Pressure groups refer to organizations of people that seek to influence the government public policy or protect a particular cause or interest. They are a key part of modern democracy and have strongly held views, which aim to be an influential vehicle of change in society. Groups may promote a specific issue and raise it up to the political agenda or have more general ideological objectives in mind when they campaign. Pressure groups can be subdivided into single cause, multi-cause, protective and promotional. Single cause group’s focus on a particular issue, for e.g. London Cycling Campaign seeks to promote safe cycle routes and the use of cycles in the London area. Multi-cause groups focus their attention on a broader range of issues which are usually generalized under a heading such as the ‘the environment’, for e.g. Friends of the Earth aim to influence decision making on various environmental issues. 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...
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...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. In conclusion, pressure groups must consider the influencing factors of success, combined with the fluctuating business environment. Greenpeace and PETA have managed to exercise power successfully through indirect and direct action, in both peaceful and controversial methods. This has created a high standard to which sets a pedestal for smaller not-for-profit bodies and pushes other groups to create unique campaign strategies. Finally, it appears the collaboration between pressure groups and supra-national governance is one of the most effective approaches for influence in the business environment, as it leads to powerful connections, thus enhancing the pressure groups reliability and influence.
In today’s politics, interest groups play a large role in the government system. An interest Group is defined as 'an organized body of individuals who try to influence public policy.' This system is designed so that interest groups would be an instrument of public influence on politics to create changes, but would not threaten the government much. These organizations are either made up of people who represent a different organization or people who represent themselves. Interest groups represent the citizens’ interests and views, while expressing their own needs as well. They are the link between people and politics, giving a way for the public to voice their opinions. Members of interest groups use different tactics to basically impose their wants or needs onto the government by lobbying, educating, and campaigning.
After President William McKinley’s death in September of 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took upon the position as President.
Essentially, interest groups use many different tactics to accomplish their central goals but this paper will detail 2 of them. The first being lobbying, which is the act of persuading businesses as well as government leaders to help a specific organization by changing laws or creating events in favor of that group. Interest groups use this technique by hiring someone to represent them and advocate their cause to on the behalf of the entire group. These hired representatives usually have more than enough experience within the political field and are able to persuade connections within the government for help with their concerns. This method gets a lot of criticism because although lobbyist offer their input to government officials on pending laws, they only look at what is favorable for their cause. When trying to make a difference you have to not only reflect on your argument but on the side affects of that argument as
The “advocacy explosion” in the United States in the 20th century has been caused by the extreme increase in the number of interest groups in the United States. The general public views the increase and the groups themselves as a cancer that has come to the body of American politics and is spreading. The explosion in the number of interest groups and interest group members and finances has had an effect on the decline of the American political party and partisanship, the effect on democracy and the public interest, and the bias that has come with interest group competition.
I am deeply committed to social activism; the words of Desmond Tutu inform my actions every day: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” At Phillips Academy, I am active in Women’s Forum, BOSS Magazine, and GSA.These activities give me the opportunity to speak out on issues such as race, feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, and intersectionality, but as much I value discussion, I would like to move beyond mere conversation; I want to do something. I want my life and my work to make a difference in the world.
These pluralistic interest groups are free to operate and lobby in the political arena, fighting against the majority and other competing factions for voice in Congress. With the influence of multiple factions operating throughout the political system, a balance of power is created (Kernell 2000, 429). This is much like the international theory of sovereign states balancing each other’s power to create a political system that focuses on stability, yet is always in a constant flux of power. With this in mind, special interest groups are constantly contending for power by raising money, campaigning, and lobbying in Congress. When a special interest group is threatened by a competing policy, the group will organize efforts to balance, or transcend the power of the competing group.
(Turner and Killian 1987) cited in (Diani 1992, p. 4) define social movements as a “collectivity acting with some continuity to promote or resist a change in the society or organisation of which it is part. As a collectivity a movement is a group with indefinite and shifting membership and with leadership whose position is determined more by informal response of adherents than by formal procedures for legitimizing authority”. Turner and Killian regard a social movement as a peculiar kind of collective behavior that is contrasted to regularity and institutional behavior. Additionally, Turner believes that social movements do not necessarily coincide with movement organisations, although these organisations can carry out a large part of the movement tasks and it is often help to control and speak for movements (Diani 1992).
In order to understand the particular relationship which an individual who actively pursues the transformation of a vision for positive social change into a reality has with the external power resources required to manifest such a reality, it is necessary to have a minimal understanding of the specific power resources engaged. One specific power resource which has historically been employed as a vehicle of change is that of a social movement.
William Zinsser’s essay “College Pressures” emphasizes the struggles students have in trying to conquer the college milestone in life. Zinsser believes that college has lost the authenticity of the overall goal of gaining knowledge for one’s own interest, rather than the overall need of going. He sympathizes with struggles college kids go through and hopes to provide insight on the overall situation. One of his major points are that succeeding the first time is not always the best way in learning, and that sometimes students need to fail in order to properly learn. The author mentions the “Four pressures, economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure” and how there are “No villains; only victims” that fall
Groupthink is the psychological phenomenon in which groups working on a task think along the same lines which could have drastic results. It is the result of group polarization where discussions are enhance or exaggerate the initial leanings of the group. Therefore, if a group leans towards risky situation at the beginning of the discussion on average they will move toward an even riskier position. (Marks, 2015). The idea when everyone think the same no one is really thinking. The drastic outcomes result from people trying to avoid conflict with one another, being highly cohesive, and results is questionable decision making (Oliver, 2013). Houghton Mifflin publication of Victims of Groupthink: A Psychological Study of Foreign-Policy Decisions
Social problem is a broad topic, there is “No conclusive idea of what constitutes a social problem.” To define a social problem, there are generally three different ideas to define a social problem, “Something that impacts a large group; Something that the people in a society collective agree it is problematic; Something that violates a moral code.” (Logan) Healthcare has been on the spot light, because of The American Health Care Act. I’d like to present health care in United States as a social problem, because it qualify the three ideas to define social problem. First of all, it impacts a large group in the society, because of its cost. According to CDC, “28.2 million people who are under age of sixty five are insured” (CDC). Second, people in a society collective
This chapter talks about social change and how it happens and the theories behind social movements. The five essay questions at the end of this chapter are answered below.
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. In this essay I will concentrate upon exploring on various issues on pressure groups, discussing the relationship between the groups, their use of the media and their status as “insiders” and “outsiders” in the political process. Pressure groups have two main types of groups the insiders and outsiders, which each promote a common cause with a different relationship with the media and political party making one as an unheard voice in the public sphere. To the public Pressure groups is another form where the public can engage in politics, participating directly in the political process. I will also intricate in this essay the growths of pressure groups due to the use of the media and their political engagement. The size of a group is a basic indicator of how much public support they get especially those that posse’s open membership, they mobilise through demonstrations, protest involving some non members through organised events. The different types of well known pressure grou...
Civil society is both a way of describing aspects of modern society and an aspiration, an ideal of what a good society should be like. It has recently been revived to emphasize the capacity of societies to organize themselves through the active cooperation of their members. Unfortunately up to today we still don't have a universally recognised definition and the whole concept is still the core of a intense academic debate. That is why it seemed appropriate, for the purpouse of this paper, to analyse the historical evolution of the concept throughout the centuries.
Contrast the political organization of either a band, tribe or chiefdom with the political organization of the U.S.