Pressure Groups: The Main Categories Of Pressure Groups

Question 1

How are pressure groups defined with how they relate with the political establishment?

Answer 1

Insider and outsider groups

Question 2

What are interest groups?

Answer 2

Pressure groups that primarily defend the interest of their members

Question 3

What are promotional groups?

Answer 3

Pressure groups that advocate for a specific cause or interest that does not directly benefit their members or supporters

Question 4

What is examples of insider groups that are generally viewed as having privileged access to the corridors of power?

Answer 4

National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and British Medical Association (BMA) and the National Trust

Question 5

What is an example of pressure groups that move between insider to outsider status depending on the government?

Answer 5

Trade unions which fair better under Labour

Question 6

During the last 3 months of 2019 how much did trade union Unite donate to the Labour Party nationally?

Answer 6

£4 million

Question 7

Who do non-party political pressure groups, like the RSPCA, enjoy closes ties with in parliament?

Answer 7

The All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APGs)

Question 8

In 2017 how much did the RSPCA donate to the APG for Animal Welfare (APGAW)?

Answer 8

£16,500

Question 9

What is an example of pressure groups that represent big business?

Answer 9

Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and British Finance

Question 10

What are the smaller subdivisions of insider pressure groups?

Answer 10

Core insiders
Specialist insiders
Peripheral insiders
Prisoner groups

Question 11

What are core insiders?

Answer 11

Groups, such as NFU, that have a longstanding bilateral relationship with policy-makers over a broad range of issues

Question 12

What are specialist insiders?

Answer 12

These groups have insider status but are only rarely needed and specific area in which their specialist knowledge is required, for example the British Meat and Poultry Federation

Question 13

What are peripheral insiders

Answer 13

These are groups that have insider status but are only rarely needed by government due to the nature of their interest, for example the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (SANDS) managed to get the definition of stillbirth lowered lowered from 28 to 24 weeks in the Still-Birth (Definition) Act 1992

Question 14

What are prisoner groups?

Answer 14

These are pressure groups that find it impossible to break away from insider status, either because of their reliance on government funding or because they are themselves a public body, for example Historic England, which is government funding

Question 15

What is an advantage for pressure groups to have proximity to government?

Answer 15

They have good channels of communication and Whitehall departments which can bale informal lobbying before draft legislation is drawn up

Question 16

What is an disadvantage for pressure groups to have proximity to government?

Answer 16

Pressure groups getting too cost can lead to ‘policy entrapment’ and an unwillingness to criticise or speak out against the political establishment

Question 17

What is an advantage for pressure groups to have resources?

Answer 17

They can often hire professional lobbyist or pay themselves into government

Question 18

What is an disadvantage for pressure groups to have resources?

Answer 18

Superior resources is no guarantee of success, and UK pressure groups are not allowed to air political ads and are limited in their involvement in election campaign

Question 19

What is an example of an outsider group breaking the law?

Answer 19

In July 2015 the anti-aviation group Plane Stupid cut the perimeter fence at Heathrow and chained themselves together on the runway, leading to cancellation of 25 flights §

Question 20

What are some example of outsider groups?

Answer 20

Father’s 4 Justice, with protested involving supporters donning superhero costumes
The Animal Liberation Front has broken into laboratories that use animals for scientific testing or harassed scientist involved in such research
In 2010 70 UK Uncut activist stormed Vodafone’s Oxford Street shop, due to claims that the company dodged £6 billion in tax

Question 21

What are the subdivisions of outsider groups?

Answer 21

Potential insiders
Outsiders by necessity
Outsiders by choice

Question 22

What are potential insiders pressure groups?

Answer 22

These pressure groups seek to be insiders but lack the experience and connections to achieve this, for example the Gurkha Justice Campaign spent 4 years lobbying Labour in the 2000s

Question 23

What are outsiders by necessity pressure groups?

Answer 23

This represents groups forced to operate as outsiders u virtue of either their cause or the nature of their tactics, for example the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Question 24

What are outsiders by choice pressure groups?

Answer 24

Some groups intently choose to stay outside government and establishment circles, this is to retain their independence and ability to critique polices and avoid a cosy relationship with the government that could ruin their neutrality and objectivity, for example Liberty and Amnesty International which campaign for civil liberties