Although the British political system is already supposed to be democratic, it is frequently pondered if pressure groups are part of what makes it fair and improves the system, or if their influence is a threat to the democratic process in the United Kingdom. The structure of the British political system only has restricted access available for pressure groups to obtain, this stops them from being an unelected body having too much influence over policy. It is clear from the development of pressure groups that they only want to influence policy rather than control it, hence not affecting democracy in a negative way. Another argument against Pressure groups are that they perform irresponsible acts in a democratic society, however they are forced to use different methods depending on who they are and what kind of status they have. Sometimes this can lead to certain pressure groups obtaining a bad press, a good example is the IRA, who have attempted to influence policy through violence and terrorism. Acts like these are usually committed out of desperation, when influence over policy has become impossible to obtain. Therefore surely it is democratic for them to act in this way if other causes have got governmental influence and others don’t.
It is debatable that pressure groups (particularly outsiders) create media attention out of weakness rather than strength, as they are unable to exert influence effectively with their existing level of support. By using the media, and encouraging public interest through membership or other methods they involve more people in political participation, which is what the government themselves are always trying to achieve. The Local government in Britain is very dependent on central government, due to its reliance on central government, especially for financial support, this means that at a local level the pressure group activity will be directed at the way authorities put into practice central policy, again this helps to represent minor interests without giving them to much control. It can easily be argued that the government itself doesn’t represent minor interests and only the major ones because it is almost always elected with just fifty percent or even less of votes, meaning that cannot possibly represent everybody. Even if Pressure groups themselves don’t gain any direct action for their minor interest, they put more pressure on the government to recognise their causes. This is a good thing because as above, the way in which the government is elected means that they do not serve every bodies interests (especially if the government is in minority).
Pluralism is a political system in which pressure groups and other organisations seek to control government policy, often through the process of lobbying. These lobbies can become very powerful. It can be claimed that pluralism makes government more democratic by keeping representative politicians in check between elections. It can be argued that an election isn’t enough alone to make democracy, as a voter must chose between two parties neither of which supports a policy that he or she might think very important. An individual can then use the lobbying system to bring attention to that issue, in the same way as a Pressure group does. All these lobbies are in equal and opposite directions resulting in lively politics and wholesome debate. For example while green peace is lobbying for higher road taxes oil companies will just as passionately argue against them. This dispersal of power is very healthy for democracy.
There are not many examples in our country of the majority getting its way through direct lobbying. Pluralists would say that their system and Pressure groups involvement makes sure unpopular or unfair legislation is not introduced in the first place, and when or if it is there are people who are concerned with removing it rather than just leaving it as it is. An example of the majority making the government abandon legislation is with the Poll tax.
Another political role of Pressure groups is to aggregate diverse interests by involving the public opinion more in policy making matters. They can get the public involved by presenting them their cause or interest, rather like Green peace’s website, and people who choose to take an interest can let the pressure group use their manner to lobby and consult with the government, something which they cannot and most often do not know how to do themselves. Some Pressure groups are not heir archly ordered, although many are. Some have elections to elect a governing body to establish some leadership. However, the ones which do have a non elected hierarchy it can be argued are not in the least bit democratic within themselves so how can they prove to be beneficial in a democratic society? Well the fact of the matter is, it may be too difficult to elect a leaders, especially in a global Pressure group organisation. Or does it really matter who runs they group, as long as everybody gets to put ideas forward with a realistic chance of making a difference and if that leader represents what everybody else agrees with anyway?
Pressure groups also scrutinise the government. This may not exactly sound like a positive statement but in fact it can be very useful. They can help avoid mistakes from being carried out, or inform the government of the publics true opinion by examining closely what they are doing and how it will effect certain issues in society. They often want to prove to the public that certain government action isn’t going to benefit them and may even disadvantage them, so by keeping a close eye on the government they can find every opportunity to out to their use. However only well funded organisations have the power to perform investigations on government policy and therefore will be the only ones who can use this to their advantage.
It is impossible to create an entirely democratic society, and perhaps it always will be but the influence of Pressure groups only makes changes to certain areas and issues, whereas governmental authority effects everyone and everywhere. The disproportionate balance of power gained through election and the FPTP system means there will always be an element of tyranny present in out legal system, and more often than not Pressure groups help to counterbalance this inequality. Despite sometimes being internally undemocratic and only representing a minority, they are an important part of making our theoretically democratic society truly socially equal.
