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Politics Paper 1 > Mr Scriven - Pressure Groups > Flashcards

Mr Scriven - Pressure Groups Flashcards

1
Q

Evidence of pressure groups being beneficial to democracy

A

Raising public awareness, education and public debate
Successful in persuading govt to pass legislation that public support e.g live veil exports
Popular support - 60% oppose animal experimentation - parties don’t speak about this
Evidence of support e.g attendance of Jill Phillips funeral
Encourages participation
Represents those who don’t have a voice - minorities

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2
Q

Evidence that pressure groups are harmful to democracy

A

Horrible tactics e.g grave robbing and violent/abusive
Anti democratic
No accountability for their actions
Don’t speak for all - silent majority
Enormous costs of policing protests/marches
Damages economy - blockading roads, ports and airports
Delay/block vital medical research - could this cost lives?

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3
Q

Pressure groups in favour of smoking

A

FOREST
BAT
TMA

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4
Q

Pressure groups against smoking

A

-ash
-BMA
-rcn

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5
Q

Three consequences of anti poll tax protests in 1990

A

The downfall of thatcher
John major abolished poll tax and replaced with council tax
Encourages other groups to use violence

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6
Q

Anti poll tax league - 1990

A

Abolition of the poll-tax
Tactics:
Violence
Media coverage
Protest in London 200,000

Abolished the poll tax and was replaced with council tax
Conservatives ended up removing thatcher as leader

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7
Q

Snowdrop campaign - 1997

A

Mass shooting in dunblain primary school
Tactics:
-media
-emails
-petition at downing street
-Founder did a speech at a labour conference

Resulted in legislation on banning the ownership of hand guns in the uk (firearms amendment act)

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8
Q

The friends and family of Stephen Lawrence

A

Black British teen stabbed to death in an unprovoked racial attack
Received major publicity to secure convictions and an enquiry into the criminal justice system
Tactics:
- daily mails ‘5 murderers’
-police criticised
-Nelson Mandela did a press conference
Parents met with pm

Led to race relations bill, double jeopardy reform (2000), and an investigation into ‘stop and search’
McPherson report - police were institutionally racist

The family filed a private prosecution in 93 that failed (unreliable identification evidence)

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9
Q

the Gurkha justice campaign - 2008

A

Until 2004 Gurkhas could not settle in the uk ( wanted settlement for all)
Tactics:
-protests/marches
- public speaking
-media of Joanna lumley

Blair changed the rules so that Gurkhas who retired after 1997 could settle - ghurka residency act 2008
Controversial as govt said they wouldn’t allow this but changed their minds

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10
Q

Child poverty action group - 2020

A

Providing free school meals during school holidays
Tactics;
- open letters to MPs
- formed tack force with uk food banks
-BBC documentary
- celebrity endorsement of Marcus rashford

Free meal extension during school holiday in 2020

Celeb endorsement
Johnson announced to rashford before parliament
Scheme no longer in action

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11
Q

What factors allow the law changes to be successful

A

Celebrity endorsement
Publics support
Media’s sympathetic coverage
Protests
Civil disobedience
Petitions
Emotive issues
Global media coverage
Proximity to GE
Violence
Meeting with govt.

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12
Q

Green peace

A

Prevent shell from dumping disused oil depot ‘Brent spa’ into the Atlantic
They illegally occupied the Brent spa at sea as well as organised boycotts of shell throughout Germany
She’ll agreed not to dispose of the waste in the sea
Controversy as it disrupted economic activity, cost shell £40m excluding the boycotts, middle class activism, and misled the public with how much oil was in the spa
They resulted in storing it in Norway for 7 years and eventually cut it up and used it as part of a ferry terminal

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13
Q

Occupy - outsider group

A

Anti capitalism/anti globalisation
Attack on the 1% of the worlds population who owns 99% of the worlds wealth (we are the 99%)
They camped (occupied) in high profile places around the word:
-Wall Street
-st Paul’s cathedral
- Sheffield cathedral
Protests
They achieved nothing !
Controversy as there was violent police tactics which costs lots to police and disrupts economy

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14
Q

Anonymous

A

Anti capitalism/anti globalisation
Attacks on global capitalist cooperations:
-PayPal
-amazon
-apple
-cbi/fbi
-google
‘Hacktivism’ - they would disrupt and embarrass global cooperations by hacking them and installing virus, leaking private details, data breaches, trolling and disrupting emails, apps etc
No laws changed!
Student/teen activism
Economic disruption

