methods

Question 1

Which methods do pressure groups use?

Answer 1

Demonstrations
Lobbying
Fund political parties
Legal action
Direct action

Question 2

demonstrations

Answer 2

Demonstrations can show the large number of supporters of
the cause of a pressure group. Demonstrators are voters, and
the government may be worried about large numbers
disagreeing with them. In 2019 the ‘People’s Vote’ organised a protest march in London for a referendum
on the Brexit deal, attracting 400,000 people.

Demonstrations also draw attention, get reported in the
media and may influence public opinion.
However, demonstrations do not directly force the
government to change its policies; they can be ignored.
Both the demonstrations against the War in Iraq and the
People’s Vote ones were ignored.

Question 3

lobbying

Answer 3

Contacting decision makers (the government) directly to influence their decisions.

Simple: contacting them by letter, email or visiting in person

Advanced: Use professional ‘lobbyists’ to approach and persuade politicians
Lobbyists and effective lobbying costs money. That means wealthier groups have more influence. This is seen as
negative for democracy. AA has frozen fuel duty for 13 years in a row. They used professional organisations to devise
the most effective strategy to convince government, and have been successful

Question 4

legal action

Answer 4

Rather than ask the government nicely to change something, pressure groups can force change: They can go to court.

If government policies or actions break UK
laws (e.g. Human Rights Act)
In 2019 the civil rights organisation Liberty supported Extinction Rebellion in its
court case (Jones v. Metropolitan Police) against the London Metropolitan Police
who had banned all Extinction rebellion protests in London.

It had earlier in 2004 successfully supported a court case against the government’s
policy of indefinite detention of foreign terrorism suspects.
Government can change the law if they lose a court case

Question 5

fund political parties

Answer 5

groups can fund political parties, in the hope of
influencing their policies

They tend to fund parties they agree with ideologically

Trade unions traditionally fund Labour

Corporations more often fund the Conservatives. In 2019 the UK’s largest trade union, Unite, donated £5 million to the Labour
Party to fund its general election campaign. In 2020 it threatened to reduce the
money it gives Labour if the party would drop its left-wing proposals after Corbyn
was replaced by Starmer as party leader

Question 6

direct action

Answer 6

activities that aim to raise awareness of a
particular issue by causing disruption and inconvenience.
This can be either peaceful or violent, legal or illegal.

Direct action can be legal and
peaceful, or it can be illegal and
sometimes violent.

Disruption can be minor or
serious.

This is a cheap way of getting
attention for less wealthy
organisations

Question 7

examples of direct action

Answer 7

In 2019 environmental group Extinction Rebellion blocked central London with a
range of activities, including setting up tents, chaining and gluing themselves to
buildings and trains, and spraying a government building with fake blood, causing
significant disruption.

In 2021 Insulate Britain blocked main roads, causing traffic jams

In 2022 Just Stop Oil splashed paint onto paintings in museums
Strikes:

2022-23 RMT
railway strikes

Question 8

What have been the UK’s largest and most significant demonstrations?

Answer 8

2003 Stop the War Coalition protest against war in Iraq - 1,000,000 - Tony Blair went to war anyways
2019 People’s vote second EU referendum - 400,000