negatives of pressure groups Flashcards
certain pressure groups gain disproportionate insider status/influence–> elitism
-Conservative peer Baroness Mone had pocketed funds from the company PPE Medpro during the pandemic, recieving over £200m of govt covid contracts: she had secured a place on a ‘VIP lane’ that govt uses to prioritise politically connected suppliers at the beginning of the pandemic.
-She also lobbied on behalf of a second company LFI Diagnostics linked to her husbands family office
Elitism- Power is concentrated.
refers to people who lobby for businesses to which they have been paid by or for their own personal/financial gain.`
Lobbying
-Trying to influence the policies or actions of MPs -
-Russian Oil magnate Alexander Turmerko conservative partys ‘leader group’ donor had direct access to secretary of state for health jeremy hunt- was due to having strategic social positions and financial resources.
-Formal PM David Cameron had lobbied around 60 ministers on behalf of Greensil Captial UK Limited, a company which he personally invested in- eventually company= bankrupt.
-2012 former cons party co-treasurer Peter Crudas offering direct access to No.10 in exchange to a ‘premier league’ £250000 donation.
Focused on narrow areas of policy/interests
-In defending minority concerns, they make it more difficult for the government to act in the interests of larger society.
e.g Gurkha Justice campaign which achieved its aims, but didnt really have a big impact on government or the public as a whole.
Pressure groups dont have equal opportunity to lobby govt
-If a PG is small and doesn’t have much financial backing its less likely for the govt to listen to the issues they’re trying to raise and instead often leaves them ignored compared to those that do . E.g between 2010-2015 donations to cons party from city sources doubled, receiving £19m from hedge fund managers, in return it ensured there’d be no new regulations on bankers bonuses.
Undermine representative democracy
The countryside alliance’s 2002 Liberty & Livelihood March that led to Tony Blair watering down that legislation, led to amendments in the New Labour Fox hunting legislation: vocal minority usurping the sedate majority.
Govt will always have parliamentary sovereignty
Although the Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign had won in the supreme court, it was only a temporary win as Jeremy Hunt introduced a new law which made it within his legal powers to go forward with his original plans, re-emphasising that pressure groups aren’t as effective
