How Do Pressure Groups Exert Influence And Which Pressure Groups Are The Most Powerful?

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How Do Pressure Groups Exert Influence And Which Pressure Groups Are The Most Powerful?

How Do Pressure Groups Exert Influence?

Pressure groups can exert their influence in several different ways these include:

  • Working with the government – These are mainly Insider Groups. They have privileged and & institutional access to the government and operate inside the decision making process.
  • Influencing the media – For an example, Fathers 4 Justice, they got a lot of media coverage by dressing up as superheroes and pulling stunts. This got a mixture of both good and bad media coverage, but it got their word out.

Examples of Fathers 4 Justice stunts:

200 Father Christmases storm the lobby of the Lord Chancellor's department. Spiderman scales a crane at Tower Bridge entangling London in his web. Batman & Robin spend three days on the roof of the Royal Courts of Justice. The Funpowder Plot is hatched at the House of Commons where the Prime Minister is hit by purple haze. Batman pays a visit to the Queen's balcony at Buckingham Palace. Operation Father Ted swings into ecumenical action at York Minster. Activist Monks climb the roof of St Paul's. Government Ministers are handcuffed. Guy Harrison scales 150ft to the top of the roof of the House of Commons and the National Lottery is taken off air  the list of extraordinary protests is endless

  • Using violence – For an example, The Animal Liberation Front who have famously used violence and outrageous methods in order to get their point across. They have used letter bombs, car fires and even gone as far to dig up the dead.
  • Protesting – There are several forms of protesting from a walking protest to a hunger strike. For an example, The Stonewall Riots, marking the beginning of the Gay Liberation Front and the beginning of gay rights pacifism. 27th June 1969, Greenwich Village, New York, The Stonewall Inn was raided by Police. The customers reacted by pelting the Police with coins and later rocks and bottles while freeing those who were being put into Police vans. The Tactical Patrol Force, trained to deal with War riots were called in, still not having an effect on dispersing the crowd who were taunting them by shouting “Gay Power!” and throwing objects. Over the next few nights the crowd would return with more and more people, handing out leaflets and rallying their cause.
  • Advertising campaigns – Stonewall, a UK based gay rights pressure group founded in 1989, focus on using lobbying tactics. They launched a massive advertising campaign in 2007 called “Education For All”. Releasing striking posters all over billboards in the UK and within schools that gets the message across. An example is below:
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How Can The Success Of Pressure Groups Be Measured?

There are varying degrees of success, dependent on the pressure group involved, ranging from a change in legislation to more localised change. For an example, a pressure group campaigning for reduced public transport fares in their local area are not calling for fares over the country to be reduced, so the group’s success would depend on how successful they are in reducing the fares.

        The group’s success can be measured by relationship with the decision making bodies, such as the government or local council. Outsider groups such as the ...

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