Pressure groups

Question 1

What are insider and outsider pressure groups?

Answer 1

1. Insider pressure groups are those that are consulted by the government and therefore have insider status. They need to be law-abiding with a good public image to retain trust in the government
   E.g. the British Medical Association (BMA) is consulted as matter of course on health related matters
2. Outsider groups are those that are not consulted by the government and instead try to influence political decisions making from outside. Some groups work towards insider status, whereas other ideologically oppose the government and happy to remain outsiders
   E.g. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) used extreme tactics that were incompatible with insider status.

Question 2

What are the failures and successes of the BMA?

Answer 2

Successes

1. In 2018 government introduced a sugar tax on fizzy drinks
2. In 2017 the government launched a public consultation and an opt-out system for organ donation, which the BMA campaigns for
3. The BMA campaigned for seatbelts to be compulsory for all occupants of cars, which was achieved in 1991.

Failures

1. The BMA cancelled plans for a second junior doctors’ strike in 2016 as many junior doctors complained that hospitals had not been given long enough to prepare
2. The government did not give in to union doctors when new contracts were imposed on them in 2016
3. Although BMA is an effective promotional group, its inability to avoid the new contracts suggests it is less effective as an interest group

Question 3

What are methods used by insider pressure groups?

Answer 3

1. Influencing the government
   E.g. the BMA directly influence ministers and civil servants through contributions to consultations or face-to-face meetings
2. Influencing parliament
   E.g. the BMA try to lobby MPs to influence their votes on government bills, and often sit before backbench committees
3. Influencing political parties
   E.g. Unions have been part of the Labour party since its formation and make essential financial contribution
   E.g. some pressure groups attend party conferences to try to influence members and key figures
4. Going on strike
   E.g. in 2016 the BMA organised the first full strike by junior doctors over changes to the junior doctor’s contract.

Question 4

What are methods used by outsider pressure groups?

Answer 4

1. Appealing to the public,
   E.g. in 2013 Greenpeace activists protested at the Shell Grand Prix event, which raised awareness to the Shell’s Arctic drilling in due to media attention from the likes of the Guardian
2. Direct action, which can sometimes be violent
   E.g. when SHAC activists harassed and attacked individuals linked to the Huntington Life Sciences animal testing centre
3. Background campaigns
   E.g. long term educational and propaganda campaigns are designed to produce significant shifts in public opinion
   E.g. the environmental ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ campaign
4. Short term campaigns
   E.g. ‘fire brigade campaign’, a dramatic campaign designed to rally support quickly for fire brigades and force the government to make rapid change.

Question 5

What are the successes and failures of Greenpeace?

Answer 5

Successes
1. Government attitudes towards carbon emissions have changed over recent decades
E.g. in 2017 the Conservative government announced plans for a lower carbon economy and there is widespread support for green energy
2. Its campaign against microbeads succeeded in 2017 when the government announced it would be introducing a ban
3. Its campaigns against companies have led to policy changes
E.g. it campaigned against Shell because of its Arctic drilling, which included convincing Lego to refuse to work with Shell. In 2015 Shell announced that it would no longer drill in the Arctic

Failures
1. Failed to prevent Cairn Energy from drilling for gas off the coast of Greenland, as protestors criticised the traditional Inuit diet of whale and seal meat, turning locals against Greenpeace
2. In 2016 more than 100 Nobel laureates signed a letter criticising Greenpeace for its campaign against genetically modified organisms, arguing that it was anti-science
3. The governments’ environmental policies do not satisfy activists
E.g. London reached its legal air pollution limit just 1 month in to 2018.

Question 6

What is the difference between promotional and interest groups?

Answer 6

Promotional groups are those that promote a specific cause, members need not have a personal connection to this cause to join
E.g. the housing and homeless charity Shelter

In contrast, interest groups who exist to defend interest of a particular group or section of society
E.g. trade unions such as the National Education Union, the largest teaching union

Some pressure groups do not fit neatly into the promotional and interest group classification
E.g. the BMA is a promotional group as it campaigns for the better public health, but also an interest group as it campaigns for better pay and conditions for its members.

Question 7

What are factors which affect pressure groups?

Answer 7

1. Membership
2. Resources
3. Aims
4. Public support
5. Celebrity endorsement
6. Links with political parties
7. Links with government
8. Links with media.

Question 8

How does membership affect pressure groups?

Answer 8

1. Large memberships have more influence with the government
   E.g. Greenpeace has almost 3 million members worldwide, this influence may have helped them to convince Lego to refuse to work with Shell, which subsequently led to Shell announcing it would no longer drill in the Arctic in 2018
2. Groups with highly regarded members
   E.g. the BMA is made up of doctors whose professional expertise is widely respected, may have helped them to influence the government to introduce a sugar tax on fizzy drinks in 2018 as they have valid judgement
3. However, the government may still ignore groups regardless of size and respect
   E.g. the BMA doctor’s strike in 2016 was ignored by the government

Question 9

How do resources affect pressure groups?

