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PRESSURE GROUPS - Coggle Diagram
PRESSURE GROUPS
KEY POINTS
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they differ from political parties as they seek only to influence those in power, whereas a political party aims to win political power for itself.
they can be small, like a local conversation group, or with huge memberships, like Unite with 1.4 mill members.
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TYPOLOGIES
insider groups
- pressure groups that are consulted by the govt and so have insider status.
- need to be law abiding and have good public image to retain trust of govt.
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outsider groups
- those that are not consulted by the govt and instead try to influence politiclal decisions from the outside.
- some work towards insider status whilst others are ideologically opposed to govt and are happy to remain outside.
FOR EXAMPLE: GREENPEACE
main aims:
- stopping climate change.
- defending the oceans.
- protecting forests.
- eliminating toxins.
- working for peace and the removal of nuclear weapons.
- saving the arctic.
membership:
- almost 3 mill worldwide.
130,000 in the UK.
methods:
- 2,000 employees; 28 offices across the world; over £300 mill in global revenues.
- direct action - e.g. climbing to the top of the Shard in the London in 2013 to protest plans by Shell to drill the arctic for oil.
- patrolling the seas; intercepting and challenging whalers, nuclear testers and illegal fishers. its fleet of ships dwarf many countries small navies.
- investigates environmental destruction and produces reports, to influence govts and the public. proposes solutions to environmental problems.
- has used insider methods in more recent years; lobbies uk govt and parliament and argues this works well in combination with direct action methods.
successes:
- govt attitudes towards carbon emissions have changed over recent decades. 2017: the Con govt announced plans for a lower carbon economy and there is widespread support for green energy.
- its campaign against microbeads succeeded in 2017 when the govt announced it would be introducing a ban.
- its campaigns against companies have led to some policy changes - after its campaign against Shell's drilling in the arctic, Lego refused to work with Shell and then in 2015 Shell announced it would no longer drill in the arctic.
failures:
- the govts environmental policies do not satisfy activists - in 2018 London reached its legal air pollution limit in 1 month.
- failed to prevent Cairn energy from drilling for gas off the coast of Greenland. locals turned against greenpeace for the criticisms of their local culture and diet of whale and seal.
- some of its methods - hoaxes and disruptive direct action - have been criticised and can alienate the public and govt.
- in 2016, greenpeaces campaign against genetically modified actions was criticised by more than 100 nobel laureates for being anti-science.
limitations of this classification:
- peripheral insiders: consulted only occasionally and have little real influence over govt.
- insider groups can become outsider and vice versa. some vary depending on the party in govt.
- even if a group is regularly consulted by govt, they may have little influence if they fundamentally disagree, e.g. how the BMA failed to convince the govt to improve the junior doctors contracts.
promotional and interest groups:
- promotional groups: promote a specific cause - such as Shelter the housing and homelessness charity. they are generally inclusive and altruistic. they may build mass memberships to demonstrate public support for their cause.
- interest groups: exist to defend interests of a particular group or section of society. all TUs are interest groups.
limits of this classification:
- some do not fit neatly into this - BMA is a promotional group as it campaigns for better public health but also an interest group as ti campaigns for better pay and conditions for its members.
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PLURALISM
a situation in which diff groups, including PGs compete equally for power and influence.
power is therefore spread across diff groups in society.
opposite of elitism - powerful elites dominating society and govt.
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