are pressure groups good or bad for democracy?

A03

they are good for democracy

theme 1

influence

weak 1

elitism: small rich groups are successful in influencing decisions

• marcus rashford celebrity status led to campaign on fare share being heard

• BMA, CBI and NFU

strong 1

Pluralism: they represent lots of different groups and give people more opportunity to participate in politics

• green peace = climate change - michael gove influenced to ban bee-harming pesticides in 2018

• liberty fights for human rights - 2022 kill the bill protests after the 2022 police, crime, sentencing and courts act limiting protesting powers

theme 2

activities

weak 2

bad activities: they can use misinformation and some criminal activity

• IEA — Truss mini budget influenced, disastrous for the economy

• CBI — in kahoots after controversy surrounding executive

strong 2

good activities: they can educate and inform the public

• BMA lobbied policy makers to ensure the health and care act 2022 addressed their concerns through direct meetings, parliamentary briefings and media work

theme 3

participation

weak 3

doubts over ‘political’ participation: many people join pressure groups for non-political reasons, not participating

• 2024 palestine solidarity campaign — 250,000 marched however apart from weapons, the UK cannot do much to enforce a ceasefire,, a lot of youngsters took it as an opportunity to be violent eg. attack Allianz with red spray paint and break windows

strong 3

increase participation: some pressure groups have a large membership

• stop the war coalition 2003 has over 1M march in London, the largest yet, for iraq