Pressure Groups Flashcards
What is a pressure group?
A group that tries to influence public policy in the interest of a particular cause
They don’t usually enter candidates or seek to exercise power themselves
What does a sectional (interest) pressure group do?
Promote interests of an occupation/societal group
i.e. Trade Unions representing their members in negotiations with employers
Case study of sectional pressure group?
National Farmers’ Union - goal is to achieve agricultural policies which bring security of income to farm families
Slogan - ‘Back British Farming’
Recent NFU campaign?
Trying to ensure free trade in agricultural goods with the EU market after Brexit
Successful NFU campaign?
Lobbied to obtain funding for Anaerobic Digestion plants on farms as it saves famers money on energy and has positive environmental outcomes
Example of NFU acting as an insider group?
Worked closely with MP Dr Luke Evans to call for supermarkets to add ‘buy British’ tabs to their websites
What does a cause group do?
Promote a particular goal or draw attention to a particular issue
Membership of sectional groups?
Restricted membership to those who meet specific requirements (e.g. BMA is open to those working in medicine)
Membership of cause groups?
Open to anyone who sympathises with their aims (e.g. Client Earth is made up of lawyers, environmental experts and activists to fight climate change by changing the law)
Client Earth recent campaign?
Trying to ensure government maintains strong legal protections for the environment post-Brexit
Client Earth successful campaign?
2009 - Lobbied EU commission to reject the UK’s government’s request for an extension on improving air quality in the most polluted areas
What does a social movement do?
Seek to achieve a particular objective, usually more loosely structured than cause
Often have radical objectives
e.g. Occupy, Just Stop Oil
What are outsider groups?
PGs that are not consulted by the government, usually because their objectives are far from the political mainstream
e.g. Extinction Rebellion
Examples of Extinction Rebellion’s radical methods
2018 - blockaded 5 major bridges in London
2020 - blocked roads outside printing presses for several national newspapers
2022 - protested outside Downing Street
What are insider groups?
Relies on contact with ministers and civil servants to achieve their aims
e.g. NFU have close contact with DEFRA
Evidence that insider PGs have waning influence?
National Trust complained that they did not get the audience with a minister that they had expected at the start of Liz Truss’ premiership
Pressure group methods
Negotiations/ talks with government - NFU/DEFRA
Strikes - sectional groups coordinate strike action, e.g. BMA - 2023/4 Junior doctors’ strike
Radical action - e.g. XR, Just Stop Oil
Downsides of radical PG action
Can hinder group’s progress (e.g. Feb 2024, 3 Greenpeace protestors charged with criminal damage after a protest at Rishi Sunak’s home)
Can damage public opinion with divisive methods (e.g. Just Stop Oil ridiculed for soup protest, XR caused huge disruptions by blockading roads and bridges)
Functions of PGs
Keeps the government responsive to the people
Represent groups in society (e.g. WASPI, Stonewall)
Provide government with knowledge and expertise (e.g. Action on Smoking and Health)
Citizen education (e.g. Greenpeace sends speakers into schools)
Pressuring companies into social change (e.g. PETA throwing paint on models wearing fur for their anti-fur campaign)
Examples of insider group methods
Human rights group Liberty gave evidence to the Justice Select Committee in 2021 about how the proposed Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill would curtail protest rights.
e.g. proposed amendment to remove the increase in sentencing for those involved in non-violent protests
Causes of varying PG influence
Practical achievability
Changing political circumstance
Human and material resources
Group status
Group methods
How does practical achievability affect PG influence?
Those with smaller, more practical aims (e.g. Gurkha Justice Campaign aiming to gain the right for all Gurkhas who served in British army to settle in the UK) are likely to have more success.
Those with long term/larger goals (e.g. Make Poverty History) less likely to be achieved in the short term.
How does public support affect PG influence?
Groups in line with public opinion more likely to be successful (e.g. Jamie Oliver’s ‘Feed Me Better’ campaign to improve the quality of school meals.
Celebrity endorsement is also helpful (e.g. Marcus Rashford worked closely with Fare Share in a free school meals campaign over the Covid period)
Mermaids has less favourable public opinion as it is centred around a controversial topic (e.g. came under fire for offering trans children chest binders without parental consent)
How does changing political circumstance affect PG influence?
Different governments prioritise different things (e.g. campaigns for gay rights only gained headway under Tony Blair’s government - groups like Stonewall became far more influential)
