When The Arguments For and Against Have Been Taken Into Account, It Is Clear That Incresingly, Pluralistic Society Pressure Groups are A Supplement To Democracy. How True Is This?

When The Arguments For and Against Have Been Taken Into Account, It Is Clear That Incresingly, Pluralistic Society Pressure Groups are A Supplement To Democracy. How True Is This? This essay will consider the main arguments both for and against pressure groups being a supplement to democracy and assess the extent to which they do serve as a supplement to democracy in today's increasing pluralistic society. The government has always had to deal with groups in society but over the last two centuries pressure groups have become an indispensable feature of the British political system, as these groupings have more effectively organized themselves in response to society's increasing complexity and the increasing government intervention in more areas of life. E.g. the committee for effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed in 1787. Society has also generally become more pluralistic and more aware of rights, which altogether, has served as a stimulus for the increasing relative importance of pressure groups. Far more citizens of the UK are now members of pressure groups than political parties. Broadly speaking, a pressure group may be defined as an organisation that seeks to influence, counteract or reverse government policy, without itself seeking to govern. "Pressure groups exist as conduits of political activity and serve the function of organizing and

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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Critically examine the ways a pressure group contributes to representative democracy

Critically examine the ways a pressure group contributes to representative democracy . states what representative democracy is 2. three/four paragraphs on what the pro-pluralist view is. Use the cards. 3. For each statement to ensure that you link the idea to the title 4. Throughout give examples of pressure groups to support your case 5. The case against. Now outline the anti-pluralist view ( Robert's page 331) In a representative democracy, citizens elect representatives to make decisions for them. In doing this, citizens hand over the responsibility for making decisions to someone else. In Britian voters elect members of parliament's (MPs) to represent them every four to five years and this makes the representatives in some way accountable to the electorate. However many are unsatisfied with their representation and join pressure groups to make their views heard. The question is, is this good or bad for our democracy? Pluralism is the way in which the electorate joins groups to have an effect on government. Many pro-pluralists believe pluralism exists to stop the perceived failures of a representative democracy. They think pluralism contributes to representative democracy because people are denied influence between elections. Furthermore they add that manifesto promises are usually broken, with no repercussions on the government. Pressure groups like Greenpeace,

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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Are pressure groups good or bad for democracy?

Are Pressure groups good or bad for democracy? Nowadays almost every country claims to be democratic. Democracy is a type of political system where decisions are made in the interest of the citizens by decision makers, who are (or are not, if we are talking about direct democracy where decisions are made by people themselves) elected, accountable and can be got rid of peacefully. The view of majority is generally accepted but minorities are protected. Certain rights and freedoms are recognised and the Rule of Law exists. Nevertheless it sounds good in theory, in practice it is much more complicated and doubtable. In recent years a strong disillusionment with politicians who form governments occurred as they seem not to represent citizens of the country. If we look at the political spectrum we will find out, that the most influential political parties (in the UK Conservative and Labour) are more or less near the centre of the spectrum. So do they actually represent people? The obvious answer is no. Due to the loss of faith in politicians a shift occurred: from political parties to pressure groups. A pressure group (or an interest group) can be described as an organised group that does not put up candidates for elections, although some groups actually did, but they were mostly trying to attract attention to a particular issue, but seeks to influence government policy or

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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Pressure groups revison notes

PRESSURE GROUPS AND PROTEST MOVEMENTS: Definitions/Facts/Information: . Trying to campaign to make a difference on something they're passionate about 2. 'an organisation which seeks to influence the details of a comparatively small range of public policies and which is not a faction of a recognised political party' - Robert Baggot 3. Limited in aims 4. 'an organisation which seeks as one if its functions to influence the formulation and implantation of public policy (general policy on everyday issues), public policy representing a set of authoritative decisions taken by the executive (government in power who draw up policies), the legislate (parliament who make laws) or the judiciary (legal institutions who enforce the law)' - Wyn Grant 5. Seeks to influence- indicates precise goals 6. Goals narrow- not concerned with full range of public policy 7. Not political parties or part of them 8. Operate on any public decision making body- local, national or international (as appropriate) 9. Rarely successful alone 0. Negative pressure- actions may damage, hinder or embarrass gov and can be effective eg: Poll Tax movement 1989-1990 1. Unions and employers organisations provide financial support for political parties in the hope of influencing their policies 2. PGs must abide by the law but are much more free in the way they conduct their internal affairs Ways in which

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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A Cabinet Minister once described Pressure Groups as Creatures which strangle efficient government. Discuss how justified this view of Pressure Groups is today.

Michael Hope A Cabinet Minister once described Pressure Groups as “Creatures which strangle efficient government”. Discuss how justified this view of Pressure Groups is today. A pressure group is an organised group that seeks to influence government (public) policy or protect or advance a particular cause or interest. Groups may promote a specific issue and raise it up the political agenda or they may have more general political and ideological objectives in mind when they campaign Pressure Groups can be split into two different main types of groups, insider and outsider groups. Insider groups are groups that have regular contact with the government; an example of this would be the British Medical Association (BMA) who represents a lot of the doctors in the country. As a result, if the doctors don’t like a new policy that the government want to bring in, the BMA can easily go to the government or get the doctors to strike. The other kind of pressure group is outsider groups. These are groups that don’t talk to the government at all and the government don’t usually recognise these groups as organisations. These types of groups are usually terrorist groups such as the Al Qaeda. The other categories Pressure Groups go under are cause groups and sectional groups. Cause groups are groups committed to a particular cause, an example of this would be Greenpeace who are

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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To what extent are the largest pressure groups the most successful ones?

