Compare and Contrast the changing roles and influence of Pressure Groups in the US and the UK.

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23-11-03

EDWARD WINGATE

Alcuin College

Politics

Compare and Contrast the changing roles and influence of Pressure Groups in the US and the UK

        In both the US and the UK, there are clear divisions of power between those who can make political decisions (public policy, legislation, etc.), and those who do not have this power. Although this is true, it remains important to observe that the line between those with direct political power and those without it can be very blurred. The millions of voters in both countries may believe that their influence on political decisions is very small (they get one vote out of millions), but this is not necessarily the case. Pressure Groups exist to attempt to have some sort of influence over government legislation and making of public policy. They all exist also to work in the interests of their individual members, and to bargain as a group with the same issue.

        Pressure (or Interest) groups, appear on the political scene (and also on non-political fronts), in many different guises, varying from country to country. This essay will examine the different types, aims, and actions of the variety of groups in the US, before examining the similarities, and differences between the roles and types of groups in the UK, especially with respect to their relationships with government.

        The United States has long had a history of allowing many people with conflicting interests to put forward their views on many hundreds of topics. In many ways, this power has been great, due in part to the much greater access the public (especially as an organised interest group), have to those in power. The US has a huge amount of access points to political process, from high levels such as congress, through to state, and local levels. One view is that this is highly beneficial – there are no barriers for any race, religion, or common-interest group to lobby government at some level. The option is there for all, and therefore there is a huge potential for policy to be fair. On the other hand, it is argued, conflicting views on many subjects makes policy making hard at any level. Certainly, these groups have a lot of power in the US, due largely to the weak party system it possesses – this allows groups to act as narrow issue parties themselves.

        To begin with, some basic statistics. In 1995, 79% of the US population were aligned with some sort of voluntary interest group. However, due to inactivity in these, and high memberships in ‘non-political’ charities, only 14% had an involvement in a political interest group. This does not mean that all others are devoid of any political stances though. Almost all groups will become actively involved in a political issue at some level, at some point; such is the huge amount of issues addressed.

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        The first of the major groups in the US are the ‘Economic Groups’. These can be big corporations, or even groups of corporations, called ‘peak associations’. Business is very important in America, demonstrated by the increase in involvement in public policy by US firms, since the 1960’s. This is a change from governments at this time, who often used to be pro big-business. Firms rarely became politically involved. However, active involvement especially at local level in now far greater, due in no small part to the quick changes in the economy, and the observed weakness of large American firms to ...

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