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Pressure Groups (Sectional Groups (For example, trade unions represent…
Pressure Groups
Sectional Groups
For example, trade unions represent their members in negotiations with employers over wages and working conditions.
Membership of a sectional group is usually restricted to people who meet specific requirements, such as professional qualifications in a particular field.
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Cause Groups
For example, Greenpeace promotes awareness of environmental concerns and tries to influence the government to adopt 'green' causes.
A special category of causal group is one that promotes the interests of a group in society - usually one that cannot stand up for itself. Members do not belong to the social group to which they campaign.
CG are focused on achieving a particular goal or drawing attention to an issue or group of related issues. Membership is usually open to anyone who sympathises with their aims.
Social Movements
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For example, the 'Camps for Climate Action' were created for short periods in 2007-10 to protest against the expansion of Heathrow Airport, coal-fired power stations in Yorkshire and other environmental targets.
SM are similar to cause groups but are more loosely structured. Some participants may also belong to more traditional pressure groups, while others are simply moved to take par tin a specific protest.
Insider Groups
Insider groups are also sub-divided into low and high profile groups. Low profile groups, such as the Howard League for prison reform, rely on discreet behind-the-scenes contacts rather than seeking publicity. High profile groups, such as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), supplement their lobbying with the use of media to make their case.
Insider groups tend to have objectives that are broadly in line with the views of government, increasing their leverage.
Insider groups rely on contacts with ministers and civil servants to get their way. Some, like the National Union of Farmers, have close links with the relevant government departments.
Outsider Groups
For example, the 'Occupy' movement, which organised sit-ins in late 2011, sees government as closely aligned to the global capitalist movement against which they are protesting.
Alternatively, an outsider group may wish to preserve its independence and reputation for ideological purity by keeping government at a distance.
Outsider groups are not consulted by the government. Their objectives may be so far outside the political mainstream (for example, animal rights protestors who try to intimidate animal testing labaratories into ceasing their work) that the government is government is unlikely to enter into dialogue with them.
A pressure group is an organisation with shared aims which seeks to influence policy through political means, without seeking political office itself.
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In the post-war era, trade unions enjoyed privileged access to influence, especially when Labour governments were in power, but with the election of the Thatcher government in 1979, union leaders were deliberately excluded from the corridors of power.