Pressure Groups

PRESSURE GROUPS

They are groups seeking to influence government policy or business activity to secure the interests of their members and supporters.

Exists different types of pressure groups:

• Single Cause

• Multi-Cause

• Protective

• Promotional

SINGLE CAUSE-. Focus on a particular issue.

Like Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) – attempt to reduce smoking and encourage a whole society response against smoking

MULTI-CAUSE-. Focus attention on a wider range of issues often under a generalised heading – e.g. the environment:

Trade Unions – seek to influence policy in relation to workers – pensions, insurance, salary, maternity, equal opportunities, discrimination, etc.

Friends of the Earth – seek to influence decision making on wide range of environmental issues

PROTECTIVE-. Seeking to protect the interest of members:

AA – Automobile Association – car owners

PROMOTIONAL-. Seeking to promote issues of interest to its members and supporters in relation to the particular topic

Greenpeace – seeks to promote environmental issues

They also have advantages and disadvantages:

ADVANTAGES

0 Stimulate public discussion of matters that require a political decision

0 Allow the organization and expression of interest

0 Create a balance between different interests

DISADVANTAGES

0 Minority interest to permit the imposition of general

0 Methods used are not always legitimate

0 Allow the accumulation of power in certain members of the group

0 Their multiplication difficult the negotiation and adoption of measures

INFLUENCE

Success determined by the extent to which the group can capture the popular imagination and keep the issue alive while it is still relevant

Contacts with media, politicians, etc. are crucial to get the issue into the public domain

Reputation of the group as reliable and having integrity may be important in its success but the reputation could be a bad one, e.g. Animal Liberation Front

EFFECTS

Successful campaigns can lead to legal and ethical changes in business practice e.g.

– The increasing practice of environmental audits by businesses

– The movement to the use of synthetic fur in the fashion industry

– The compulsory use of seat belts

– The decrease in the use of CFCs

RESPONSE OF BUSINESS

Business might:

• Accept the arguments and change its practice

• Present its own arguments on the issue

• Take legal redress

• Seek to publicise its image and what it is doing to counter the damage pressure groups could cause

CRITICISM

Pressure Groups can be criticised if:

– They appear too powerful

– They are powerful enough to represent minority interests at the expense of the majority

– They focus on their own agenda at the expense of wider issues

– They take direct action that breaks the law

POWER FACTORS

0 Economic Resources-. To develop their actions, and publicity

0 Number Of Members-. If they have a big number of members they can be heard more

0 Public Recognition-. The way that the society see them

0 Organizational Efficiency-. If they have a better organization they can develop in a better way their activities

0 Type And Quality Of Contacts-.Some members of the group can have a contacts in the government of companies or stuff like that

FUNCTIONS OF PRESSURE GROUPS

Pressure groups carry out a range of functions. These include:

• Representation

• Political participation

• Education

• Policy formulation

• Policy implementation

Representation

Pressure groups provide a mouthpiece for groups and interests that are not adequately represented through the electoral process or by political parties. This occurs, in part, because groups are concerned with the specific rather than the general. Whereas parties attempt to broaden their appeal, trying to catch (potentially) all voters, pressure groups can articulate the views or interests of particular groups and focus on specific causes. Some have even argued that pressure groups provide an alternative to the formal representative process through what has been called functional representation.

However, questions have also been raised about

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