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Democracy and Participation (Pressure Groups (Why do some pressure groups…
Democracy and Participation
Human Rights in Context
The European Convention on Human Rights - 1950
By the Council of Europe (not EU)
Similar to the UN human rights
European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg
UK citizens can appeal to the court
The Magna Carta - 1215
Oldest statement of rights in the UK
To limit royal power (King John)
Many clauses are now outdated eg. no man shall be outlawed
established the right to Jury
Human Rights Act - 1998
Convention into UK law
Rights could now be defended in UK Courts not Strasbourg
The Equality Act - 2010
Brought together earlier pieces of legislation such as the 1970 Equal Pay Act and the 1976 Race Relations Act
9 protected characteristics inc. age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy, race, religion and sexual orientation
Illegal for public bodies, employers, service providers and others to discriminate on these grounds
Human Rights and terrorism
Control orders eg. electronic tagging
Courts trued to detain people for terrorism without a trial but law courts in 2004 found this to be discriminatory
In 2005 Blair tried to extended the period someone could be detained before charged from 14 to 19 days, after compromising on 28 days and later back to 14
Blair tried to enforce compulsory identity cards
Liberty have tried to stop certain legislation with limited success - eg. tried to stop secret courts where suspects could not see all the evidence, tried to stop the Investigatory Powers Bill (Snoopers Charter) which allows companies to store information on their customers internet history
Howard League for Penal Reform has also struggled but in 2014 did pass ruling to allow families of prisoners to send them books
Since the passing of the HRA it has often been claimed that the UK has a rights based culture. All legislation must comply however judges cannot force government to change policy that doesn't comply. The growing prominence of rights is demonstrated by the increase in judicial reviews from 4240 in 2000 to 15,600 in 2013. Examples inc. ruling retired Gurkha soldiers should be allowed to live in the UK. Defenders say this is vital to ensure rights however many feel its moving central power away from government towards unelected judges. For example judges have been accused of making a privacy law. They are also seen as benefiting the more wealthy (eg. Mosley sued news of the world for releasing his private info and Madonnas support of the right to roam in the Countryside. Others argue that it favours undeserving individuals such as Abu Quatata.
Pressure Groups
Sectional Groups (interest groups)
- seek to promote the interests of an occupation or other group in society. for example, Trade Unions represent their members over wages and working conditions. Membership is often also restricted to people who meet qualifications
NUT - National Trade Union for Teachers
BMA - British Medical Association
Cause groups (promotional groups)
- are focused on achieving a goal or drawing attention to an issue or group of related issues. Membership is usually open to anyone who sympathises with them. A special category is one which promotes the interests of a group in society who cannot speak for themselves eg. Shelter. Eg. Greenpeace stand up for environmental concerns
Social Movements
- similar to cause groups but more loosely structured. Some participants may belong to other pressure groups or simply just be concerned with a single protest. they are usually radical and aim to achieve a single purpose eg. Occupy and Black Lives Matter
Insider Groups
- Rely on contacts with ministers and civil servants oi achieve their aims. Some like he NFU have close links with their government departments (eg. DEFRA). They tend to have objectives in line with those of the government increasing their leverage. High Profile groups such as CBI supplement their lobbying with the use of media to push their agenda whilst low profile groups such as the Howard League on Penal Reform rely on behind the scenes contact
Outsider groups
- Are not consulted by government and their aims may be so far against the political mainstream the government may not want to consult with them (for example animal rights protested who intimidate people at labs.) Or they may wish to preserve their independence. Eg. Occupy were opposing capitalism.
Why do some pressure groups have more influence?
Resources such as money, staff, support
tactics and leadership such as knowing pressure points in government eg. in 2004 RSPCA collaborated with League Against Cruel Sports and International Fund for Animal Welfare to ban hunting with dogs
Public support helps such as the Snowdrop campaign and also having a celeb helps
Government attitudes are important for example NFU used DEFRA to look into a potential badger cull in 2013.
Think tanks
- a think tank is a group of experts brought together to investigate and offer solutions to issues. The shift of Thatcher government towards a move free market was due to her use of right wing think tanks like the Adam Smith Institute. They provide an alternative to the civil service with some having a definite influence (eg. Duncan Smith's Centre for Social Justice 2004 played a key part in his later role of Work and Pensions secretary.)
Lobbyists
- Lobbyists are members of professional government who are paid by clients seeking access to government, MPs or Lords. Some feel this is wrong as the wealthier can have more influence. Recently newspapers shone a light on lobbyists bribing MPs with money which is against parliamentary law, there was also the fear that they were no longer self-regulating so in 2014 all lobbyists had to include their name on a register. It employs about 4,000 people and is worth around £2 billion a year.
Corporations
- the role of corporations or large business circles in Uk government is often an area of concern for pro-democracy supporters. There has also been discussion of the revolving door process where senior businessmen and politicians take well-paid jobs in the private sector after government service. This brings the suspicions they use their contacts to benefit these corporations. For example, Osbourne is an editor for the evening standard and Nick Clegg works for Facebook. There is also an issue of how far corporation will lobby to get policy in their favour. Finally, many companies avoid tax which is a big problem, eg. google only paid £130million in taxes from 2005-16 which many see as too lenient.
Suffrage
Issues faced
Unequal sizing of boroughs (for example very few people vote in certain areas which mean that single individuals were just chosen and others had thousands voting for them)
Two types of consistency (boroughs and counties)
Plural voting for some
Voting qualifications were inconsistent
Women could not vote