pressure group success factors Flashcards
What makes a pressure group successful?
Success may mean influencing government policy
Success may mean government attention to an issue
It may mean awareness and changing public opinion on an issue
success factors
Resources
Public Support
Insider or Outsider
resources
Financial resources
Celebrity endorsement
Membership size
Allows a bigger campaign, more
effective methods
Increase publicity
More supporters = more voters
Heathrow Airport used a £1.25
million advertisement campaign
to get support for an extra runway
The CBI has an annual budget of £24
million
FareShare’s campaign to extend free
school meals to school holidays was
supported by Marcus Rashford
The AA has 15 million members, and
managed to get fuel duty frozen for
the 11th year in a row
Organisations with more resources don’t always get their way; e.g. CBI on
Brexit
public support
Is the majority of voters in favour? Is
this seen as important?
Add examples
Think of evaluation points
63% of the general public
supported Action on Sugar’s aim
of a sugar tax
Organisations with public support don’t always get their way; e.g. Stop the
War Coalition on War in Iraq
insider or outsider
Insiders can have direct influence,
use lobbying
Add examples
Think of evaluation points
Heathrow Airport has access to
government and successfully
lobbied for an extra runway
The AA has access to government
and successfully lobbied for an
extra runway
Insider groups don’t always win, e.g. Taxpayer Alliance on free school
meals; also, insider status can depend on which party is in government
case study - fare share v tax payers alliance
Marcus Rashford and
FareShare, 2020
FareShare vs. the Taxpayer Alliance - didnt want FSM to be extended as tax payers will have to pay more on extension of free school meals to school holidays
Marcus Rashford forces Boris Johnson into second U-turn on
child food poverty
plane stupid vs heathrow airport
Plane Stupid vs. Heathrow Airport on Heathrow extra runway - because of the impact a 3rd runway could have on the environment
Campaign group Plane Stupid parked van across road at 7.40am, and
police say protesters removed and road reopened by about 11.10am
Environmental activists caused disruption at Heathrow during rush hour by parking
a van across the entrance tunnel to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 and locking themselves to
the vehicle so that it could not be moved.
Heathrow Airport sponspored the conservative party conference and lobbied certain trade unions to gain indirect influence on Labour MPs and paid £1.2M on advertisements
AA vs Greenpeace on fuel Duty
Greenpeace were against it as freezing fuel duty = more cars = more climate problems
British Soft Drinks Association vs Action on Sugar on the introduction of a sugar tax
strong public support for sugar tax - 63% of people supported it as it would reduce child obesity
BSDA didnt want it as it would raise prices - they lobbied to no avail
arguments that pressure groups have influence.
- Pressure group campaigns do regularly change
government decisions - AA
However, governments can ignore
pressure group campaigning, and
often do so - Peoples vote protest - Pressure group campaigns can influence public
opinion and draw attention for an issue, even if
not directly changing government policy - BLM protests
However, some pressure group
activity aimed to draw attention, in
particular direct action, can be
counter-productive and actually
put some people off supporting a
cause - other forms of direct action
Arguments that pressure groups don’t have influence
- Some pressure groups, like outsider groups or
those with fewer (financial) resources, struggle
to have influence - plane stupid
However, even though outsider
groups struggle to influence the
government, they can use direct
action to gain attention for their
cause - extintion rebellion
2. In some cases a pressure group campaigning for
something and one against may cancel each others’
influence out. - sugar tax
However, while the influence of
opposing groups is sometimes
equal, often it is unequal - heathrow airport
do pressure groups threaten or enhance democracy - pluralism
Pluralist democracy
A pluralist democracy is a situation where power is
widely spread in society, and a wide range of
interests and groups are represented.
A wide range of views is
represented, including the
interests of ordinary
citizens, and have a real
impact on government
decisions – the
government listens to a
wide range of opinions
Because democracy is about power
for the people, and equal influence
for all, pluralism is seen as good
for democracy
How can pressure groups help make democracy more
pluralist?
Pressure groups can
represent a wide range of
interests of many different
groups in society - AA, Plane stupid
Pressure groups represent
groups ignored by
political parties - Fareshare
Pressure groups give ordinary
people opportunities to
participate - people’s vote
elitism and pressure groups
Elitist democracy
An elitist democracy is a situation where power is
concentrated in the hands of the few, taking
decisions in their own interest.
A small, wealthy elite
dominates power
This group uses its privileged
position for its own interests
Ordinary people have no
influence, only offered ‘pretend’
influence.
How can pressure groups threaten democracy by
making it more elitist?
Wealthy groups tend be more
influential - CBI
Insider groups, already part of
the political establishment,
tend to be more influential - AA
