Pressure Groups, Think Tanks And Lobbyists Flashcards
What are pressure groups?
Pressure groups seek to influence politics in order to achieve political goals.
Usually focus on one particular area of policy.
Crucial to a pluralist democracy.
Causal/ promotional groups
- focused on achieving a particular goal or drawing attention to a particular issue, with membership usually open to anyone who sympathises with the cause,
Many are charities: e.g. Oxfam
Greenpeace promotes awareness over environment concerns and tries to influence the government to adopt ‘green’ causes.
Sectional/ interest groups
- promote the interests of a particular group in society.
E.g. trade unions represent their members in negotiations with employers over wages and working conditions.
Membership is often limited to people with a certain qualification/expertise e.g. the Law Society is open to solicitors in England and Wales.
Social movements
Similar to causal groups but more loosely structured. Some people may belong to other pressure groups while others may just take part in specific protest or be motivated by a specific issue.
Usually politically radical and seek to achieve a single objective.
Insider
Rely on close contacts with ministers and civil servant to achieve their aims.
Some have close links with relevant government departments and most insider groups’ objectives are generally in line with the views of the government.
Some are low profile and rely on discrete behind the scene contacts rather than seeking publicity. Mainly use lobbying.
Others are high profile and supplement their lobbying with the use of media to make their case.
Outsider groups
- pressure groups that are not consulted but the government. Their objectives are often so far from the political mainstream and radical that the government is unlikely to talk to them.
- some groups believes talking to those in power my taint their reputation and ideological purity.
Switching between insider and outsider
Some groups move between insider and outsider status according to changing political circumstances and the political leanings of the party in power.
Insider methods
- tend to lobby the government/parliamentarians and negotiate quietly behind the scenes, using their private contacts in Whitehall.
- may be given opportunity to give their views and specialist advice or draft legislation.
- also lobby MPs, by briefing them on issues of concern or giving evidence to select committees.
Outsider methods
- use less discrete methods to gain publicity and therefore draw attention to their concerns and gain public and political support.
- may try to influence through social media campaigns and petitions or stage demonstrations and publicity stunts.
- direct action is not always peaceful.
- trade unions go on strike as a key outsider method to cause disruption and negotiate pay increase as a result.
Pressure groups may use insider and outsider
- some use both methods, often depending on the nature of the issuer and the degree to which the government is willing to respond.
How pressure group success varies:
- often hard to judge success for pressure groups. Some outsider groups may consider publicity a success, while it is difficult to garage the success of insider groups as they often don’t boast about their success as to not offend their government contacts.
- for some pressure groups, their goals are so large that they may have to build public and political support for years before achieving them.
- much of success depends upon the climate of public opinion and the willingness of the government to make concessions, as well as how effective methods of communication are.
Pressure group resources
- a large membership who pay subscriptions allow a large pressure group to run offices, pay staff and organise publicity; therefore, gaining significant influence.
- the size of membership can also be significant in persuading the government that it represents a significant portion of the population.
Pressure group strategy and leadership
- experienced, capable leadership is essential to the success of a pressure group.
Insider pressure group strategy
for insider pressure groups, a key factor is knowing which ‘access points’ in the UK government to target in order to achieve your goals, whether that be lobbying the government directly, getting a member of parliament to instigate a Private Members’ Bill, trying to influence local government and devolved bodies first or initiating legal challenges/ using outsider methods.
Outsider pressure group strategy
- capable leadership and tactics are important to ensure the public is kept on side and effective methods are used to gain media attention and influence the government.
