Why are some pressure groups more successful than others?
Why are some pressure groups more successful than others? A pressure group is an organisation that may be formal or informal whose purpose is to further the interests of a specific section of society or to promote a certain cause; there are many reasons why a pressure group would want to do this too. There are various degrees of success with pressure groups, ranging from amending or passing Acts of Parliament to gaining public support. One thing that can alter a pressure group's success is whether the group is an insider or outsider group, and its relationship with the government. An insider group is one that operates within the political system and which normally has support from MP's, they are normally consulted by the government on matters that may affect the group or its members. The British Medical Association is an insider group and is consulted by the government regularly, recently they were included in discussions over the proposed NHS reforms and as a result of those talks the reforms were altered. Insider groups will have regular contact with MP's and other decision makers and so have more opportunities to influence them and their policies. However, an outsider group is one that operates outside the government, they have no special links with them but they still seek to influence decision makers by (usually) mobilising public opinion, an example would be Fathers