As progress of the society, knowledge standard of people are constantly increased. People no longer blindly obey the government when they are dissatisfied with the policies and exercising different channels to express their views, it reflects the raise of civic participation and political awareness. This essay is purported to discuss the statement – “The power of pressure groups to influence government is, in reality, limited.” with examples of Hong Kong.
Green Sense (2004), The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU, 1948), Hong Kong Professional Teahers’ Unions (HKPTU, 2010) and The Association for the Advancement of Feminism (AAF, 1984), which are some of the pressure groups in Hong Kong. Pressure groups and interest groups could be the same meanings in a certain way, when an interest group actively chase the objective with government. Both of them are originated from freedom of association as voluntary organization that the members free to join in and share a common interest or goals, and attempt to influence public policy. The purpose for them is to protect or enhance shared interest to affect government on specific issues, but the groups are different from political parties. (Jordon and Maloney, 2007 and Watts, 2007) Parties in Hong Kong such as Democratic Party (1994), Civic Party (2006), Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB, 2001) and Liberal Party (2004) are mainly focus on political and tend to ideological based on political ideals, philosophy and fight elections and to form a government, and having the broad policy interests. Conversely, pressure groups are pragmatic and do not usually stand for elective office, and having narrow policy interests. The memberships of th...
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The pluralistic scholar David Truman notes that “the proliferation of political interest groups [is] a natural and largely benign consequence of economic development” (Kernell 2000, 429). That is, as American economic development increases, in the form of industry, trade, and technology, factions are produced in order to protect special interests. Factions have a large platform on which to find support from various political parties, committees, subcommittees, and the courts, as well as federal, state, and local governments (Kernell 2000, 429).
Politics is defined as “the way people decide who gets what, when, where, how, and why—without resorting to violence” (McDonough 20). The author asserts that politics is the alternative pathway for a society to make decisions besides choosing violent means to go about doing so. Instead of using force, politicians use words and the method of persuasion in order to get what they want. When a society has a group of people who feel they are not fairly represented by their elected officials, they will often turn to violence in order to implement changes to the political process that will put in place the rules and regulations they are seeking.
The most powerful individuals or groups of individuals determine the rights and truths of a society. This sounds a bit discouraging to the powerless folks of the general public. It sounds hopeless and immoral. It sounds too real to be real…like something a friend said the other day (roughly translated), “Even your mother won’t feed you until you ask.” Some would say that average people do have power, but only in large groups. This is more offending! It would mean, firstly, that I do not have any power, because I would need a tail in the form of a group; and, secondly, that I am not unique, because I am being roped into a lasso with countless others.
US-China Business Council, Inc. "US-China Trade Statistics and China's World Trade Statistics." US-China Business Council. 1 March 2010 .
The structure of power in society is a vital part of understanding sociology. The two main theories that differentiate this structure are Mills’ theory of a power elite and Riesman’s contrasting theory of veto groups, or pluralism. Both theories are often found in varying degrees when considering important public decisions, such as the Hoover Redevelopment Plan or the University Village Plan. Generally, one of these theories is more applicable and relevant to certain public decisions and developments depending on the issue. While both of these theories played a part in the Hoover Redevelopment Plan and the University Village Plan, the power elite theory is ultimately more responsible for the institution of these developments.
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.
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
Sociologists examine power in the political, economic, and military institutions of America, as C. Wright Mills describes the shift in national power to advantage those who are part of these three institutions. The “power elite” (1) are those who are from similar social backgrounds and interests, therefore those in the top of hierarchy are interchangeably making decisions for other social institutions, in which they have no power to do so. For example, “the corporation executive whose company was one of the two or three leading war material producers is now the Secretary of Defense” (3), therefore the rise in power of the power elite have caused those who are not belonging to the power elite to lose all form of democratic rights. Many of the
nothing but making citizens' voices, opinions, and perspectives “present” in the public policy making processes (11). When political representatives not only speak but also advocate and champion the cause of the people, both symbolize and act on behalf of the vast majority of people in the political arena, political representation then occurs. In essence, political representation refers to kind of political assistance that the political representatives give to the people at large. This seemingly straightforward definition, however, is squarely not sufficient and inadequate because it leaves the concept of political representation underspecified and does not convey the full meaning of the term. The concept of political representation carries
Citizens of the United States are traditionally given unlimited freedom of speech, press, and assembly. These American privileges allow interest groups to express their perspectives by using the media and other sources that are accessible to the public. In definition, an interest group is a group of individuals who organize to influence the government’s programs and policies. The main goal of these groups is to have the government both listen and respond to their interests (Shin 243). Historically interest groups have and continue to play a crucial role in American politics; especially since it is an effective form for citizens to interfere with government decision making. Two current interest groups in the United States are the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda and the National Council of La Raza. These particular interest groups demonstrate how interest groups directly and indirectly influence public opinion and the political process.
There are many anti-cruelty laws in the United States as well as other states. This laws prohibit torturing, beating, mutilating and unnecessary killing of animals. Also, they cover neglecting abandoning or depriving pets or farm animals of food, water or shelter. In 1822 the British parliment passed the Martin Act for animals protection, later on Richard Martin formed the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. But the cruelty to Animals Act was not firmily established until the years of 1849 and 1854. As a matter of fact the word was finally starting to spread throughout Europe and even the United States because of this movement the American Society for the prevention of animal cruelty was later formed in the year of 1866 by Henry Bergin in New York. In addition to this in the nineteenth century many laws were passed both in Great Britain as well as the Unites States to protect the helpless, especially-children, lunatics, and domestics animals, from willful and malicious acts of cruelty.
In 1824 a group of people started to notice all the abuse that was happening to all the animals in England, so they formed the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A man named Henry Bergh saw all the good things that this group was doing in England, so he decided to open one in the United States. In Massachusetts around 1836, there was a law that was passed that stated that there will be no stoning and beating of cattle as week as dog and cockfighting. In 1866 he created a group called the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in New York. This organization helped end the beating to animals, end inadequate food for animals, end poor housing for animals, and humane standards for treatment of animals used for vivisection. After his success...
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Some theorists view social interactions as an exchange of objective and subjective power (Benford & Hunt, 1992, p. 3), with social movements being created for the purpose of restructuring an imbalance in social, political, and economic power, or the way in which such power is used (Lukes 1974, pp. 24-5). The dramaturgy theory agrees that the focus of a social movement is the amendment or transformation of power relations, and goes even farther by suggesting that leaders of said movements are responsible for developing new and alternate possibilities for current power relations, and must persuade members that they are capable of generating change (Benford & Hunt, 1992, pp. 3-6). Thus, the effectiveness, quality, and sustainability of