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15
Q

Fathers 4 justice

A

Custody/access rights for divorced fathers
Publicity stunts - dressed as superhero’s and Santa
Power attack on Blair during PMQ
Disrupted national lottery on live tv
They plotted to kidnap the pms son
They did achieve some sympathy
Their tactics became alienating and values shifted from original group
Founder, Michael O’Connor dissolved due to concerns
Outsider group - made more noise than impact

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16
Q

Extinction rebellion

A

Action to stop climate change
They blockaded roads, trains, motorways and city centres
Michael government declared a climate change emergency
Controversies as tactics were alienating, middle class activism, cost of policing
Links with just stop oil

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17
Q

Why are some pressure groups less successful

A

Disruption to economy
Controversial issues
More hate than support
Public alienation
Lack of celebrity endorsement
Middle class activism
Disruption to daily lives
Making enemies with govt/business
Hard to achieve aims
Less emotive issues
No leadership/coordination

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18
Q

Elitism

A

Negative functions/features of pressure groups

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19
Q

Elitism features

A

They are sectional interest = trade unions
They are better resourced and organised sections of the community so therefore advantaged = NIBY campaigns
Too much goes on in secret with lobbying carried out behind closed doors = CBI, Adam smith, ERTI
Leadership being unrepresentative of views of membership = f4j, RSPCA
Threatening/violent/illegal tactics = anonymous, occupy
Can slow down the decision making process and act as a barrier to social progress =NIBY ( anti wind turbines)

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20
Q

Pluralism features

A

Promotes discussion and debate and mobilises public opinion on key issues = for/against eu membership, Scottish independence
Perform a role in educating citizens about a specific issue = greenpeace
Enhance democratic participation, pluralism and diversity - Ghurka justice, CND
Raise issues that political parties wont touch due to sensitivity = abortion rights
Provides an important access point for those seeking redress or grievance = stone wall
Represents minorities who cannot represent themselves = friends and family of Stephen Lawrence
Valuable sources of specialist info and help to support parliament/civil service = BMA
Important role in implementing changes to public policy = snowdrop campaign - firearms amendment act
Act as a check an and balance to power of executive govt = anti poll tax league

21
Q

Adam smith institute

A
  • has registered charity status
  • one of the most influential British think tanks
  • specialises in research in education
    Reports have led to:
  • grant maintained schools
  • academy schools
  • national curriculum
  • GCSE’s
  • AS exams
  • school league tables
  • tuition fees
  • multi academy trusts
  • academy status
22
Q

European round table of industrialists - ERTI

A

All their recommendations were achievements:
- enlarging the size of the EU
- increasing pension contribution by employer
- public/private partnership in both education and health
- establishment of G8
- reductions in cooperation tax across the eu
- action on climate change

23
Q

CBI - confederation of British industry

A

Their motto: ‘voice of business’
Recent campaigns:
- consistently opposed against minimum wage - unsuccessful
- critical of climate change - unsuccessful
- campaigned for HS2 high speed rail link - unsuccessful
- lobbied fir reductions in cooperation tax - success
- opposed Scottish independence - success
Opposed Brexit (said it would cost 950,000 jobs - unsuccessful
Lobbied for 3rd runway at Heathrow - success

24
Q

Specialist insider

A

Those who are granted insider status within a more narrow area of expertise - WWF

25
Q

Peripheral insiders

A

Those who have insider status but are only rarely needed by govt

26
Q

Core insiders

A

Those with a strong 2-way relationship with policy makers over a broad range e.g BMA

27
Q

High profile insiders

A

Consciously using the media as well - CBI

28
Q

Low profile insiders

A

Concentration on behind the scenes pressure e.g national trust

29
Q

‘Prisoner’ insiders

A

Dependent on govt in some way e.g equalities commission

30
Q

Insider groups

A

Are regularly consulted by govt departments e.g BMA,CBI
They often have a high impact on policy outcome as they offer expertise, policy implementation and political support

31
Q

Think tanks

A

Organisation that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology and culture
Most policy institutes are non-profit organisations, which some countries such as us and canada provide with tax exempt status, other think tanks are funded by govt, advocacy groups or businesses or derive revenue from consulting or research work related to their projects

32
Q

Is it a level playing field

A

Clear influence of CBI, UK finance and ERTOI
Not all groups have the ‘ear of policy makers’ and there is not equal access to such parliamentary processors
Reference to insider/outsider status (unions, countryside alliance, BMA, NFU, think tanks like ASI)

33
Q

How does parliament provide opportunity or interest group activity

A

-Parliamentary committees in particular - however evidence given dominated by sectional groups e.g unions
-government consultation - while drafting plans to introduce gay marriage in 2012, the govt undertook a 12 week consultation on its plans
- in a 2008 consultation over tobacco sales by department of health, over 3/4 of responses were from organisations funded by department of health therefore not a wide spread variety of views

