What methods do pressure groups employ to influence the political process?
One method for insiders influence the political process is by ‘lobbying’. This is shown as being behind closed doors, and receives little publicity. A constant process for insiders is discussions with political parties and government. Mp’s from political parties use pressure groups to gain more advice on policies and how to achieve them. Committees and commissions, including group representatives, meet to develop policy.
Some pressure groups pay Mp’s to raise certain issues in the House. This is a very good way of speaking up because an issue is being raised in from of government and many other political parties. However, this can be seen as unlawful because it is bribery. Sometimes, there are Mp’s who expect no return for speaking for a pressure group, this could be because they agree with what the pressure group is trying to influence on government.
One method for outsiders is taking ‘direct action’. This occurs when pressure groups seek to obtain the maximum possible amount of publicity for their cause. An example of one incident is the pressure group called ‘father 4 justice’, a few campaigners decided to climb on to Buckingham palace, and this stunt gained lots of media attention and now the group is know by most of the public. This is very influential because parties would be forced into listening for what the pressure group is trying to achieve.
A second method that outsiders use is mobilising the publics’ opinion. This can also be a key factor on helping a party because it can achieve more votes. More votes were achieved in the 2005 campaign when OAPS wanted higher pensions, pressure groups like ‘Age Concern’ could act and help influence the parties and the public on what should happen. If a pressure group is in vote with the public then a party would have no choice but to also go in favour because if they don’t then they could lose an amazing amount of votes.
Explain three factors that effect the power of pressure groups.
The first factor is ‘finance’. Being wealthy has many positives for a pressure group, because they have more chance of being recognised with a political party. A big donation by pressure groups to political parties helps them become know with the party and their issues raised will also gain importance to the party. Groups that have considerable funds can mount expensive campaigns to press their cause. The power of the pressure group with more money than another is very effective. The main reason for this is that the pressure group with more finance can do a lot more to get noticed and become more popular.
A second factor is ‘size’. More members of a pressure group then the more popular it is with the public. Size often translates itself into finance and also voting power. If the size of a pressure group is much bigger than another it does not always mean it will have more power, however, in most case the size does matter because popularity in the public is higher. There would be more people to spread the words on certain issues being raised by a pressure group than a smaller pressure group.
A third factor is ‘celebrity involvement’. Most pressure groups try to gain endorsements from well-known celebrities. An individual who is very famous has more of a chance of getting a point known to the public and the government than one that does not. If an individual for example like David Beckham was to help a group like green peace, then loads of football fans would want to vote with that pressure group. Also having someone famous on your side would raise itself in popularity because media response would be very high. And when the media is at a high the government and political parties find it very hard to ignore, because the public also have their say.
