How do British Pressure groups exert influence?

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How do British Pressure groups exert influence?

The aim of British pressure groups is to exert influence through the people who actually held the power to make decisions.  Pressure groups do not look for power of political office for themselves, but instead do seek to influence the decisions made by those who hold this power.  Groups who enjoyed momentous “power has been greatly exaggerated” at particular periods of time, such as the trade unions can endanger democracy if sectional groups undermine the public interest or if the methods they use are corrupt or intimidating.

A pressure group can be described as ‘an organised group that does not put up candidates for election, but seeks to influence government policy or legislation’ (Budge, Crewe, McKay & Newton, 1998, pp.286 & 287).  They can also be described as ‘interest groups’, ‘lobby groups’ or ‘protest groups’.   Some people avoid using the term ‘pressure group’ as it can inadvertently be interpreted as meaning the group use actual pressure to achieve their aims, which does not necessarily happen.  An indisputable definition of a pressure group, however, is very problematic, due to the several varying forms that they take, which perhaps explain why several definitions of pressure group appear ambiguous.  

The term 'pressure group' is relatively recent, yet 'voluntary organisations' have been attempting to influence policy ever since the late 18th Century.   A typical example of this is The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade.  This was founded in 1787 under William Wilberforce, and successfully achieved its objective to abolish slavery in 1807.  A pressure group can be a huge organisation like the CBI (Confederation of British Industry), which represents 150,000 businesses, and it can also be a single-issue locally based organisation like CLARA (Central Area Leamington Resident’s Association), which represents less than 300 households campaigning to preserve and improve the town of Leamington Spa. The definition also does not distinguish between the more extreme pressure groups such as the Animal Liberation Front, whose campaigns include illegal activities such as planting bombs, and pressure groups such as the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), which have links to the Labour government and have regular contact with cabinet ministers.  

Pressure groups can be classified in two ways, by what they aim to achieve, and how they attempt to achieve it.  The former of these categories is split into sectional and promotional groups.  A ‘Sectional group’ acts on behalf of a particular area of society.  They are narrow-minded and are found mainly in the economic sphere of society.  Examples are Trade unions, employers associations and professional bodies.  The National Union of Teachers (NUT), the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Trades Union Congress are examples of sectional groups.  

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Promotional groups exist to promote a particular cause.  They are less likely to sustain any longevity, as their issues are often resolved, and are mainly found in the environmental sphere of society.  Examples of cause groups are Shelter, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and Greenpeace.  Some cause groups have few members but exert a great deal of influence. For example, Liberty is a group with 5,000 members who successful priority is put whose pressure on the Labour Party, in opposition and in government, to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law.  On the other hand, some cause ...

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