34
Q

Lobbying

A

2011 - undercover journalists filmed the chef lobbyist at the lobbying firm bell pottinger boasting that on behalf of the vaccine manufacturer Dyson they had ensured that the PM raised concerns over copy right
‘Cash for question’ and ‘cash for access’
Lobbying can be positive - stone wall

35
Q

Anti democratic

A

Groups like ALF and anonymous should not be listened to otherwise it will inspire other law breakers
Anti poll tax protests -civil disobedience and law breaking was rewarded

36
Q

Participation mass membership groups

A

Green peace
CND
TUC
CBI - employs 1/3 of all Britain’s work force
RSPCA
National trust

37
Q

Issues with mass membership

A

Slacktivism
Check book membership
Weakening of unions power since 80’s
E-petitions and demonstrations gather large support but have little overall influence in decision making

38
Q

Evidence of pluralism

A

Free serve - free school meals campaign 2020/21
Raising awareness - BLM
Friends and family of Stephen Lawrence - race relations bill
Success of ASH in getting smoking banned in public spaces despite opposition eg FOREST

39
Q

Evidence of elitism

A

Influence of ERTOI (reduce cooperation tax and reduce employer contribution to employee pensions)
CBI’s success for 3rd runway at Heathrow despite opposition
CBI’s campaign for hs2 rail link
Counter argument = CBI campaigned against minimum wage and were unsuccessful
Some considerable success by groups outside traditional elites - anti poll tax, Stephen Lawrence

40
Q

Roses theory - all about values

A
  • values generally accepted (by public, media, politicians e.g snowdrop)
  • values change over time (public used to be in favour and now against or vice versa e.g stone wall lgbtq+ rights)
  • opinions are divided (govt wont pick a ‘side’ because they don’t want to lose support e.g pro life vs pro choice)
  • cultural indifference (vast majority of public are not bothered about the issue e.g keep Sunday special)
  • attitudes shift away from group (groups lose support over time e.g f4j)
  • conflict between tactics and public opinion (public support but are alienated by group tactics e.g extinction rebellion)
41
Q

Grants theory

A
  1. Domain organisation
    -membership
    -electoral influence
    -competition for members
    Examples:
    -green peace
    -CBI/ERTOI
    -unions
  2. Resources
    -financial resources
    -financial uncertainty
    -organisational structure
    -tactics
    Examples:
    -green peace - own boats and ships
    - CBI ERTOI
    -Alf - blockades and direct action
    -TUC and labour - financial backing
  3. External environment
    -public opinions
    -outsider views
    Examples:
    -snowdrop
    -friends and family of Stephen Lawrence
    -free serve
    Counter argument:
    -f4j
    Just stop oil
42
Q

The post war consensus years 1945-79 - corporatism

A

Mostly associated with fascists states like Italy- the incorporation of pressure groups into the state itself, in the uk the incorporation of leading sectional groups (BBI/TUC) into the decision making process e,g NEDC ( national economic development council)

43
Q

Social contract

A

The British govt allowing the TUC/CBI to advise on economic policy in return for cooperation and implementation e.g no strikes

44
Q

Tri-partism

A

The 3 parts of the social contract - govt, CBI, TUC

45
Q

Post war consensus

A

Broad agreement between parties on the role of govt - full employment, social contract, support for welfare state

46
Q

Dual state model

A

2 types of govt when it comes to pressure group activity

  1. Social/moral issues - state has less vested interest lots of evidence of pluralism - cause groups have chance of success
  2. Economic/financial issues - state has vested interest lots of evidence of elitism - sectional groups like CBI have a lot of influence
47
Q

Explain and analyse 3 factors that can lead to some pressure groups being more successful than others - 9

A

Pressure group status - insider/outsider
Popular aims - roses theory
Wealth/finance - grants theory
Large membership can be shared to ignore - exception = CND
Celebrity endorsement
Emotive issues
Dual state model

48
Q

What is a cause group

A

group dedicated to one cause; with members having a shared purpose or interest in that cause. Generally, causal groups have open membership, meaning that anyone is allowed to join. An example of a causal group would be the Royal Society Protection of Birds (RSPB)

49
Q

What is a sectional group

A

A sectional group is a group dedicated to representing one section of society. This can be a profession, an industry or even a religion. They are set up to protect the interests of a section of the population, and as a result tend not to have open membership. Instead, a person must meet some qualifications to become a member: an example of a sectional group would be the British Medical Association (BMA) who represent doctors and whose membership consists exclusively of those concerned with the medical profession

Politics Paper 1 (10 decks)

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