Answer 9

1. Money fund offices help pressure groups to influence decision making
   E.g. the Confederation of British Industry has 13 money fund offices across the UK, helping it to lobby government in the interests of British business
2. Resources are needed to fund legal challenges to government policy, unless the membership possesses the necessary expertise
   E.g. Client Earth are activist environmental lawyers who won their third legal victory against the government’s air pollution policy in 2018.

Question 10

How do the aims of a pressure group affect their success?

Answer 10

Limited and easily achievable aims are more likely to be met
E.g. the Snowdrop Campaign was set up after the Dunblane massacre of 1996 and aimed to ban private ownership of handguns in the UK. This was straightforward to achieve and an Act of Parliament was passed in 1997.

Question 11

How does public support affect pressure groups?

Answer 11

Public support helps to convince politicians to support and prioritise the pressure group’s cause
E.g. the Snowdrop Campaign had huge public support, so MPs and government were keen to ban handgun ownership.

Question 12

How does celebrity endorsement affect pressure groups?

Answer 12

Celebrity endorsement can bring publicity to an issue that might otherwise be overlooked by politicians
E.g. Joanna Lumley’s commitment to the Gurkha Justice Campaign ensured national media coverage of this cause. She met Gordon Brown, whose government announced in 2009 that Gurkha veterans who met certain requirements would be allowed to live in the UK.

Question 13

How do links to political parties influence pressure groups?

Answer 13

1. Some political parties are influenced by the donations of trade unions
   E.g. trade union donations are hugely important to Labour, given it provided much of the funding for its 2017 election campaign.

However, trade union membership has fallen, and union influence has may be curtailed further by the Trade Unions Act 2016.
(introducing new restrictions on trade unions and their members as to how and when they could take industrial action, fund political parties, and conduct their duties)

2. Endorsements from a respected pressure group can boost the policy’s credibility
   E.g. the BMA supported Labour’s 2007 smoking ban

Question 14

How do links with government influence pressure groups?

Answer 14

1. Insider status can allow pressure groups to directly influence government policy
   E.g. the BMA and the 2007 smoking ban.

Question 15

Which does the relationship with the media influence pressure groups?

Answer 15

1. Media support can put pressure on politicians
   E.g. the media supported the Snowdrop Campaign
2. Media criticism of pressure groups helps the government to justify ignoring their demands
   E.g. most newspapers criticised the BMA’s 2016 doctors’ strike.
3. Most pressure groups aim to attract publicity from the media, particularly when carrying out direct action
   E.g. in 2013 Greenpeace activists protested at the Shell Grand Prix event, which raised awareness to the Shell’s Arctic drilling in due to media attention from the likes of the Guardian

Question 16

What are other influences on government and parliament?

Answer 16

1. Think-tanks
2. Lobbyists
3. Corporations
4. The media

Question 17

What are features of think tanks?

Answer 17

1. Some have a clear position on the political spectrum
   E.g. the Adam Smith Institute is right of centre and supports neo-liberal free-market ideas
2. Many politicians have close links with think-tanks
   E.g. Ian Duncan Smith, former Conservative leader, set up the Centre for Social Justice in 2004
3. Think tanks have become more significant in policy making
   E.g. political policies were traditionally developed within political parties, but Blair increased the use of think-tanks for this

Question 18

Are pressure groups good for democracy?

Answer 18

1. No, pressure groups often have limited internal democracy so do not truly represent their members
   E.g. groups such as Greenpeace are internally hierarchical, which is undemocratic.

Yes, pluralism, pressure groups are an essential part of democracy as they allow different sections of society to have their views heard by government.
E.g. Greenpeace represents the environmentalist in UK society

2. No, violent and aggressive campaigning methods are contrary to the rule of law and liberal democracy
   E.g. SHAC activists harassed and attacked individuals linked to the Huntington Life Sciences animal testing centre

Yes, only a small minority of pressure groups use violent methods, many influence the government by providing information and statistics it might otherwise not discover
E.g. the BMA have gave the government advice about the health implications of sugar, and in 2018 government introduced a sugar tax on fizzy drinks

3. No, the New Right interpretation argued that trade union strikes and direct actions were an attempt to undermine a democratic state
   E.g. Thatcher’s foreign secretary Douglas Hurd described pressure groups as ‘serpents that strangle efficient government’

Yes, unions are prevented from striking with low internal support
E.g. the Trade Union Act 2016 introduced a minimum turnout of 50% for strike ballots and a 40% threshold of support for emergency services
(gives strikes a stronger democratic mandate from within pressure group)

Question 19

Explain and analyse 3 features of outsider groups?

Answer 19

1. Outsider groups are not consulted by government and so do not enjoy the access that insider groups do
   E.g. Greenpeace are not invited to meetings or consulted by the government about proposed changes to legislation.
   (therefore, they cannot influence the government from the inside)
2. Outsider groups try to influence political decision making from the outside. Harnessing public support is usually a key tactic
   E.g. many outsider groups try to build mass
   memberships and a large online presence to
   show the extent of the support that they have, such as Greenpeace who have 3 million members worldwide, allowed them to succeed in Shell dispute
3. Some outsider groups are working towards insider status whereas others are ideologically opposed to the government and are happy to remain outsiders
   E.g. the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) uses extreme
   tactics which are incompatible with insider
   status.