Are pressure groups good for democracy?

Another positive effect is the groups allow for increased participation in politics by people who might otherwise be inactive on the political scene. Many people only get involved in politics at election time and a growing number of people are not even doing that. Ways of getting people involved more can include protests such as the "Brent Spar incident" where Greenpeace protested at the oil company Shell's proposition to sink its disused oil platform Brent Spar in the sea instead of towing it away and dismantling it on land. Another method could be to allow people to sign a petition expressing their feelings on a certain issue. An example could be the petition asking "should smoking be banned from public places" in an attempt to show the government what the people's opinions are on the topic and whether there should be a change or not.

Pressure groups defend the interests of minorities in the community, particularly those which don't gain a powerful outlet via political parties. This is done by forming a small group of people with the same strong views on a topic to show the government another point of view. By going to the trouble of forming a group this shows the government that this group wants their opinions to be heard and discussed.

Pressure groups also help to institutionalise peaceful conflict and so prevent disorder and instability. Pressure groups can work with the police for example and tell them where they are going to be performing a protest and at what time as well so that there is no violence and the protest makes its point in an orderly fashion. However there is not just positive factors of pressure groups that help democracy but there are negative factors also.

A negative factor of pressure groups is the leadership of pressure groups may be unrepresentative and officers may wield considerable influence without being accountable for their actions and often voluntary organisations are likely to be led by elites which are self perpetuating and out of touch with the feeling of less active members. An example is the British union leaders until the reforms of the 1980s.

Another negative factor Is not all sections of the community are represented equally. The influence groups can exercise depends on the resources at their disposal and the relationships they can construct with governments. This can lead to governments only listening to larger pressure groups in favour of the smaller groups.

Some campaigners use money and other methods to influence elected representatives and activists may turn to illegal militant direct action to get their own way. An example is the animal rights activists who may use violence to scare people into making a decision in their favour.

Insider groups are too active behind the scenes and may influence civil servants in their discussions. An example of this is the British medical asociation.