To what extent are the largest pressure groups the most successful ones? Some pressure groups are more powerful than others as some succeed while others fail. Success in pressure groups is defined by how they affect government policy, their agenda-setting power and how well they can change people’s ideologies. Large groups mean that they have more members. This in turn leads to more donations. Chequebook groups tend to get most of their finance from their members, for example Greenpeace get 90% of their income from their members. This means that large groups tend to be wealthy. Being a wealthy group means that they have financial and economic power. For example, major corporations such as are the main source of employment and investment in the economy so the government will seek their cooperation. For wealthy groups that aren’t business groups will possess financial strength to employ professional lobbyists and public relations consultants. However, it is the wealth not the size of the pressure group that makes them economically powerful and the biggest pressure groups are not always the most economically powerful. The CBI is more economically powerful than TUC despite the TUC having seven million members. This is because although some groups may be small, they can exert influence through their policy expertise and specialist knowledge. Another good part of being a

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Describe the influence pressure groups have on Parliament

Describe the influence pressure groups have on Parliament Pressure groups are assemblies of individuals who all hold a similar set of ideas and beliefs. They campaign for changes in the law or new legislations in specific areas such as ethnicity, religion or political philosophy. The different pressure groups use different methods to get their point across, all of which have a strong influence on public opinion and voting behaviour. There are pressure groups concerned with almost every issue and every section of society so there are a variety of methods used to get their point across. Many pressure groups state their cases through written means like writing to officials and editors. They may also write to members of parliament in order to get them on their side and talking about their cause in parliament. Pressure groups also influence parliament as some MP’s belong to pressure groups and sympathise with their causes. Some MP’s also receive payment for promoting certain pressure groups so the topics they feel strong about are sometimes bought into parliament. There are some very large and wealthy pressure groups which can afford to pay many MP’s to promote their causes in Parliament which in affect will get their points across quicker and more efficiently. Other smaller pressure groups which do not have the same wealth as larger ones suffer with this downfall as it is

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  • Level: AS and A Level
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Pressure Groups in democracy

Pressure Groups in democracy A pressure group is defined as "a group of like-minded individuals who are organised with a view to influencing the formulation of government policy". An undeniable definition of a pressure group however, is very difficult to make this is due to the several varying forms that they take. The term 'pressure group' is fairly recent yet 'voluntary organisations' have been attempting to influence policy even before the 18th Century. An 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 aims to abolish slavery in 1807. More recently pressure groups have increased, (despite having a fluctuating popularity). This perhaps is because of the extensive opportunity for views to be put forward through the media. Pressure groups can be classified in two different ways 1) by what they aim to achieve, and 2) how they attempt to achieve it. Insider groups have strong links with the decision makers within government and are regularly consulted, hence influencing democracy in some shapes and form. (Being an insider status means that they can gain access to the decision makers and put forward their case directly.) Outsider groups however do not participate in the consultation process, mainly by government exclusion but sometimes by choice. Most outsider

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Pressure groups in a democracy.

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. They would want to influence government at the local, national and international level where applicable. The aim of all pressure groups is to influence the people who actually have the power to make decisions. Pressure groups do not look for the power of political office for themselves, but do seek to influence the decisions made by those who do hold this political power. Pressure groups can do this through many ways of taking action the extremes of the scale are peaceful means such as petitions to high level violence such as assassinations. A example of a peaceful demonstration is when in 1998 around 300,000 people went to London to protest about the Labour government's rural policies - the 'Countryside March' - the government reacted by announcing plans for a Ministry of Rural Affairs and by publishing a white paper investigating all aspects of rural life. A more extreme group is the Animal Liberation Front, whose campaigns include the illegal activities such as planting bombs. There are several factors that make a pressure group successful. The first factor that the government would probably look at is that is the group is known as an 'insider' or 'outsider' group. Insider groups have strong links with

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  • Subject: Politics
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Define a pressure group and how they can be classified.

Define a pressure group? (5) A pressure group is an organisation which seeks to influence policy on a single issue or a range of issues. They do not usually seek political power, they use their resources to try to achieve a set of classified objectives. They aim to influence media and public opinion to change attitudes. In which ways can pressure groups be classified? (15) A pressure group can be classified in ten ways. The first is sectional or non promotional which represents a section or organisation in society that is a group defending their own economic interest. Members usually hope to gain some personal benefit. (Such as trade unions and employers organisations.) The other opposing to this is a cause or promotional group which campaign on moral, political, social, ethical or spiritual, or issues of conci8ence with no link to self gain, (e.g. human rights, abortion, animal welfare) and membership is usually open to anybody who shares a similar belief system. (Such as amnesty international and friends of the earth) The other classifications of pressure groups are insider and outsider. Insider groups often have close links with government and are allocated times to be listened to and considered, they are seen as representative and are often called upon to back the government. Outsider groups on the other hand often receive no attention from the government and have no

  • Word count: 465
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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