us politics essay plans

three ways pressure groups support political pluralism

• political pluralism emphasises the benefit of many different groups influencing the decision making process. debate is healthy for democracy and pressure groups are an extension of this. 

• 1) social movements make political involvement accessible. they have issue based participation and are usually started on social media eg. BLM or #MeToo, making them accessible. some protests (from BLM) were violent, but they largely represent public opinion

• 2) promotional groups are usually altruistic, representing a movement that will benefit society eg. Greenpeace USA. their involvement is healthy for democracy and much is grassroots. they can be ineffective - Trump makes Greenpeace ineffective - but they largely demonstrate political pluralism

• 3) pressure groups allow minorities to have a voice eg. NAACP, ACLU gives voice to trans people. they can be overshadowed by richer groups like NRA, but generally they can have positive impacts and expand political involvement. ACLU convinced South Dakota governor to veto a bathroom bill 2016

three ways pressure groups funding of elections influences politics

1) washing insiders - likely to have big impact on policy. eg. Hilary Clinton got $125mil for her 2016 campaign because she was a good business-minded candidate. however she didn’t win so money doesn’t always = success. but she did win the popular vote, so it has impact

2) reinforcing incumbency - 90% congress is incumbent, good because they are likely to get in if funded, however bad because it leads to the same people being in power eg. Chuck Grassley has been serving for 50 years

3) iron triangles - interest groups fund congressmen likely to support their cause, like Joe Courtney who got two more subs built yearly for his constituent, as chair of armed forces committee

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