Pressure Groups

Question 1

What are the 2 types of pressure groups?

Answer 1

Insider
Outsider

Question 2

What is a promotional group?

Answer 2

They are pushing a certain cause.

Question 3

What is a sectional group?

Answer 3

Represent certain groups of society.

Question 4

How do pressure groups enhance democracy?

Answer 4

They disperse power more widely, and influence people.
Can educate the public on prominent issues, and give more opportunities to participate in politics.
Can promote and protect the rights of minorities.

Question 5

How do pressure groups threaten democracy?

Answer 5

Some can be elitist, and concentrate on gaining power.
Groups with more wealth have a larger sphere of influence.
groups that aren’t internally democratic, may not represent members properly.

Question 6

What defines a pressure group?

Answer 6

An association whose purpose is to further the interests of a specific section of society and promote their cause.

Question 7

What are the four key things that make a pressure group successful?

Answer 7

Resources
Ideological compatibility with the government
Popularity
Expertise

Question 8

What type of democracy do pressure groups provide?

Answer 8

Pluralist- Sections of society are heard.

Question 9

Give examples of a pressure group.

Answer 9

National Farmers Union
Liberty
Age UK

Question 10

What are some of the methods that the NFU use to influence the govt?

Answer 10

Partnering with newspapers such as The Mail on Sunday to reach out to the general public. eg in 2020 they aimed to campaign to save thousands of farming jobs.
During 2021, the union paid for billboards to demonstrate the key issues with the proposed Brexit deal.
Similarly they use their own website to promote lots of issues that directly affect the union.

Question 11

What are the aims of Liberty as a pressure group?

Answer 11

Liberty is an independent group that challenge injustices and protect rights of citizens in the UK. They are made up of lawyers and policy experts to push their cause.

Question 12

What are some of the methods of Liberty to influence the govt?

Answer 12

They have areas on their website to sign petitions that are important to their cause, currently there is one on the topic of the rights to freely protest.
They focus a lot on government bills passing through parliament, partly due to their legal background, to ensure public knowledge on controversial pieces of legislation.

Question 13

What is a Think tank?

Answer 13

It is a research institute that performs research and advocacy that concern highly political topics, such as the economy, military and technology.

Question 14

Give two examples of Think tanks.

Answer 14

Office of Fair trading- helps to protect the interests of consumers.
Health and Safety executive- advises on possible legislation.

Question 15

How can lobbyists aid democracy?

Answer 15

They promote a specific interest, and they hope to further their causes of the people that employ them.
They can be critiqued as the ‘hidden face’ in politics, as they operate through the back entrances of government.

Question 16

What campaign did Joanna Lumley support?

Answer 16

The Gurkhas Justice campaign- These were Nepalese soldiers that were serving in the British army, and it sought the right to residency for them in 2009.

Question 17

What campaign did Jamie Oliver support?

Answer 17

Healthier eating for young children, especially in schools. He has consistently lobbied the government for action against child obesity.

Question 18

What is an example of an outsider pressure group?

Answer 18

Greenpeace- Demonstrations of public support for action against climate change, and using digital campaigns to build a profile.

Question 19

What is a current single issue campaign that is running?

Answer 19

Campaign against Heathrow’s Third Runway- They have successfully lobbied the government as the idea was first proposed in July 2015. Similarly, they launched a successful media campaign bringing in activists from many areas.

Question 20

What methods can Trade Unions use to influence the government?

Answer 20

Strike Action- As seen in 2022 by the NEA, used as the final method to secure better educational funding.
Lobbying- By using sympathetic MP’s to raise topical issues in Parliament, and lobbying local MP’s.