Pressure groups

Question 1

Explain three reasons why people want to join pressure groups

Answer 1

P- They feel strongly about an issue
E- Many people are passionate about a cause and think they will have more success in getting something changed than by voting or joining a political party
E- People who are concerned about the enviroment may decide to join greenpeace or extinction rebellion and take part in activity to promote their cause

P- They feel they cant make a difference on their own
E- Joining a pressure group increases their collective influence and gives them strength in numbers making difficult for the government to ignore their views as they may loose the next election
E- Greenpeace have 130,000 scottish supporters which is more people than members of the SNP

Question 2

Explain three methods used by pressure groups

Answer 2

P- Holding a protest
E- This allows the group to show the level of support for an issue and may gain media attention in the hope that the uk government will take action
E- In April 2019 extinction rebellion members stripped off in the house of commons public gallery to raise awarness of the climate crisis

P- Submitting petition
E- This is a list of signatures which will show the uk government public support for an issue and can lead a debate in the uk parliment
E- In 2016 European movement uk gained signatures on a petition to allow british nationals to retain their EU citazenship is they wished to do so after brexit

Question 3

Describe in detail three right and responsibilities of pressure groups

Answer 3

P- The right to protest
E- They must use peaceful methods so no one is hurt. They cant break the law when protesting and they must inform the authorities
E- Many CND supporters have been arrested outside faslane naval base for breaking the law whilst protesting agains the UK having nuclear weapons

P- The right to petition the government
E- They cannot force people to sign a petition and cannot add names to the petition
E- In 2016 European Movement UK gained signatures on a petition to allow british nationals to retain their EU citazenship if they wished to do so after brexit

Question 4

How pressure groups try to influence the uk

Answer 4

E- Protest.
E- This allows the group to show the level of support for an issue and may gain media attention in the hope that the UK Government will take action.
E- In April 2019 members of Extinction Rebellion striped off in the House of Commons public gallery to raise aware of the climate crisis.

P-Submitting a petition.
E-This is a list of signatures which will show the UK Government public support for an issue and can lead to a debate in the parliament.
E-In 2016 European Movement UK gained signatures on a petition to allow British nationals to retain their European Union citizenship if they wished to do so after Brexit.

Question 5

Two roles of PG

Answer 5

P-Highlight issues to the public.
E- The more people that know about the issue and agree with the pressure group’s aims then the more success the group will have at getting the government to take notice and do something about it.
E- Extinction Rebellion were reported in the media after they staged a naked protest in the public gallery in the House of Commons to raise awareness of the climate crisis in March 2019.

P- Influence the UK Government.
E-Elections are only held every 5 years so joining a pressure group gives people a chance to influence the government and put items on the political agenda in between elections.
E- Many pressure groups, including Greenpeace, lobbied the UK Government both for and against the third runway at Heathrow.