pressure groups

The first 200 words of this essay...

"Pressure groups are essential of democracy in the uk"

To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Pressure groups are defined as "a group of like-minded individuals who are organised with a view to influencing the formulation of government policy"1 They do not put a candidate up for election but seek to influence government policy of legislation, but is this extra pressure from outsiders essential for the government and democracy in the uk or could it be argued it just antagonises political parties?

It can be argued pressure groups are essential to the democracy of the UK as they play an important role in the political system. It must be noted candidates from political parties have a lot less time than that of pressure groups to draw attraction to party policy. From this is it can be said that pressure groups are essential to democracy in the UK as it allows voices and policies to be heard outright.

Many people believe that pressure groups increase the participation of the public in elections, and this confirms that pressure groups to an extent are essential to democracy. It seems that by highlighting certain policies