Pressure Groups 

Insider versus Outsider - How far do you agree that insider groups have far more influence than outsider groups

insider group success: corporations, hugely influential CBI, lobbying rising in popularity despite government claiming it has no influence,

outsider: often unsuccessful, extinction rebellion has had no policy influence so far despite being hugely significant and well known, can often lose support via their methods, forced into civil disruption, but can still have massive influence depending on populism, celebrity influence such as Gurkha campaign, Marcus Rashford

dependent on government of the time: shifting status of trade unions e.g. RMT under Labour versus current outsider status and lack of success despite consistent strikes

To what extent do pressure groups improve democracy

Outsider causal groups: give voices to a wide range of people often unrepresented, pluralism in democracy, Ed Miliband w support from trade unions, examples like extinction rebellion giving voices to the younger generation, can often be unsuccessful

protect people’s rights: trade unions protect certain groups of workers rights, allow access to governments that individuals would not usually have, think tanks like Liberty and Reform, dependent on government of the time

Lobbyists and corporations: elitist groups which can often influence government procedure for their own benefit, because of their wealth but can also aid democracy such as CBI researching EU referendum, limits on lobbyists (2014), better system than America (corporations seen as individuals so can campaign on behalf of parties) ultimately still a limit of democracy