The Influence of Pressure Groups on the Government Essay

Pressure group strategy and influence are “determined largely by factors such as size…financial resources, prestige position of the organization, quality of leadership and staff, and relations with the political parties…” (Turner, 1958, p. 64). It is these factors that make pressure groups, to some extent, incompatible with representative democracy as some groups are able to make their views heard ‘louder’ due to factors which can be difficult for them to change, such as the prestigious position of an interest group.

25: ‘The most successful UK pressure groups still tend to focus on lobbying the Westminster

Pressure groups are formal (Insider) and informal (Outsider) associations whose goals are to further the interests of a specific section of the society to promote a particular cause by influencing the decisions of the government. An insider group is a pressure group which is very involved in the decision making of policies e.g. Cancer Research UK. An outsider group is a pressure who is not associated with decision making as they like to assert their independence and lack political clout e.g. Greenpeace. However there are some outsider groups that want to be affiliated and become an insider, but they have not yet been asked by the government e.g. Association of British Drivers. These groups are also known as “Aspiring Insiders”. These

Pressure groups enable new concerns and issues to reach the political agenda, thereby facilitating social progress and preventing social stagnation. For example, the women’s and environmentalist movements.Pressure groups increase social cohesion and political stability by providing a ‘safety-valve’ outlet for individual and collective grievances and demands.Pressure groups assist the surveillance of the government by exposing information it would rather keep secret, thereby reinforcing and complementing work of opposition through political parties. Pressure groups thereby improve the accountability of decision makers to electorates.

It is not debated that pressure groups have a legitimate role in American government due to the rights placed in the constitution; however, many people believe that they damage democracy and have too much power. It is accepted that inevitably people will seek opportunities to advance their own interests and consequently the number of pressure groups has grown considerably in the 1960's and 1970's. Many members of the general public might concede that the interest groups offer some advantages but do not like their ever growing influence.

A pressure group is a group of people with specific aims and interests. Also known as interest groups, lobby groups or protest groups, they try to influence political decision makers such as MPs and councillors to influence local or national policy and/or legislation. They seek to do so, either to protect interests of members (e.g. Trade Unions, NUT) or promote a cause (e.g. Greenpeace or RSPCA). Not all pressure groups are as successful as others, and there are many reasons for this.

I think the interest groups are the primary factor influencing the acts of government. I believe there should be tougher restrictions and more strict oversight of the interest group. The interest group has plenty of resources and is helping in influencing the people in higher ranks and higher positions to support the legislature. The groups have the right to know about the money they have funded are going on the right path or not. They should be strictly watched by the law to ensure there is no violence and should be done by the legislation of the United States. The violence may cause various problems and may harm the peace and harmony of the country. Although the money is funded privately, the use should be disclosed and should have more impact on public rather

These groups do share the similar goal to influence public policy, however, there are many differences between the two groups. The differences between interest groups and social movements which will be discussed are as follows: their objective, the tactics and the level of action which the interest groups and social movements seek. These differences will be discussed throughout the essay, as well as the

Pressure groups are groups of like minded individuals who come together on the basis of shared interests or a commonly held cause in order to put pressure on policy makers at Westminster and beyond. Pressure groups are significantly more numerous than political parties because whereas the parties tend to aggregate and accommodate a wide range of views in an effort to see their candidate elected to public off, pressure groups have a tendency to fragment opinion. Recent years have seen the emergence of looser social movements and more focused single-issue groups, replacing larger, more traditional groups as a fundamental

We elect politicians on the basis on the issues by which they stand, and these issues are either held up or weakened by the numerous interest groups that exist today. Interest groups target both major and minor issues, using all of their resources to sponsor or overpower the groups' concern. Interest groups are composed of a limited range of the body of voters who have a great stake in the issues their group support. They make evident the issues their group supports. Their resources are used in an attempt to make their issue public policy. Interest groups are persistent; they do not give up until they succeed. They lobby congress, take legal action, and attempt to

The American political system is a unique system of government. It is different in comparison to other systems of government because the power of American government is in the hands of the American people, and not the government itself. The inequality of power under European rule motivated the founding fathers to create a system of government that would not render the people powerless (Ginsberg, B., Lowi, T. J., Weir, M., & Tolbert, C. J., 2015). Instead it gave the power to restrict the authority and power of government directly in the hands of the American people. Although there are still flaws in the American political system, it is still thought to be one of the greatest democracies in the world, and it is because of the participation

The growth of democracy in Britain was due to the role of Pressure groups to a certain extent.

Pressure group is defined as a non-profit and usually voluntary organization whose member have a common cause for which they seek to influence political or corporate decision makers to achieve a declared objective but not to elected candidates to office. They can also be described as ‘interest groups’, ‘lobby groups’ or ‘protest groups’. The aim of all pressure groups is to influence the people who actually have the power to make decisions. Pressure groups do not look for the power of political office but seek influence the decisions made by those who hold the political power such as cabinet. They are sometimes able to gather sufficient support to force government to amend or even scrap legislation. Pressure group direct

The opposing view to this is suggested by Power 2004. He proposes that politicians should take a more active role, especially when it concerns the issue of public representation and reputation perception. He goes so far as to remark on the actions of the British government as “Organised Paranoia” in this regard. This view opposes one of the core values of CP in that it touts that the government should be a regulatory body and interfere as little as possible.

The changing role of law and the need to relate with a transforming society and its citizens has led to a demand on decision making in political systems (Bijsterveld 2010). Due to the variance in the decision making of these systems, interest groups carry out their public affairs (PA) activities in a plethora of ways (Baumgartner 2007) as features such as type of political system, structure, accountability, dependency on interest groups, etcetera influence PA practices. This stems from the fact that issues that are significant in one political system might not be as significant in another (Lowery, Poppelaars and Berkhout