Success of pressure groups

Jamie Gallo 12 DLF Ms.Simpson

Success of pressure groups

Pressure groups are organizations that attempt to influence the government to often enough change or introduce a law. Pressure groups aim to influence political decision-making, however unlike political parties they do not run in the election campaign. Pressure groups can be from a small village to huge worldwide organizations, each of which will fight to have themselves heard in many different ways, an example of this is lobbying the organization they are trying to influence. Many of the acts that pressure groups are involved in can be considered unlawful, but many participants do this merely to attract the attention of the government so that their views can be heard and expressed. However so that pressure groups are not generalized, it is important to note that many of the official pressure groups tend to stay lawful in their acts.

The success of a pressure group can sometimes be difficult to define as there are some particular organizations that have a huge amount of members and yet their views are still not recognized or they have been unsuccessful in expressing themselves in a way that has influenced the law. Some particular pressure groups may consist with very few members and still make a difference with their campaign this may be, because they are expressing a view easier to change or that they make such an impression that the government stands up and takes notice.

Insider pressure groups are basically pressure groups recognized by the government to be legitimate, because of this insider groups are more openly addressed by the government and play a more significant role in decision making, a good example of this is they may be given regular meetings with ministers or civil servants and may even be included on lists for circulation of new government proposals. Because these insider pressure groups are more openly addressed tend to avoid any unlawful behavior or any public attacks on ministers.

Outsider pressure groups are the pressure groups ‘frowned upon by the ...

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Outsider pressure groups are the pressure groups ‘frowned upon by the government’ they are given none of the benefits of the insider groups. They are not consulted to any degree more than ordinary people like u and me about policy-making decisions are and they are rarely ever given the time of ministers or civil servants. This particular type of pressure group has to work outside the government’s organization. However outsider pressure groups can be further sub-divided, for example some outsider groups are merely waiting to become insider groups, but in order for this to happen they have to wait for a political climax, such as a change in government. Also there are outsider pressure groups that are not aiming to become insiders, these consist mainly of single-issue groups. Single issue groups are an organization that form to fight against one particular issue such as building a multi-story car park where a forest stands, then once this issue has been resolved they merely disband. A pressure groups situation within this area can often affect whether they are going to be successful in their acts. Insider groups often tend to be favored in influencing decisions as are informed of what is going on around them by the government, which means they can then act on this information. Outsider pressure groups normally have to find information on their own and because they are rarely addressed by the government they have to commit unlawful acts such as protests in order to get themselves heard and noticed.

There are also many other factors that can help a pressure group to promote its ideals to the government and the public. Unfortunately the largest factor is probably money, and unlike political parties they don’t have to publish where they get their financial backing so this means that we are unable to establish what kind of agenda they are truly promoting. The money also enables certain pressure groups to support more members and therefore become more powerful in demonstration and backing. The size of the pressure group can often affect the amount of successes that a pressure group has too. As it means that they therefore have more backing in situations, such as protests and because there are more people it may also mean that the government may take them more seriously because they may feel that there is a large population that are backing their point of view.

One pressure group that’s success is hard to comprehend is the ‘Campaign for an Independent Britain’ (CIB) as they have managed to produce a lot of support from the public and a few MP’s and are recognized by the government, which therefore makes them an insider pressure group. They may have produced a lot of support from many people but have not yet actually been able to influence the government in their decision on whether to leave Europe. However this aspect is a very large ideal and therefore it is expected that this pressure group alone would have trouble influencing the government on such a major issue. There are other pressure groups such as ‘Green Peace’ and ‘Friends of the Earth’ that have had countless success’s in their ideals but these ideals have never been to unachievable, such as the withdrawal from Europe.

In conclusion for this essay, it is easy to see why there are pressure groups and that the majority of them are fighting for a worthy cause and therefore are successful in that degree. However many pressure groups are not even given a chance to express their points of view to the government and the public, and therefore are doomed to fail miserably in their campaign. With the advances of technology it should be easier for pressure groups to prosper and therefore, more of what the people want will be heard by government, which means that it makes it easier for success of pressure groups in this democratic society today.