PG success and failure

• PGs may be successful if they have insider status as they can directly influence government policy

  Sometimes prisoner groups aren't always listened to by the government but they can't do anything about it as they either rely on the government for funding or they were founded by the government
• Wealthy pressure groups are likely to be successful as they can buy better lobbyists and can advetise better and raise greater awareness for their issues
• Large memberships are important in a pressure group's success as it means they can get a lot of people to act which could put a lot of pressure on the government to listen to them as it may be influential, especially near election time - political mobilisation
• Celebrity endorsement isn't necessary for a pressure group to succeed but it can help
• Pressure groups are more likely to fail if they go against the government without a big following as parliamentary sovereignty means the government can resist pressure as they usually have a majority in the Commons
• Countervailing forces - pressure groups that campaign for opposing issues so they cancel out
• If pressure groups go against public opinion they would find it hard to succeed
• alienation - pressure groups may isolate themselves as people don't agree with their campaigning methods