Pressure Groups

• Pressure Group


  An organised, often single-issue group with a membership that shares common interests or aims. They tend to seek to influence government policy or legislation.
• Single Issue Parties


  Parties that focus on one particular issue, can be described as trying to pressure from within legislature, can also be seen as pressure groups in the abstract of the term.
• Social Movement


  An informal network of people with a similar goal but not under one banner. Often lead to formation of PGs
• Main functions of Pressure Groups

  • Political Participation
  • Protecting Minority Rights
  • Representation
  • Providing expert information to govt
  • Mobilising and educating the public (manipulating discourse)
  • Accountability of Government
• Pressure Group Participation

  • Stop the war Iraq 2003 protests - 3 million protested in London, different demographics participating that are not electorally represented. Foreign Nationals + Youth. 1 in 25 households or more than 5% of the UK population marched on London - one of the biggest anti-war rallies in history.
• As party membership has decreased group membership has never ceased to increase to the point that the RSPB has more members than all the parties in parliament combined.
• Pressure Group Protecting Minority Rights (Homeless)

  • Shelter and their fight for homelessness action - Section 21 eviction protest in 2023 due to 172 families evicted every day
• Pressure Group Protecting Minority Rights (Gender)

  • Protests at Downing Street by trans/nonbinary individuals and allies, unhappy with UK healthcare. Demanded Gender Recognition Act reform. Given that ~1% UK population identifies as trans/non-binary, advocacy crucial for marginalized group protection.
• Pressure Groups Protecting Minority Rights (Equalities)

  • Equalities Act 2010 shields against discrimination based on race, gender, disability, age, religion, etc. Result of pressure groups advocating for minority rights.
• Pressure Groups Representation

  • Our future Our choice, youth fight for representation after Brexit vote which impacted the youth disproportionately but could not vote.
• Pressure Group Expert opinion

  • UK Cladding action group, formed after Grenfell Tower disaster gave evidence at an enquiry into the events.
• Mobilising and educating the Public

  • Free Palestine Coalition interrupted David Lammy (shadow foreign sec) 5 times during his speech to fabian society in order to grab headlines and appeal to people to rebel against those who "ignore the 100 days of indiscriminate bombings of Gaza"
• Pressure Groups keeping Govt Accountable

  • PM Boris Johnson (2020) vowed to ban conversion therapy. A year later, pressure from 250,000+ petitioners (clicktivism) pushed for swift action. Demonstrates people power in democracy, pressure groups can influence government decisions.
• Clicktivism


  Using digital media to facilitate change and activism.
• Clicktivism

  • UK ends "tampon tax," (2021) due to "End Tampon Tax" e-petition, which attained 300,000+ signatures.
• Slacktivism


  Merging "slacker" and "activism." Superficial support for a cause to boost personal satisfaction.
• Sectional (Interest) Pressure Group


  Aim to protect the interests of their members, membership is normally exclusive. Selfish
• Sectional (Interest) Group

  • Trade Union- Unite, Trade Union Congress + BMA
  • Business Groups- CBI
  • Trade Union Congress - Interest Group, 6.5 million members (due to being a group of trade unions), Paul Nowak is SG
• Promotional (Causal) Groups

  Aim to promote issues and polices that do not exclusively benefit the group's members. Membership usually open to all. Selfless
• Promotional Groups

  • CND, XR, Just Stop Oil
• Yes - Groups like BMA and NEU, work for their members as a trade union but also strive to improve the healthcare and Education sectors.
• Insider Groups


  Pressure Groups that have formal, established affiliations with government
• Insider Groups


  • RSPCA, RSPB, CBI, BBA...
• Types of Insider Group

  • Core Insiders
  • Specialist Insiders
  • Peripheral insiders
  • Prisoner groups
  • Contingent insiders
• Core Insiders


  Longstanding bilateral relationship with govt
• Core Insider

  • NFU, has had, pre brexit, a strong presence in European government relations around agriculture.
• Specialist Insiders


  Insider status in the narrow field they work in for when specialist knowledge is needed
• Specialist Insiders

  • British Meat and Poultry Federation, consulted only in regards to this specific policy section.
• Peripheral Insiders


  Groups very rarely needed and have sometimes served their purpose and retain links just in case.
• Peripheral Insiders


  • Stillbirth And Neonatal Death Society, managed to get stillbirth criteria lowered from 28 weeks to 24 in the Still-birth Act 1992, govt does not consult with these very much at all.
• Prisoner Groups


  Groups who find it impossible to break away from insider status due to reliance on govt funding or the fact they are a public body.
• Prisoner Groups

  • Historic England, campaign for the protection of heritage but are funded through the DCMS. THe lack of independence from the state make it harder for HE to critique projects such as HS2.
• Contingent Insider Group


  Is an insider group when a certain political party is in government if not they are an outsider group. Sort of like an insider group in waiting.
• Contingent Insider Groups

  • 11 Trade Unions affiliated with Labour such as UNISON and Unite
• Policy Entrapment


  When a PG becomes confined to a single policy in the governments arsenal and is not consulted on anything else and is stuck as an insider.
• Insider group giving evidence to inquiries

  • Kings fund in 2013 on the state of the emergency health provision
• Outsider Groups

  Pressure Groups with no special recognised links to government
• types of Outsider Pressure groups


  • Potential Insiders
  • Outsiders by Necessity
  • Outsiders by choice
• Potential Insiders

  'Threshold groups' that would quite like insider status but haven't achieved it yet, lacking perhaps experience or connections.
• Potential Insiders

  • Gurkha Justice Campaign spent 4 years as potential insiders before they received the connections by Joanna Lumley allying herself with the cause.