Pressure Groups Flashcards
What is an insider pressure group?
Insider pressure groups are consulted by the government or have close government links
What is an outsider pressure group?
Outsider pressure groups are not consulted by the government and instead try to influence political decision making from the outside
Name 2 ways insider pressure groups campaign
- Lobbying
- Researching and publishing reports
Name 2 ways outsider pressure groups campaign
- Protesting and Civil Disobedience
- Strikes
What are the requirements for insider pressure groups?
- Law abiding
- Good public image
This is in order to retain the trust of the government
Give an example of an outsider pressure group that is happy to remain an outsider
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) - used extreme tactics that were incompatible with insider status
Give an example of an insider pressure group
British Medical Association (BMA)
Give 2 of the BMA’s main objectives
- Improve the pay and conditions of doctors (act as a trade union)
- Improve healthcare and public health (act as a lobbyist)
Give 2 things the BMA lobbies for
- A minimum unit price for alcohol sales
- A sugar tax on drinks
What is the BMA’s membership?
Over 160,000 doctors and medical students
What are the BMA’s methods?
- Organised the first full strike by junior doctors in April 2016, over changes to the junior doctors’ contracts
- The BMA briefs MPs on health policy, meets ministers and responds to consultations
Name 4 successes of the BMA
- Plays a leading role in every debate about public health and healthcare
- One of the most respected insider groups which allows it to influence the government as it develops policies
- Played a leading role throughout COVID:
- Led calls and secured adequate PPE for NHS workers
- Generated large media attention throughout the pandemic by releasing numerous public statements which allowed it to holding the government to account by emphasising the importance of following scientific advice
- Successfully convinced the government to push back the lifting of COVID restrictions by 4 weeks in June 2021 - Successfully convinced the government to introduce many policies
Give 4 examples of policy changes the BMA convinced the government to undertake
- Opt-out system for organ donation (enacted in 2020)
- Sugar tax on fizzy drinks (2018)
- Smoking ban in enclosed public places (2007)
- Compulsory seatbelts for all occupants of cars (1991)
Give the main failing of the BMA
- Despite functioning well as a lobbyist organisation, they do not function well as a trade union
- After being forced to cancel a planned junior doctors strike in September 2016, the government did not give in and implemented the new contract on them in October 2016
Give an example of an outsider pressure group
Extinction Rebellion
What are the 3 main aims of Extinction Rebellion
- Tell the truth: make the government declare a climate emergency
- Act now: take immediate action to go climate neutral by 2025 and prevent further loss of biodiversity
- Decide together: convince the government create a Citizens’ Assembly to make decisions on how to deal with the climate emergency
What is the membership structure of Extinction Rebellion?
- No formal hierarchy or membership
- It has a decentralised structure of affiliated small activists groups
- Affiliated groups plan their own actions with XR’s broad aims
What is Extinction Rebellion’s membership?
- Set up in 2018
- By 2020 it had 485 groups in more than 70 countries with about 130 groups in the UK
Give Extinction Rebellion’s main method
Peaceful direct action and civil disobedience such as:
- Blocking roads or buildings
- Glued themselves to buildings and train carriages
- Spraying the Treasury buildings with fake blood
What is the objective of Extinction Rebellion’s civil disobedience?
- Mass arrests intended to fill police cells
- 1828 protestors were arrested in October 2019
Name 3 successes of Extinction Rebellion
- The environment sits higher on the political agenda than ever before; all major political parties have committed to making the UK carbon neutral
- 26% of voters and 45% of 19-24 year olds put it on their top 3 issues for the 2019 general election
- Parliament set up a 100 member Citizens’ Assembly which met during 2020 and wrote a report, HOWEVER, recommendations can be ignored by the government, and it focused on getting carbon neutral by 2050 which XR believes to be too late
Name 4 Failures of Extinction Rebellion
- Some of its actions have been very unpopular and actually turned public opinion against them, such as during a 2019 demonstration that disrupted the London public transport network and delayed 500,000 commuters
- The pace of the government’s agenda does not match that demanded by Extinction Rebellion: there are plans to go climate neutral by 2050 whilst XR demands 2025
- Its lack of hierarchy makes it difficult to control and has led to local groups carrying out unsuitable actions which have led to divisions and splits
- XR lost momentum during lockdown and BLM dominated the political agenda in 2020 which made it harder for XR to attract media attention
Name 4 limits of the “insider group” classification
- Peripheral insiders are only consulted occasionally, and have little influence over government
- Close ties with one political party can damage a pressure group’s influence long term: whilst Trade Unions become very powerful and are regularly consulted under Labour government’s, they are disregarded under Tory government’s and become outsider groups
- They have limited influence if they fundamentally disagree with the government e.g. BMA failed to convince the government to improve the junior doctor’s new contract
- Outsider groups also have ability to influence parliament, and may be asked to give evidence to a select committee as Extinction Rebellion was in 2019
What are the two types of pressure groups?
- Interest
- Promotional
What is an interest pressure group
- Open only to members from a specific field e.g. teachers (NEU)
- Protects the interests of its members
What is a promotional pressure group
- Promotes a specific cause e.g. nuclear disarmament (CND)
- Inclusive (anyone can join) and altruistic (members join for the greater good and not for their own benefit)
- Build mass memberships to demonstrate public support for their cause
What methods do insider pressure groups use?
