!!!Pressure Groups Flashcards
Reasons why pressure groups are so prevalent in the USA
- Lack of representation by political parties
- Nature of US Government
- The expansion of the US Government
- The Constitution
- Historical suspicion of Govt.
How is Lack of representation by political parties a reason why pressure groups are so prevalent in the USA
- Parties seek to represent so many people
- Unable to take decisive action or have clearly defined policies on many issue
How is the Nature of US Government a reason why pressure groups are so prevalent in the USA
- The US Govt. is separated
- This creates a huge no. of ‘access points’
Congress has ___ chambers, dozens of committees, and at least ____ sub-committees to each committee
2 chambers
Dozens of committees
At least 4 sub-committees
How is the expansion of the US Government a reason why pressure groups are so prevalent in the USA
US Govt. has gained more power
The more your life is affected by public policy, the more likely you are to seek to influence this policy
How is the constitution a reason why pressure groups are so prevalent in the USA
- Provides a legal framework for PGs to operate
- 1st amendment secures free speech and association
- Also secures right to petition the Govt. for redress of grievance
How is historical suspicion of Govt. a reason why pressure groups are so prevalent in the USA
- Ever since its creation US society has held a suspicion of Govt., and so people seek to scrutinise the work of Govt.
- Has also caused a demand for public deliberations, which increases the level of access people have to policy makers
Ways that Pressure groups fulfil the role of representation
- PGs balance the tyranny of the majority
- US - many different cultures that need representing
- Huge number of interests
- Power and influence fairly distributed between competing groups
Ways that Pressure Groups hinder representation
- Elitist - Power is still concentrated in the hands of few
- PGs have vastly differing human and financial resources
- Small pressure groups can gain so much influence over the govt., their interests are put before the rest of the country. E.g. Iron Triangles
Example of small pressure groups having so much influence over the govt., their interests are put before the rest of the country
Though US has a huge debt, it has been hard to make defence budget cuts as all key decision makers benefit from increases in this budget
Functions of Pressure Groups
Representation Participation Public education Scrutiny Agenda building
Ways Pressure Groups are good through participation
Turnout remains low
FPTP and gerrymandering leads to wasted votes and fewer competitive vote races
- Thus PGs give opportunities for those in these areas whose vote does not have much impact to influence political decisions outside elections
Direct action has brought about significant change in the US - i.e Civil rights movement
Ways Pressure Groups are bad through participation
- Questionable how meaningful members’ membership is
- Reason for joining
- Use of undemocratic methods
- Representative democracy - Key decisions should be left to officials, not swayed
- Not all PGs have resources to participate to take advantage of revolving door in Washington
Example of it being questionable how meaningful members’ membership is
AARP (40m members) - but few are politically active
How is ‘Reason for joining’ a potential reason why participation is bad
Reason for joining - To receive scorecards to pressurise their Congressman? Or to receive large membership benefits (discounts)?
