Pressure groups are important because they allow a means for the public to communicate their opinions to the decision-makers by combining for a single goal. Unlike parties, they represent people’s opinions on a single issue and therefore there can be no uncertainty over support. They communicate public opinion very effectively in this manner. For instance, the anti-Poll Tax group had a clear goal and this showed Thatcher and her government that this new levy was unpopular as the membership level was high. The rise in a rational choice attitude among the public could be a reason for the rise in pressure group membership in Britain. Their focus on a single issue allows the individual to choose those policies he supports and those he opposes, unlike political parties do. This removes the possibility of confusion as to public opinion on an issue.
Pressure groups are able to communicate with the government, especially if they have a large support. The membership and size of pressure groups as a whole has grown in recent years and this is possibly a reflection of their increasing importance. Nowadays, a pressure group with a large membership would have a lot of sway over the government who would readily communicate with this pressure group as it would be seen to be representing a sizeable proportion of the electorate. For instance, CBI (Confederation of British Industry), represent the majority of business owners and employers and therefore would be communicated with should a policy affecting them be proposed. Groups such as this are classed as ‘insider groups’, as they often give advice to the government on policy implementation and therefore work, to some extent, inside the political system.
Nevertheless, political parties still enjoy considerable importance in the communication between government and the public. The mass citizenry are able to communicate their ideas very effectively at the polls. Although they must decide on a group of policies as opposed to selecting their own, it is generally thought that a voter supports most of the policies of its chosen party. At all elections, the public can communicate their ideas by voting en masse for a certain party. This is a fundamental idea of politics, and the 1989 European elections are a good example of this. The Green Party, previously a minor party, received 15% of the nation’s votes in this election and it is widely seen as a classic example of the public showing their interest in an issue, in this case the environment. That said the result was not solely due to the interest in the environment as an important issue, but also the division in the third party at that time, the Liberals. The Green Party was able to take a large portion of the vote because they showed more stability than the Liberals. It has been said that, although the Green Party contest elections, they are in reality more of a pressure group than a political party. They have no MPs or MEPs and very few councillors, and receive little financial support or media exposure, and therefore their position is unclear. There are quite a few political parties in this situation, of being indistinguishable from a pressure group. Another good example is the Referendum Party, who publicised the need for a referendum over participation in Europe by their 1997 General Election campaign. They won no seats and disbanded soon after, but had succeeded in promoting their cause.
The British political system allows every member of a constituency representation by an MP. These politicians can be used as a means of communicating an issue that affects their constituents. It is common for an MP to promote an issue in Parliament that concerns their voters- Gillian Merron (MP for Lincoln) spoke to publicize the community ownership of smaller football clubs after her constituency’s club created the first of these. The representation, by MPs, of their electorate is an important part of political life as it allows smaller voices to be heard in the political din.
By way of conclusion, it is fair to say that political parties offer more in the way of communication with the general public. The election is the strongest means of communicating directly with the rulers that the mass citizenry have. This is strengthened by the role the MPs they vote in can have in publicising an issue in parliament. Pressure groups do offer single issue representation to ordinary people, but they do not have the same power (and therefore importance) as political parties. It is important to understand that sometimes, though, the borders dividing political parties and pressure groups can be lacking clarity sometimes, take the examples of the Referendum Party and the Green Party. The role of the media is an important factor when considering the communication of opinions in the 1990s. Political parties receive much more coverage than pressure groups from the media, generally speaking. This could be a good indication of the importance of parties in comparison to pressure groups. All in all, although parties are the most important channel of communication between the populace and the government, pressure groups strengthen this interaction.
