Pressure Group Behaviour

Question 1

What are access points , or ‘points of leverage’ ?

Answer 1

The points within the political system at which pressure groups and other interested parties can exert pressure on those who hold political power

Question 2

Where is power concentrated in a unitary system?

Answer 2

at the centre

Question 3

Are there more access points in a unitary system or federal?

Answer 3

federal system

Question 4

Where is power in a federal system?

Answer 4

sovereign power over different areas of policy is held at different levels of government

Question 5

Which types of systems offer a great range of meaningful access points to pressure groups?

Answer 5

systems that incorporate a clear separation of powers and an entrenched system of checks and balances such as the USA

Question 6

What 3 factors have increased the number of access points in the UK over recent years?

Answer 6

• Scottish Parliament with primary legislative powers
• Creation of assemblies and executives in Wales, Northern Ireland and London
• Independent UKSC from the HOL

Question 7

What powers do the Scottish Parliament have?

Answer 7

primary legislative powers

Question 8

What are the 4 traditional methods of pressure groups?

Answer 8

• letter writing campaigns
• petitions
• marches
• conventional lobbying

Question 9

What pressure group complied a petition of more than 2 million names in the mid 1980s and employed postcard campaigns in 1989 and 1990?

Answer 9

Anti-abortion organisation , Life

Question 10

What did the anti-abortion organisation , Life, do in 1989 and 1990 as a traditional method of pressure groups ?

Answer 10

compiled a petition of more than 2 million names in mid 1980s and employed a post card campaign in 1989 and 1990 against the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act

Question 11

What did the anti-abortion organisation , Life, campaign against?

Answer 11

the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act

Question 12

What were there marches against in 1990 which were influential as a traditional method of pressure groups?

Answer 12

Marches against the Poll Tax

Question 13

What is lobbying?

Answer 13

At a simple level, individuals or members of pressure groups may write to a government minister or visit the Palace of Westminster to lobby in person those who have influence over the groups area of interest or expertise

Question 14

For a fee, what will professional lobby firms offer?

Answer 14

these organisations will direct professional lobbyists to use their contacts on behalf of the pressure group in question

Question 15

Give an example of a professional lobby firm

Answer 15

the one time lobbying group Ian Greer Associates

Question 16

What did the one time lobbying group Ian Greer Associates do ?

Answer 16

arranged the initial contact between Mohamed Al Fayed and the Conservative MP and junior trade minister Neil Hamilton

Question 17

What influence do core insider groups have over influencing the legislate process directly?

Answer 17

have the ability to influence the formation of policy at an early stage though consultation with ministers, civil servants and government appointed bodies working on legislative proposals

Question 18

What do some larger groups do to attempt to influence the legislative process directly?

Answer 18

they employ lobbyists to pursue their legislative goals and maintain permanent Westminster offices

Question 19

In what 2 ways can pressure groups embarking on legal action work ?

Answer 19

1) the court finds that the government has acted in a manner beyond the authority granted (ultra vires)
2) such action raises public awareness of a particular issue, win or lose

Question 20

What pressure group is an example of when they have embarked on legal action and raised public awareness for their cause?

Answer 20

the Pro-Life Alliance’s challenge over the application of the hUman fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990

Question 21

Why is working through a political party sometimes difficult to do?

Answer 21

the government is likely to be subject to far greater demands on its time and policy-formulation is often more top down

Question 22

When is the easiest time for pressure groups to work through a political party?

Answer 22

when they are in opposition

Question 23

Give an example of when a pressure group has worked through a political party in the opposition

Answer 23

Charter 88 and Labour pre 1997

Question 24

What are direct action campaigns?

Answer 24

It starts from the premise that conventional methods of influencing policy are flawed and that more visible, direct protests may offer the best opportunities for success

Question 25

Why do some pressure groups believe that using direct action will offer the best opportunities for success? (2)

Answer 25

because they make politicians taken notice and can broaden public support

Question 26

What are 3 examples of direct action ?

Answer 26

• civil disobedience
• illegality
• violence

Question 27

What do critics argue against direct action campaigns?

Answer 27

that the rise of single-issue, direct action politics undermines our system of representative democracy

Question 28

What do some critics believe that that the rise of single-issue, direct action politics undermines our system of representative democracy ?

Answer 28

because such campaigns prevent government from implementing their programmes and from pursuing policies that address the nation and not just sectional interests

Question 29

What are 6 examples of actual direct action campaigns

Answer 29

• anti-road protests
• campaigns against live animal exports
• fuel protests
• Fathers4Justice
• campaigns against fox hunting
• against vivisection and airport expansion

Question 30

what are 3 ways some pressure groups use paid media?

Answer 30

• whole page advertisements in national press
• direct mail
• producing and airing t.v advertisements

Question 31

Which and when did a single-issue party use media to express their cause ?

Answer 31

1997 general election the Referendum Party produced a video, which it sent free of charge to millions of households

Question 32

Who ran a series of hard hitting magazine advertisements depicting the fate of vulnerable children?

Answer 32

Barnardo’s

Question 33

How did the NSPCC use media?

Answer 33

used television advertising in their Full Stop campaign targeting violence against children

Question 34

What are the 3 ways a pressure group can use unpaid media through eliciting news coverage?

Answer 34

• stunts
• planning marches
• employing direct action techniques

Question 35

What is the benefit of high-speed internet access, social networking sites and smartphones for pressure groups?

Answer 35

technology allows those with similar views to communicate, network and plan demonstrations with great speed with little financial cost

Question 36

How did the pressure group Greenpeace prevent Shell in 1995 who were given permission from the government to dump the 14,500 ton Brent Spar oil platform in the North Atlantic? (3)

Answer 36

• Flew a satellite uplink to broadcast live to European News programmes
• organised boycotts and protests at Shell petrol stations in Germany and Holland
• Press releases proving data on the residues inside the Spar

Question 37

What act of parliament was the RSPCA consulted over in 1991?

Answer 37

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

Question 38

Why are the ALF (Animal Liberation Front) and the road protesters outside the political loop?

Answer 38

• AFL because its extreme tactics cause its members to be classified more as animal rights terrorists than as belonging too legitimate pressure groups
• road protesters nausea their aims ran contrary to government policy

Question 39

Which government did the Winter of Discontent 1978-79 lead to fall?

Answer 39

James Callaghan’s Labour Government

Question 40

Which union was widely credited with paralysing Edward Heaths Conservative government?

Answer 40

the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)

Question 41

Why was their a decline in trade union activity due to the changing of occupational structure?

Answer 41

the decline in heavy manufacturing industry led to the decline of what Ivor Crew called the traditional or old working class in favour of a new working class that was less cohesive, less militant and less heavily unionised

Question 42

Who said ...
the decline in heavy manufacturing industry led to the decline of what \_\_\_\_\_\_ called the traditional or old working class in favour of a new working class that was less cohesive, less militant and less heavily unionised

Answer 42

Ivor Crew

Question 43

How was there anti-union legislation in the 1980’s which led to a decline in trade union activity?

Answer 43

-various employment acts and trade union acts were pushed through during the Thatcher years (1979-90) severely limited the unions’ ability to act quickly and freely

Question 44

During the Thatcher years 1979-90, how were trade unions severely limited to act quickly and freely?

Answer 44

they were forced to hold secret ballots before strike action and banned secondary or sympathy action

Question 45

The defeat of whom in 1985 marked a watershed in union power?

Answer 45

the NUM

The National Union of Mineworkers

Question 46

By 2010, what percentage of the private sector and public sector workers were union members?

Answer 46

private sector members - 14.3%

Public sector members- 56.3%