- Influencing government by meeting with civil servants and ministers
- Influencing parliament by lobbying MPs for votes
- Influencing political parties by making financial contributions
- Using the courts to overturn government action by using judicial review
What methods do outsider pressure groups use?
- Appealing to the public by campaigning online and using social media
- Longterm background campaigning to produce significant shifts in public opinion e.g. ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’
- Short term campaigns aimed and warning the public of a specific problem and trying to solve it e.g. fire brigade campaign to force the government to implement regulations that force landlords install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in their properties
- Direct Action intended to forcibly compel the government to change policy instead of aiming to win publicity and public support e.g. marching, striking, demonstrating and publicity stunts
How does membership affect pressure group influence?
- Large memberships often have more influence with the government
- Pressure groups with highly regarded members are likely to have more influence on politicians (e.g. the BMA is made up of doctors who are widely respected)
- HOWEVER governments have also ignored pressure groups with large/influential memberships in the past e.g. BMA’s doctor strikes in 2016, and Iraq War protest 1 million people
How does public support affect pressure group influence?
- Public support helps convince politicians to prioritise the pressure group’s cause e.g. growing awareness for climate change encouraged all major parties to commit to making Britain climate neutral in their 2019 manifestos
How do celebrity endorsements affect pressure group influence?
- Helps bring publicity e.g. In 2020 Marcus Rashford convinced the government to provide free school meals for underprivileged children during COVID as an ambassador for FareShare
How does the relationship with the media affect pressure group influence?
- Having the media report on direct action can help bring increased publicity
- Media support can put pressure on politicians, as positive press will lead to greater public support
- HOWEVER, media criticisms of pressure groups help the government justify ignoring their demands e.g. most newspapers criticised the BMA’s 2016 doctors’ strike
How do links with the government affect pressure group influence?
- Ministers seeking advice on policy decisions may come to pressure groups as they are experts in their field, whereas Ministers generally aren’t
How do methods and strategies affect pressure group influence?
- Pressure groups that utilise appropriate strategies will have a better chance of influencing policy makers
- Violent and dangerous campaigning is likely to alienate decision makers and the public e.g. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) group’s blackmailing, damage to property, sending of hoax bombs and items contaminated with HIV, and falsely exposing staff as paedophiles resulted in heavy prison sentences for some of its members
Name 6 factors that affect pressure group influence
- Membership
- Public Support
- Celebrity endorsements
- Relationship with the media
- Links with the government
- Methods and strategies
Name 4 other influences on parliament
- Think tanks
- Lobbyists
- Corporations
- The media
How do think tanks influence parliament?
- They produce detailed policy reports and research which means they may be consulted by political parties or the government when formulating policy e.g. The Institute of Economic Affairs worked closely with Conservative Brexiteers during BREXIT negotiations and pushed for a hard BREXIT
- They appear frequently in the media to comment on policy debates
How to lobbyists influence parliament?
- They arrange meetings with influential politicians and try to convince them to support the aims of their employer
- Many former UK political advisors become lobbyists; 2021 - David Cameron caught up in a lobbying scandal with Greensill Capital, where he was investigated for texting Rishi Sunak for asking for emergency funding for the company
How do corporations influence parliament?
- Corporations may be invited by governments to contribute to policy discussions and help produce legislation relevant to their business
- They can threaten to leave the UK or downsize their operations here if the government does not meet their demands
- Governments are wary of alienating big business as they are crucial to the economy and employ many people
- Many owners of large corporations make donations to political parties
- They have limited influence in referendums as displayed by BREXIT
How does the media influence parliament?
- Support from newspapers can help governments win elections e.g. the Sun Wot Won It
- Politicians are often closely linked with journalists e.g. Cameron’s close relationship with the former editor of the Sun Rebekah Brooks, and BoJo’s weekly column in the telegraph before he became PM
What is pluralism?
The idea that different groups compete equally for power and influence in order to create a system where power is spread across different groups of society - OPPOSITE to elitism
What is elitism?
The idea that powerful elites dominate society and government
Give 6 reasons why pressure groups are good for democracy
- They allow different sections of society to be heard by the government
- Gives people another opportunity to partake in democracy aside from in General Elections
- Allows people to pressure the government to act on a view that might not be their prime concern in an election e.g. Foreign Policy might be a person’s primary concern in an election but still have strong views on the environment
- They can be seen as more representative of the will of the general populous than political parties, as many groups have a higher membership
- It helps the government make more informed decisions, as pressure groups provide the government with information and statistics
- There is democracy within Trade Unions (since the 2016 Trade Union Act which banned them from striking without strong internal support) which means their strikes are representative of the true will of the people
Give 5 reasons why pressure groups are not good for democracy
- Could be seen as elitist as they generally give a platform to the most powerful people that are able to form influential pressure groups, as they are able to afford expensive lobbyists and lawyers
- There is limited democracy so do not truly represent their members - decisions can be made by leadership without consulting members e.g. Arthur Scargill miner strikes throughout 70’s and 80’s
- They are not accountable to the electorate
- A focus on one particular issue may prevent ministers from across departments working together and forming a joined-up government
- Violent and aggressive campaigning methods are contrary to the rule of law and liberal democracy
