Pressure Group examples

Question 1

Why has the living wage foundation been hugely influential?

Answer 1

1) They influenced govt in introducing national minimum wage for over 25s
2) By 2013, over 430 employers followed suit
3) By 2014, over 1000 employers followed suit

Question 2

Why was living wage foundation successful?

Answer 2

Labour party had been campaigning on the cost of living crisis

Question 3

What did prison related pressure groups do in 2017?

Answer 3

Lobbied against govt to reverse spending cuts they argue to have contributed to rising suicide rates and sharply declining standards

Question 4

What influenced the govt in 2015 to consider introducing a sugar tax to combat obesity?

Answer 4

Number of medical and nutritional experts alongside Jamie Oliver gave evidence to the House of Commons health select committee

Question 5

What did the BMA do and why were they unsuccessful

Answer 5

They strikes in 2015 and 2016. After 3 months of negotiation with the department of health, they werent able to get the terms they desired

Question 6

What is COPA and COGECA?

Answer 6

European farming pressure groups with over 30mil farmers and over 50 years of experience

Question 7

What does COPA and COGECA do?

Answer 7

Lobby the EU, in particular defending the budget allocated for the Common agricultural policy

Question 8

15/16th Feb 2003?

Answer 8

2 mil people marched in London to protest plans to invade Iraq, didn’t stop Parliament

Question 9

How was the Living wage foundation able to fund research into the impact of the living wage?

Answer 9

1 million donation from the Trust for London

Question 10

Conservative Party’s ‘Leaders group’s?

Answer 10

Dining club open to donors giving at least 50k per year, members given access to PM and other ministers

Question 11

What did the 2010 coalition do to try combatting the elitist nature of pressure Group politics

Answer 11

Introduced the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act(2014)

Question 12

When has having access to financial resources undermined a pressure groups agenda?

Answer 12

BMA’s 2012 strike over pensions reform due to doctors’ pension being above average wages

Question 13

When have insiders used direct action?

Answer 13

BMA in 2015 and 2016 with the latter being an all out strike due to insider discussions failing

Question 14

An example of an ideological outsider ?

Answer 14

Class war , they vandalised the Cereal killer cafe I’m 2015 as part of a demonstratiom against gentrification

Question 15

When did pressure groups face less opposition?

Answer 15

When campaigning for stricter banking regulations after 2007

Question 16

When did pressure groups face considerable opposition?

Answer 16

Trade Union Congress (54 TUs) in conflict with CBI

Question 17

What does research suggests about the demographics of PGs?

Answer 17

Members are disproportionately middle class because these people have more resources to pursue political activism

Question 18

What was found out about the 2008 consultation over tobacco sales by DoH

Answer 18

That 3/4 of pressure groups that responded were funded by the DoH

Question 19

What is 38 degrees?

Answer 19

An online community organising space where people can raise issues they are concerned about

Question 20

What happened in 2011?

Answer 20

Undercover journalists filmed chief lobbyist from firm Bell Pottinger boasting about how they ensured the PM raised concerns about copyright infringement of Dyson whilst meeting with leaders in China

Question 21

What was the official position of the Conservative party in regards to the EU referendum and what did David Cameron suspend?

Answer 21

Official position was to remain

David Cameron suspended collective responsibility

Question 22

What did journalists secretly film in 2010?

Answer 22

MPs and Lords as the journalists tried to buy their influence with Labour MP Stephen Breyers describing himself as a cab for hire

Question 23

October 2012?

Answer 23

Several retired army officers claiming they could help weapons manufacturers secure contracts by exploiting contacts and connections

Question 24

Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014?

Answer 24

Introduced tighter spending limits on political activities, cutting the amount groups can spend influencing elections by 60%. It also set a limit of £9,750 per constituency, in terms of influencing.

Question 25

What happened in September 2017?

Answer 25

Attention drawn to the welfare of the prisoners, after pressure groups such as Howard League for Penal Reform, bought attention to the rising suicide rates in UK prisons.

Question 26

Why is opposition to the HS2 unlikely to succeed?

Answer 26

Economic benefits outweigh the concerns protested

Question 27

What percentage voted for the Conservatives in the 2015 election?

Answer 27

24.4%

Question 28

Why is pressure group flawed?

Answer 28

Being a member does not mean the individual is politically active. For example, RSPB.

Question 29

Direct action controversial?

Answer 29

Whilst it promotes political participation, it is unethical to force your agenda on people. BMA strikes by junior doctors 2015 and 2016

Question 30

What would the BMA be consulted on?

Answer 30

Medical policies

Question 31

What would Liberty be consulted on?

Answer 31

Extradition process or Human Rights in the UK

Question 32

Why is PG research and expertise important?

Answer 32

Without it, the legislative process would be slow and lacking the data for it to be effective.

Question 33

What did the Lawyers argue after January 2016?

Answer 33

That had the government listened to the lawyers in the first place, they would not have wasted many on a U-turn to planned cuts to legal aid.

Question 34

What did the 2016 Act for the Act campaign do?

Answer 34

They used stories of average Britons whose rights has been protected by Human Rights Act to expose the public to cases that may have not been received in mainstream media.

Question 35

What was the petition to stop Trump’s state visit accused of doing?

Answer 35

Signed by 1.8 million, it’s accused of oversimplifying the issue regarding Trump’s state visit, thus no real political engagement

Question 36

What is unique about the BMA?

Answer 36

They’re insider with strong human and financial resources, however didn’t manage to amend the proposed working contracts for junior doctors in England