How Pressure Groups Influence

Political Studies: Edexcel A Level, topic 1.3.3

Insider Influence

Pressure groups try to influence parliament to push for changes to be made to certain laws or to raise the profile of issues within Parliament.

Pressure groups with access to key political decision-makers, such as the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers, can directly argue for their cause and interest.
Governments consult (ask advice of) certain pressure groups because of their policy expertise.
The government can use pressure groups to assess the reaction of affected groups to potential government policies.
The Confederation of British Industry in economic and trade policy (reduced in recent years) and the British Medical Association in health policy have traditionally had insider influence.

Pressure groups can try to influence government by hiring lobbyists, who are individuals who attempt to influence political decision-makers.
Lobbying in the UK is regulated by the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.

Pressure groups try to influence MPs in the House of Commons and members of select committees to make sure group interests are represented in the bills debates and law-making.
Groups may also try to influence members of the House of Lords when the chamber is debating and proposing bill revisions.

Pressure groups try to influence the policy of a party and have their issue represented in the party’s manifesto.
If a party is elected, its issue may be in government policy.
Influence can be exerted in the form of funding a party or voting at a party conference.
Examples:
Compass and the Labour Party.
Centre for Policy Studies and the Conservatives.

Pressure groups can influence decision-makers outside of parliamentary routes.

Pressure groups use legal forms of protest with the aim of gaining publicity and support to win over public opinion.
Public opinion can be used to put pressure on political decision makers.
Protest is often used by outsider groups.
One example of protest is an open protest, in which pressure groups take part in marches and demonstrations with the purpose of increasing the public awareness of their issue.

Fathers4Justice marched outside former PM David Cameron’s home in Oxfordshire in 2011 to demonstrate their anger at his article which labelled men who abandon their families as “Feckless Fathers” who “should be looked at like drink drivers”.
The pressure group Hacked Off had a petition signed by 175,000 people in 2013 for the recommendations from the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking to be implemented.

Direct action is a form of political protest that can involve civil disobedience, illegal methods or violence.
The aim of direct action is to raise the profile of the pressure group’s cause attraction through local or national media coverage.

Fathers4Justice carried out a publicity stunt in which a member of the group scaled Buckingham Palace balcony dressed as Batman.
The Animal Liberation Front has carried out attacks on homes of people with connections to pharmaceutical research laboratories using animals as part of their research.

Pressure groups have tried to use the court to enforce policy changes or contest (challenge) current policy.
The Countryside Alliance pressure group contested a ban on fox hunting in the High Court.
Child Poverty Action Group brought a case against the Government to the High Court challenging the two child limit introduced by the 2016 Welfare Reform and Work Act.

Several factors can affect how successful pressure groups are in influencing politics or changing public opinion.

Popular campaigns that play on public desires, fears or contemporary issues are more likely to gather attention.
Media coverage can change how the public sees a pressure group.

Large groups can demonstrate that the issue affects a significant proportion of the population.

Insider access to decision-makers will increase the likelihood of changing political opinions.

Larger groups have more members to campaign for them (human capital).
More members paying fees means that a campaign can become more organised - by having an office and paying for adverts.

Which statements are NOT methods used by pressure groups inside parliament?
How can pressure groups influence political insiders?
Which is an example of an insider pressure group that influences the Conservative Party?
How can pressure groups influence politics outside parliament?
Which of these is an example of a legal challenge to government policy?