Do you consider the political activities of organised groups (pressure groups) to enhance or threaten the quality of democracy in Britain today?

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Alex Rowell                Introduction to Politics and Government                1/05/2004

Do you consider the political activities of organised groups (pressure groups) to enhance or threaten the quality of democracy in Britain today?

The role of pressure groups in the UK can be seen both to strengthen and weaken democracy as there is a significant case for either argument.  For instance Thatcher believed that Democracy was threatened by Pressure groups whilst Blair has always had more ‘friendly’ relations with them illustrating the different opinions of those in office.  However, we should also consider whether pressure groups are ‘insider’ or ‘outsider’ as those working within state apparatus tend to be more effective than there ‘outsider’ counterparts.  Surely though how can pressure groups be good for democracy when they exert non-legitimate power as they are unelected?

Since pressure groups are unelected this means there is not only is the problem of the non-legitimate power but also the fact that pressure groups are selfish, and do not consider the costs of there actions for others in society, this is especially the case of single-issue groups.  They simply want there own demands fulfilled, even if that means fewer resources are available for other purposes, so the government would be pressured in to spending money on the particular issue groups idea meaning potentially meaning less resources on one objective means there is less available for something else.

Furthermore the actions of ‘outsiders’ and the increasing use of direct and radical action has meant a rise in the criticism of pressure groups for the democratic process.  Outsiders rather than that of insiders use methods outside government apparatus such as petitions, civil disobedience and marches etc.  This is in comparison to that of the insiders who are close to the political centre.  In the 1970’s with the Labour government it was described as having ‘beer and sandwiches at no. 10’ as they did policy with trade unions.  The trade union’s involvement with New Labour is an example of ‘insider’ groups and involved at all stages in the formation of government policy and the making of legislation.  The criticism has been bought about after various demonstrations and actions have affected the democratic process.  For instance take the recent example from The New British Politics with Greenpeace’s use of the Rainbow Warrior to obstruct nuclear tests, and the blocking of an outlet pipe from the Sellafield nuclear power station (cited in Budge et al, 2004, 329).  This shows that the direct action by the outsider groups bypasses the conventional government decision making process and therefore threatens democracy.

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If we were to consider the pluralist model then it could be argued that democracy is in fact enhanced by the role of pressure groups.  According to the pluralist model power is exercised by the mass of the population, rather than by a small elite group.  Pluralists note that if the people do not like what government or those representing them are doing they can vote for an alternative option and remove them from office at the next election.  This means that those who are representing them have to satisfy the people.  They also argue that groups such as ...

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