What Factors Lead to Pressure Groups Succeeding or Failing?

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What Factors Lead to Pressure Groups Succeeding or Failing?

There are factors which lead to pressure groups succeeding or failing. I will be discussing the factors which are required for a pressure group to be successful in achieving their aims.

Firstly, one may think the size of a group is a factor and more people mean more votes. A government is more likely to respond to pressure groups by large groups because there are more potential votes to be won or lost. However, size is not always considered a factor because even pressure groups which are small in size can make an impact, since it depend on the way the members of the pressure group think, as in being imaginative, tactical thinkers etc. It’s not quantity but the quality of the members of the pressure groups.

Furthermore, the government is more likely to be influenced by large numbers of its own potential supporters who make up a pressure group’s membership. For instance, if the pressure group was a traditional supporter of the Labour government, then the Conservative government is unlikely to be sympathetic to that pressure group.  So some pressure groups will expect better treatment from one party than another and success or failure will therefore depending on the government in power at the time.

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Finance is a crucial factor leading to a pressure group being successful, since running effective campaigns can be very expensive, so wealthy supporters provides an obvious advantage. Also small pressure groups with large finances can use funds to finance political parties and so receive sympathetic treatment and gain rewards. For example, the governments refusal to ban all advertising on cigarettes, and the lack of action taken by them to break the brewers’ virtual monopoly over public houses. A more financed group can employ more people, therefore employees have the time and expertise to ensure that campaigns are organised in a ...

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