PG, TT, Lobbyists Examples Flashcards
Example of a causal/promotional group
Greenpeace promotes awareness over environment concerns and tries to influence the government to adopt ‘green’ causes.
Example of a sectional/ interest group
trade unions represent their members in negotiations with employers over wages and working conditions.
Social movements: Iraq
The major anti-Iraq protests in 2003 (arranged by Stop the War Coalition) which included an estimated 750,000 demonstrators.
Social movements: climate change
Fridays for Future Climate Marches by schoolchildren across the world, including the UK, started by Greta Thunberg.
Social Movements: George Floyd
Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020
E-petition
Revoke Article 50 e-petition in March 2019
Received over 6million signatures
Insider groups: farming
the National Union of Farmers with DEFRA have close links with the relevant government departments
Low profile insider group
the Howard League for Penal Reform
High profile insider group
The confederation of British industry
Outsider group far from the political mainstream
Animal rights protestors who try to intimidate animal testing laboratories into ceasing their work.
Outsider group who believes talking to those in power will taint their reputation
The anti-capitalist ‘Occupy London’ movement, which camped outside St. Paul’s Cathedral in late 2011, saw the government as closely aligned to the global capitalist movement against which they were protesting.
Example of a pressure group who uses disruptive public demonstrations
‘Just Stop Oil’ - have held disruptive public demonstrations and The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, which have held repeated strikes in order to demand increase in pay.
Trade unions & Thatcher gov
Trade unions enjoyed privileged access and influence in the post-war era, especially with labour governments, but when the Thatcher government came to power in 1979, union leaders were deliberately excluded from the corridors of power and made the enemy of the people.
Example of insider group using specialist advice to gain influence over policy
The National Farmers Union is able to give conservative governments knowledge in return for influence over policy
Just stop oil
Just Stop Oil staged protests throughout 2022, including blocking roads and glueing themselves to football posts in the middle of games.
Well funded pressure groups may initiate legal challenges against policies they disapprove of e.g.
The Countryside Alliance took its case against banning of fox hunting to the High Court in 2004, but failed.
E.g. of a group using insider and outsider methods
British Medical Association usually enjoys insider status but, faced with Conservative determination to impose a new contract on junior doctors, it initiated strike action in the autumn of 2016.
Human Rights pressure group
Stonewall
What does stonewall do?
Campaigns for LGBT rights
Why was Stonewall formed?
In opposition to section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act introduced by Thatcher’s government which prohibited the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ by local authorities.
When did stonewall become an insider group?
When new labour came into power in 1997
What important changes did stonewall cause
- banning of homosexuality in the armed forces was lifted by the government in 2000 after a successful case in the ECHR to challenge existing legislation.
- involves in legislative achievements including equalising the age of consent to 16 years old as part of the Sexual Offence Act 2000
- introduction of the Civil Partnership Act 2000
Why did charities boycott the conservative government’s first LGBT conference
In April 2022, Stonewall, among other LGBT charities, boycotted the Conservative governments first global LGBT conference over its decision to exclude trans people from a ban on conversion therapy. It is now an outsider group as a result of government policy.
Pressure group that campaigns to protect civil liberties and protect human rights
Liberty
What has liberty focused on in the last 5 years
Challenging the investigatory powers act 2016 in the high court and challenging hostile environment policies for immigrants in the UK.
After raising £50,000 from a crowdfunder, Liberty challenged key provisions of the act and were successful, when in April 2018 the High Court ruled that key provisions in the act violated EU law.
Sectional group who protects doctors
British Medical Association
What has the BMA contributed to?
- the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces in 2007 and saw banning smoking is cars as the next step to banning smoking in the UK.
How have the BMA lobbied
By using online technology to allow supporters to lobby MPs
Marcus Rashfords Campaign
In the summer of 2020, he teamed up with Fairshare and put significant public pressure on the UK government to reverse its decision to not extend free school meals to children during the summer holidays, through open letters, e-petitions and his social media accounts which generated a social movement and major public support.
- celebrity support for outsider pressure groups
Recent RMT strikes
In the winter of 2022/23, there have been major strikes by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) who work on the railways, to demand a real terms pay increase and protest about the increasing profits of rail companies.
- outsider, sectional pressure group
Example of a pressure group with a large membership who pay subscriptions
RSPCA
Employs around 1600 people, supported by 1000’s of volunteers and can afford to spend a lot on advertising.
Snowdrop campaign
Snowdrop campaign to ban the use of handguns in the UK, for example, was successful largely due to public horror over the 1996 Dunblane Primary School massacre.
Celebrity influence on a campaign
Joanna Lumley’s public support and leadership in the Gurkha Justice campaign, which campaigned for retired Gurkah soldiers’ right to live in the UK, was important in helping to overturn a ban in 2009.
Right wing think tank examples
Adam Smith Institute and Centre for Social Justice
Left wing think tanks
Fabian Society and Institute for Public Policy
Example of someone using a think tank as a spring board for a political career.
David Milliband worked for the Institute for Public Policy Research at the start of his career.
Think tank influence: Universal Credit
Universal Credit benefit system was first proposed by the Centre for Social Justice and implemented by the Coalition government.
Think tank influence: free-market
The shift in the Conservative party in the 1970’s to a more overtly free-market approach owed a great deal to Thatcher’s patronage of right-wing think tanks such as the Centre for Policy Studies and the Adam Smith institute.
Prominent examples of lobbying: CFQ
Cash For Questions
- in the 1990’s when John major was in government, a number of Conservative MPs were accused of accepting money to ask particular questions in parliament.
- Neil Hampton accepted £2,000 through a lobbyists for asking questions on behalf of the owner of Harrods.
Prominent examples of lobbying: Berni Ecclestone
- Tony Blair was involved in a scandal after exempting Forumla One from a ban on tobacco advertising after Bernie Ecclestone (the head of Formula One’s governing body) had donated £1million to labour
- the money was returned by Blair, who said the events weren’t connected.
Loans given out in COVID
During COVID £7.5billion in loans were given out by the Bank of England to help corporations and companies struggling as a result of lockdowns, in the Covid Corporate Financing Facility.
Companies which campaigned to leave the EU
Wetherspoons and Dyson
