pressure groups

casual pressure groups

pressure groups that unite over a particular case

• justice for sub postmasters alliance

• just stop oil

• action on smoking and health (ASH)

sectional pressure groups

pressure groups that represent a particular section of society

• the Muslim council of Britain

• national farmers union (NFU)

• British medical association (BMA)

insider groups

have a close relationship with the government and in other influential positions

ASH, NFU, institute of directors

outsider groups

don’t have a close relationship with government often because there agendas go against the governments policy

just stop oil, extinction rebellion, countryside alliance

stonewall became an insider group in the mid 2000s but then returned to be an outsider group in 2020 when they fell out with the conservative government on transgender rights

pressure groups being influential

insider groups

ASH has frequently been consulted by the government about anti-smoking measures they have helped draft policies on packaging, health warning, and banning disposable vapes

NFU and DEFRA have raised the threshold for inheritance tax from £1 million to £2.5 million

pressure groups being influential

direct action

senior doctors represented by the BMA managed to secure a pay increase with the government after strike action in 2023

pressure groups being influential

raising awareness

surfers against sewage and the campaign to protect rural England (CPRE) raised awareness for sewage dumping by water companies

legislation to prevent it was passed by labour after the 2024 election and water companies have planned to spend £272 billion over 25 years to clean the water

pressure groups not achieving goals

insider groups

FOREST campaigns against regulation of tobacco use and smoking many of there supporters sit in the house of lords however its agenda has been rejected by both labour and conservative governments

pressure groups not achieving goals

can cause gridlock

everyone agrees there is a need for more housing groups such as shelter campaign for more housing to home homeless people

however groups such as CAUSE (campaign against urbanisation in essex) say they dont want houses build on land as it will ruin the landscape

when two groups disagree nothing gets done

pressure groups not achieving goals

outsider groups

groups not in the government often have to use more extreme methods which means they never get listened to

such as extinction rebellion who frequently campaign in London but don’t get any attention unless its negative

pressure groups improve democracy

offer oppurtunity’s for informal participation

groups such as mumsnet allow people to get involved within politics without having to get involved

mumsnet is the largest pressure group it had 6 million unique subscribers and often pressure the government to make change such as increasing the number of hours of free childcare parents get

pressure groups improve democracy

represent underrepresented groups

tens of thousands of people joined black lives matter protests against police brutality and structural racism in 202

stonewall helps campaign for the LGBTQ+ community who aren’t well represented in parliament

pressure groups improve democracy

provide expertise

haemophilia society helped provide expertise for the people who had been given bad blood in the 90s

pressure groups harm democracy

disproportionate influence

the betting and gambling council has successfully manged to lobby against tighter gambling regulations despite increasing number of bankruptcies because of gambling

this is because it is full of rich donors (similar situation for the portman group)

pressure groups harm democracy

spreading misinformation

an anti-vax group the health advisory and recovery team was accused of spreading conspiracy theories during covid 19 harming public opinion

pressure groups harm democracy

direct action

can cause major disruption and lead to police intervention

8 members of extinction rebellion where arrested in 2022 after they glued and locked themselves to part of the parliamentary estate

pressure groups are successful

the media

Marcus Rashford campaigned against food poverty during lockdown and led to the government changing its policy to provide free school meals to children during the holidays

the guardian raised awareness to the Windrush generation being unfairly deported this led to the government changing legislation