from government allows outsider groups to be free to take whatever policy stance they want. But this is limited if the group does want to become an insider group in the long run, and it is unfair to characterise all insider groups as obedient and neutral to government policy.
4. DEVELOPING INSIDER STATUS; only some groups will attain this, or desire to attain this.
48
Example of media attention for an outsider group being bad?
November 2022 - JSO accused of having 'blood on their hands' after an ambulance was diverted around a protest.
49
Holacratic pressure group?
Rejects hierarchical leadership
50
Example of holacratic leadership?
XR
51
What is the major XR tactic and example?
Fill up police holding cells
## Footnote
October 2019 - 1828 arrests, 6.1% of those protesting.
52
Example of XR's success?
1. Jeremy Corbyn and the Opposition Day for a climate emergency, 2019
2. 26% of voters in 2019 cited the environment as a major concern, up from 8% in 2017.
53
Example of the success of select committees interacting with outsider groups?
2019 - 6 select committees recommend a Citizen's Assembly, which was duly set up.
54
Elitism revolved around the theory that... Whereas for pluralism...
The groups with the best resources may not reflect the public mood
## Footnote
Those groups who succeed represent the best of the public mood.
55
4 arguments that UK pressure groups are elitist?
1. The ability of pressure groups to influence legislation before it has been made public is blatantly undemocratic
2. Some pressure groups are undemocratic/not holacratic and hence unrepresentative of the causes they seek to represent, FOR INSTANCE GREENPEACE
3. The monopoly argument; pressure groups wrongly claim a monopoly on technical knowledge and use it to buttress their claims. For instance the IEA
4. Money - many of the most underrepresented groups in society don't have any pressure group representation.
56
Example of a pressure group who wrongly claims a monopoly on technical knowledge and hence has elitist influence?
June 2015 - Business Secretary Sajid Javid congratulates the IEA on 60 years of consultation, but forgets it is partial.
57
4 arguments that UK pressure groups are pluralist?
1. Public support is necessary - XR and the climate emergency
2. Social media has levelled the playing field e.g. Black Lives Matter
3. Modern pressure groups often resemble social movements more than political parties, and are hence more democratic e.g. see the holacratic nature of XR and BLM
4. No pressure group is too powerful, with powerful spending limits in place.
58
Two ways insider groups in the UK are prevented from getting too powerful?
1. Finance laws
2. Occasionally ignored e.g. BMA 2024 strikes suggest insider status not always enough.
59
5 ways pressure groups can help democracy?
1. Provide a popular forum for involvement, with more involvement than political parties
2. Representative function - serves as nonpartisan representatives for nearly every cause
3. Can actually help democracy by pressuring departments and quangos
4. Internal democracy has increased
5. Often, pressure group action makes laws better and fairer.
60
Example of how pressure groups can get more involvement than political parties?
1 million people in London against the Iraq War
## Footnote
BLM in 2020.
61
Examples of how internal democracy has increased?
1. Pressure groups increasingly holacratic e.g. XR
2. Trade unions - since the 1980s have reformed the internal ballot system so is now secret etc.
62
Example of a pressure group involved in a lawmaking outcome that improved the outcome?
2006 Health Act and the BMA's help - banned smoking in public spaces
63
4 ways pressure groups do not help democracy/hinder democracy?
1. Large scale participation is unusual and most members are chequebook members
2. Many pressure groups have small and unrepresentative memberships
3. Pressure group influence lacks a democratic mandate and is often not transparent
4. Many groups are still not internally democratic or are prone to personality leadership e.g. Beyond Politics party.
64
Example of a pressure group accused of having unrepresentative membership?
XR - typically white, middle class and left-leaning
65
Key difference between US and UK pressure groups?
Number of points of access
66
2 key things to consider when evaluating the relationship between pressure group tactics and the success of the pressure group?
1. What constitutes success varies from group to group. For some groups, the desire is simply to generate attention first and foremost
2. There is no automatic answer to the question of which tactics are most likely to succeed; context and circumstances are crucial.
67
Insider groups overall are...
More likely to succeed than outsider groups
68
3 key themes in evaluating pressure group success?
1. Insider groups are more successful than outsider groups, in general
2. It depends on the party in power
3. Groups which can mobilise large numbers of supporters, or large numbers from the groups they represent, are more likely to succeed.
69
Example of how pressure group influence depends on the party in power?
Child Poverty Action Group when the Blair government said it would end child poverty
70
9 reasons for pressure group success
ALI G MP MM
1. Achievable?
2. Insider status?
3. Government support?
4. Public support?
5. Membership?
6. Money?
7. Celebrities?
8. Media support?
9. Legal challenges?
71
Example of a pressure group who succeeded because their aims were achievable?
2000 - protestors against raising the fuel duty succeeded in getting the government to drop the plans. Cost the government about 2 billion.
72
Example of a pressure group having success due to insider status?
2019 - Police Protections and Powers Bill due to lobbying of the Police Federation
73
Example of a pressure group who succeeded because their aims were achievable?
2000 - Protestors against raising the fuel duty succeeded in getting the government to drop the plans. Cost the government about 2 billion.
74
Example of a pressure group having success due to insider status?
2019 - Police Protections and Powers Bill due to lobbying of the Police Federation.
75
Example of how pressure group success can be aided by being in tune with the government in power?
Stonewall - Section 28 repealed when Labour got into power.
