The Effects of Pressure Groups on the Government A pressure group is an organised interest group, which seek to influence the formulation and the implementation of public policy. In both the United Kingdom and the United States of America, membership to political parties has decreased, meanwhile membership to pressure groups have increased. Pressure groups differ from political parties in that they do not seek to win political office; in addition, they concern themselves with sectional policy rather than a wide range, and therefore pressure groups aim to protect or advance a shared interest. The first amendment of the US constitution claims citizens have the “right of speech, petition and association”. Seeing as the constitution is sovereign, it plays an essential role in protecting the rights of organised interests.
This essay explores pressure groups and their role in democracy and society. It also discusses how pressure groups use the media as a communication strategy to influence. Introduction Pressure groups are known to be small and extremely diverse formed on the basis of interest and activities, their functions give them a high public profile where minds are influenced and driven to make change. “A Pressure group is an organisation which seeks to influence the details of a comparatively small range of public policies and which is not a function of a recognised political party” (Baggott, 1995: p.2). An aim of pressure groups is to generate support which can influence political agendas; this can directly persuade the government to consider taking action.
Although published roughly a half century later, “Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience” mirror the sentiments of famous Revolution-era leaders such as Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry. Additionally, Emerson and Thoreau both warn the reader of the dangers when individuality is marginalized. Emerson views society as a “conspiracy against the manhood of every one of... ... middle of paper ... ...the law where every individual follows his own set of rules (Thoreau 381). Although assuredly in favor of individuality, Thoreau recognizes that a democracy requires public consensus and popular support. While Emerson and Thoreau certainly have difference of opinions, they recognize the need for public discussion and discourse.
Watts (2007: 30) stated that protective groups represent the sectional interest of certain groups in society, their function being primarily to defend the interests of, and provide a service to their members. The author also stated that promotional groups are concerned to promote or propagandize on behalf of particular cause or ideas, arising out of the attitudes and beliefs of their members. Over all, pressure groups aim to make as much publicity and awareness of their cause as possible by attempting to exercise influence by direct and indirect action to the government or businesses. Direct action is the use of public forms of protest rather than negotiation to accomplish changes, which can include violent or non-violent activity. Direct forms of action include boycotting, marches, lobbying and civil disobedience that can all... ... middle of paper ... ...re both powerful groups with extensive recognition from businesses and the government, as a result of their direct forms of action and dedicated campaigns on global issues.
A final definition is ‘A pressure group is any organization that aims it influence public policy by seeking to persuade decision-making by lobbying rather than by standing for election’ (Coxall, 2001, p. 3). Overall pressure groups exist to help groups of people or causes, to promote their interest and will try to influence a certain section of society whether it is the government or the general p... ... middle of paper ... ...us/our_people/our_celebrity_supporters Baggott, R. (1995). Pressure Groups Today. New York: Manchester University Press . Ball, A., & Peter, G. (2000).
And are such people an eccentric minority, or have they profoundly affected the way we live and think in the western world today? To address these questions I will begin by defining New Social Movements (or NSMs). To follow I will break down a few movements in more detail, first discussing what they stand for, and then examining how they originated and matured. In the latter section I will try to determine the scope and boundaries of their influence on contemporary society. Quite strict guidelines have emerged as to what a New Social Movement is, and the kind of characteristics a political movement must have to classify as an NSM.
There will always be different ideas, which leads to political subcultures. Depending on the situations of each person and each community, they will have their own beliefs in how the government should be doing things. Specific things that are taken into consideration when it comes to political culture are liberty, equality, civic duty, individual responsibility, and democracy. Federalism is the system that political culture works within. They flatter each other in that federalism gives political culture an outlet to be heard and to be useful and political culture gives federalism a means of success.
The ideas and responses to the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions illustrate political uprisings in each government, change in social autonomy and a newfound sense of pride, along with intellectual shift and innovations. An additional document that would help analyze these revolutions would be a written document about a person’s account and emotional insight to what it was like living during a revolution. A major thought for these revolutions was that the people of these regions wanted to formulate a new government in which it would grant more people freedom and would be actually able to listen to the people. In British periodicals, illustrations display British Officials being tarred and feathered; a humiliating event for anyone (Doc 2). This represents the Americans’ public opinion towards political leaders of Britain and their demand for liberty and justice.
They will listen to the views of different people and can make a decision about what the general feeling is on the topic in question. These pressure groups will then present their argument to the government in a way that they think is suitable and which will get the message across of the people’s feelings. An example of the channelling of communication between the people and the government would be the anti- war in Iraq protests. Although the government still decided to go through ... ... middle of paper ... ... the British union leaders until the reforms of the 1980s. Another negative factor Is not all sections of the community are represented equally.
According to Roskin, Cord, Medeiros and Jones (2010) an interest group is “an association that pressures government for policies it favors.” But are interest groups useful or do they just cause more problems? In this essay I will be explaining the different types of interest groups that there are, how interest groups are created and who are in interest groups, and how they are beneficial and not beneficial to the people who are supporters. Interest groups have been around since the 1780s. Most of the topics that were focused on during that time were land ownership, debt and slavery (Interest Groups, 2003). “In 1791 the activities of interest groups were formally recognized in the First Amendment to the Constitution, which protected the people's right "to petition the government for a redress of grievances"(Interest Groups, 2003).