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Pressure Groups

Pressure Groups. How much influence do they have?. What are Pressure Groups?. Pressure groups are informal political institutions that seek to influence the making and the implementation of public policy. What do they do?.

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Pressure Groups

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  1. Pressure Groups How much influence do they have?

  2. What are Pressure Groups? • Pressure groups are informal political institutions that seek to influence the making and the implementation of public policy

  3. What do they do? • They cover a broad spectrum from the large business with high level contacts at national and European level to the smallest local group • Can you name any Pressure Groups based on this information?

  4. How do they influence? • Secret behind the scenes lobbying of politicians and influential figures • Wynn Transport • Or • Highly visible protests • Fathers for Justice • Make Poverty History

  5. Did you know….. • More people belong to Pressure Groups than political parties? • The study of Pressure Groups and influence is essential in understanding how the system works • Can you think of any ways PG’s are similar or ways they are different to Political parties?

  6. Pressure Groups are different from political parties because • They do not normally contest elections • When they do, they do not aim to form a Government • Their campaigns are based on single issue policies

  7. Pressure Groups are similar to political parties because • They are based on representation and participation • They form a mechanism for the expression of people’s interests • They influence Government and Government policy • Provide funds • Sponsor candidates • Influence the shaping of policies

  8. Types of Pressure Group • Sectional Groups • Based on the performance of an economic function • i.e. CBI, BMA, Law Society, NUT • Cause Groups • Based on shared attitudes and values • i.e. Greenpeace, Amnesty International, Shelter Charter 88 etc.

  9. Differences explained

  10. Insider vs Outsider groups • Insider Groups – Consulted on a regular basis by Government • Outsider Groups – Either do not want to be closely involved or are unable to gain Government recognition

  11. Insider Groups • High Profile – Re-inforce contacts with Government through media contact • Low Profile – Behind the scenes contact with Government • Prisoner Groups – Unable to break free as either dependent on Government or public sector

  12. Outsider Groups • Potential Insider – Groups seeking insider status, a change of Government can change status – i.e. Countryside Alliance • Outsider by necessity – Lack the political skills to succeed • Ideological outsiders – Objectives are at a varaince to social and political norms i.e. CND, ALF etc.

  13. Political Relations with PGs • 1979-1997 Conservative Govts, saw PGs as “Strangling Serpants” – Douglas Hurd • Curtailed TU powers • Won great industrial battles such as 1984 Miners Strike • Professionals groups such as Doctors and Teachers were seen as in need of radical reform therefore influence denied • Independent Schools, Private Health suppliers and housing associations flourished

  14. Blair • The exemption of F1 from tobacco advertising had nothing to do with Bernie Ecclestones £1 million donation • ASH, BMA and several charities were in uproar • Links with the TU’s have weakened, despite Minimum wage and increased public spending on education and health

  15. The Countryside Alliance • My Heroes! • Marched on London in 1998, 2002 and 2004 • Marched against the ban on fox hunting, loss of farmland to urban development, falling incomes, declining rural services • Supported by NFU, Clay Pigeon Assoc, Timber Growers Assoc and the British Field Sports Society

  16. Direct Action • May Day Riots 2002…boo hiss…. • Soap dodgers marching against capitalism and the march of poverty • Marched through City, destroying buildings, such as McDonalds and defacing statues such as Churchill’s • City workers photocopied £50 notes and threw them out the windows to the protestors • Fuel Protestors 2000 – Hooray!.....blockading petrol stations

  17. A new Social Movement • Wider focus than a single issue, national or even global in it’s outlook • No HQ, no staff, just groups linked by the Internet, global, anarchic and chaotic • Environmentalism is an example • Pressure Groups i.e. Greenpeace • Political Parties i.e. The Green Party • Action – Protest and Direct, i.e. Rainbow Warrior • They include a wide variety of ecologists, conservationists, eco-warriors etc..

  18. Iron Triangle of Global Capitalism WTO IMF World Bank Multi nationals McDonald’s Coca-Cola Nike Texaco GAP Microsoft Disney Victims of Social Movements

  19. Core targets for all PG types • The Core Executive • PM, Ministers, Civil Servants • Parliament • Public Opinion • Local Institutions

  20. So do PGs make the UK democratic?YES! • Participation and Political access • Improvement of Government • Information provided affects quality • Pluralism – Freedom of Association • PGs serve as vital links between Govt. and Soc • Assist in the dispersal of political power • Social Progress • New issues to be debated, i.e. environmentalism • Social Cohesion • Safety valve for grievances • Opposition • Expose information, improving accountability

  21. So do PGs make the UK democratic?Errr….No! • Sectionalism and Selfishness • Only favour the well organised • Anti-Parliamentary democracy • Insider groups may not work in public interest • Elitism • Re-inforces existing class and power structure • Pluralistic stagnation • Too many groups, lots of contrasting aims, can immobilise the system • Social disharmony and dislocation • Intensifies feeling of injustice by highlighted groups • Failure of opposition

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