76
Example of how a rapid change in public opinion can cause pressure groups to be more successful?
1997 Firearms (Amendment) Act due to campaign of the Snowdrops following the Dunblane massacre in 1996.
77
Is large membership the most important thing to have in a membership in order to ensure pressure group success?
Not necessarily. Some would argue that having an educated membership matters more.
78
Example of how financial resources can help pressure groups?
Campaign for High Speed rail hired Westbourne Communications lobbyists to shift the debate on the benefits of HS2 away from environmental costs.
79
Example of a celebrity endorsement helping a pressure group?
2020 - Marcus Rashford and FSMM.
80
Example of how media support can help a pressure group?
The previously unknown Howard League for Penal Reform prevented the banning of books being brought into English prisons by High Court ruling in December 2014.
81
Example of a pressure group using legal challenges to support their cause?
2016 - Brexit. 2017 Gina Miller and the UKSC.
82
4 reasons for pressure group failure with examples?
1. Violence e.g. the failure of the IRA to achieve Irish reunification. 2. Strong countervailing forces e.g. Stonewall versus the Coalition for Marriage. 3. Hostile political climate e.g. 2003 Stop the War versus bilateral support in the Commons. 4. Too extreme e.g. XR and the 2025 net zero goal.
83
What are pressure participants?
A loose term which includes all those who seek to influence policy but are not necessarily pressure groups with strict membership and leadership structures.
84
Example of pressure participants?
Think tanks and corporations.
85
2 examples of business lobbying?
1. Auto manufacturers post Brexit - need to retain most of the single market for companies like Nissan to be able to afford to export. 2. COVID-19 - tax freeze campaign.
86
Example of how 'business' doesn't always win and eval?
2020 - Government went ahead with a 2% digital sales tax on UK revenues of search engines, social media services and online marketplaces. Google and Amazon and others had opposed. But was not clearly 'anti-business'. SMEs welcomed this as levelling the playing field.
87
Example of how pressure groups themselves can be the target of pressure group action?
2020 - Barclays announces it will be a 'net-zero bank' by 2050 following pressure from shareholders including the Church of England.
88
What are lobbyists?
Groups hired to campaign a group's message as absolutely effectively as possible.
89
3 examples of how the revolving door is tightly regulated in the UK?
1. There is a cooldown period, but not as strong as in the US. Ministers should wait 2 years before lobbying, and a waiting period of 3 months is recommended before new jobs 2. Former ministers must seek permission from ACOBA (Advisory Committee on Business Appointments) before taking up a job. However, ACOBA has no statutory power. ACOBA was established in 1975. 3. Since 2015 and the Cash for Access scandal, there is a register of all MPs who work as lobbyists.
90
What is the Cash for Access Scandal 2015?
Senior former ministers Jack Straw and Malcolm Rifkind were filmed meeting undercover reporters from the Daily Telegraph and Channel 4 and agreed to offer to use their positions to ask parliamentary questions in exchange for money.
91
Example of lobbying being in the public interest?
The HPV vaccination given to schoolchildren in the UK was lobbied for by Morgan Roberts on behalf of Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust 2006-08.
92
Why are think tanks considered a pressure participant?
They are often funded by the wealthy and are often set up to promote a particular agenda.
93
Evidence that not all think tank funding is political?
2019 - 15.5 million to right-leaning think tanks, 12.9 million to left-leaning think tanks and 35 million to politically neutral groups.
94
What is a think tank?
A pressure participant who researches and then publishes research to support a specific agenda.
95
Example of an ideological think tank?
Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA). Founded by Antony Fisher, a battery chicken farmer. Published research that Thatcher used and promoted Hayeck's ideas.
96
2 other ways, besides disseminating research, that think tanks can promote their agenda?
1. Publish circulars or journals e.g. Fabian Review. 2. Hold conferences e.g. the annual Fabian Conference.
97
Example of how not all think tanks are political?
2004 Centre for Social Justice - WAS FOUNDED BY IDS but less political for sure - focussed on eliminating poverty and social issues.
98
Example of a non-partisan think tank?
Chatham House.
99
Example of think tank influence on government?
Hard to measure - but Policy Exchange may well have been responsible for directly elected police and crime commissioners amongst other things.
100
Example of how the rich often donate to think tanks?
2016 - Lord Sainsbury - 260,000 to Progress, a centre-left think tank.
101
Example of a US think tank which is funded by billionaires?
Koch Brothers and the founding of the Cato Institute.
102
Example of a newspaper acting as a pressure participant?
1992 - It's the Sun Wot Won It. If Kinnock wins today will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights.
103
Example of how the Tory-leaning press continues to act as a pressure participant?
2019 - Ian Austin, former Labour MP, writes in the Sun to get people to back Boris.
104
3 facts which suggest the power of the media as a pressure participant should not be overstated?
1. The circulation of national newspapers has roughly halved 1992-2019 due to social media. 2. A change in ownership can soften. Newspaper industry is consolidating e.g. Daily Express has been bought by the owners of the Mirror, leading them to soften their stance from UKIP in 2015 to BoJo in 2019. 3. Newspapers back winners e.g. Blair in '97, and until 2010 continued to back Labour.
105
Example of how the advent of social media has not necessarily reduced the impact of biased information in the pressure participation arena?
2019 - Twitter itself accuses the Conservatives of misleading information over factcheckUK, which was the temporary name of CCHQ.
