Holding Those In Power To Account Flashcards
Many people now get involved in local, national, or international issues through membership of/support for a group or cause, for example
Voluntary groups
Pressure groups
Trade unions
Interest groups
What are petitions
~> Collections of signatures indicating support for an agreed statement.
~> Show the strength of support for the statement
~> Increasingly completed online (e-petitions)
What is leafleting
~> Distributing materials that support a particular point of view
~> Often asks for support and/or financial help
What is lobbying
~> General term for making your views known to those whose opinions you wish to influence
~> Specific term relates to citizens approaching their MP to raise an issue.
~> This is done in the lobby of the House of Commons
~> E.g advocacy, a person or group puts forward their ideas to advocate a certain position, often verbally but can be written
What is direct action
~> Violent is criminal activity eg destroying property, assault others, instigate a riot
~> Non violent eg strikes, occupation of buildings, sit ins, lead to arrests (maybe for refusing to leave property or blocked roads)
~> Civil disobedience, citizens disobeying rules or laws with which they disagree
What are boycotts
~> Deciding not to purchase certain goods or services because of a particular cause
What are demonstrations
~> small groups to mass marches and rallies
What is media promotion
~> Staging events and protests to attract media attention and publicity
What is use of celebrity
~> By attracting celebrities, causes able to gain media coverage and boost number of supporters
What is the use of e-media
~> increasing important form of campaigning
~> enables groups to contact supporters quickly, give latest info and correct media stories
~> enables groups to quickly contact the traditional media forms
What are the advantages and disadvantages of joining an interest group
Advantages:
• Provides focus for a limited range of objectives
Disadvantages:
• Normally interest groups are not campaigning groups
• The field of interest can be very narrow
Advantages and disadvantages of joining a political party
Advantages:
• enables a person to fully participate in the political process
Disadvantages:
• By joining you are governed by the rules of the party, so do not have total freedom of action
Advantages and disadvantages of standing in an election
Advantages:
•Standing for a political party means that you have a core of voters who will likely vote for you
• If standing as an independent, it is more difficult to get elected, but you are able to speak and vote on issues as you wish
Disadvantages:
• Standing for a political party can limit your freedoms to speak out or vote on specific issues as you have to support the party line
Advantages and disadvantages of campaigning
Advantages:
• You become fully involved with the issue and motivated to bring about a change
• Help you develop a wide range of transferable skills
Disadvantages:
• It can move from acceptable to illegal forms of action
• The issue/campaign can become a dominant factor in your life and detrimental to yourself or your ability to promote the campaign
Advantages and disadvantages of advocacy
Advantages:
• Excellent skill to develop, enabling you to present a point of view clearly to an audience
Disadvantages:
• The skill could overshadow the cause, so your advocacy lacks sincerity
• Your knows expertise in advocacy skills could attract supporters rather than the cause you are promoting
Advantages and disadvantages of lobbying
Advantages:
• Excellent campaigning skill to acquire
• Provides you with the ability to know who to contact about an issue and how to present your case
Disadvantages:
• Organised campaign lobbying can often be less effective than individuals lobbying who are directly impacted by the issue
Advantages and disadvantages of petitions
Advantages:
• Collecting large numbers of signatures indicates the level public support for a campaign
• It is easy to organise and a low cost campaigning tool
Disadvantages:
• As petitions are mainly carried out online, it is very easy to gather supported and consequently they are increasingly disregarded
• The gov’s e-petition system undermines other types of petitioning because it’s so easy to gather supported leave number of supporters
Advantages and disadvantages of joining a demonstration
Advantages:
• A way of feeling committed to a campaign and being actively involved
Disadvantages:
• If it gets out of hand, disruption and violence can occur and you place yourself in danger of injury or arrest
Advantages and disadvantages of volunteering
Advantages:
• Can directly help a particular group of people or cause
Disadvantages:
• Not in itself promote a change in a campaigning sense
