Parliamentary Law Making- Influences on Parliament

Main influences on Parliament:

1. Media

2. Pressure groups

Advantages of the media as an influence on parliament

• Raising issues of public concern

• Can raise public awareness of an issue

• Can support pressure groups

• Can generate public support for an issue

Disadvantages of the media as an influence on parliament

• Creating a panic, causing a knee jerk reaction

• May represent a small % of the population

• May not be able to effectively influence parliament

• Ownership of the media source, possible bias

• Social media may inappropriately react to an event

Advantages of pressure groups as an influence on parliament

• Raise awareness of issues, keeps MPs in touch

• Can change the law

• Can influence all political parties

• Have expertise on their side

• Representative of the public

Disadvantages of pressure groups as an influence on parliament

• Not always willing to compromise

• Can negatively affect the public e.g. JustStopOils’ illegal tactics.

• Can have limited funds which leads to unsuccessful campaigns

• Unlikely to be successful if no media supports their issue.