In my last blog posts, we have looked at both what pressure groups are and how they influence Parliament and the law-making process. Now that we have covered the background to this topic, we will start looking at some of the advantages of pressure groups, considering what the benefits are of them affecting the law-making process. We will also look at some disadvantages of this in a later blog post. However, we will start by quickly reviewing what pressure groups are and how they can influence Parliament.
What are Pressure Groups?
Pressure groups are organisations that seek to influence the law by campaigning, rather than by standing for election and voting for the changes they want in Parliament. They can be divided into two main groups – insider and outsider. Insider groups are those that have a close relationship with Parliament and are regularly consulted on issues that affect them.
Outsider groups are just that – those that are outside of the law-making process. They are rarely or never consulted by Parliament, so they can only seek to influence the law by campaigning. This makes it harder for them to influence Parliament, although some may prefer the freedom it gives them.
Pressure groups can also be divided into cause and interest groups. Cause groups are focused on a particular issue that they promote. Their membership is open to all and is based on shared values, rather than interests. Groups are generally altruistic or charitable. This category includes organisations such as Amnesty International.
Interest groups are those that share a particular interest. Membership may only be open to those who have an interest in this or are in some way affected by or involved in the particular interest. It may be limited to only people who are in a particular occupation. Examples of interest pressure groups are trade unions, trade associations and professional bodies. The Law Society and the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) are interest pressure groups.
Advantages of Pressure Groups
Expertise
One advantage of pressure groups is that they have considerable knowledge about their particular cause or interest. This means that their campaigns should be both convincing and accurate, allowing for better law-making.
The expertise of pressure groups is precisely why they are consulted by Parliament; they know all of the background information and any new developments in their particular area. Parliament simply doesn’t have the time or sufficient resources to build all of this information up themselves, so consulting pressure groups means that they can benefit from their knowledge.
This expertise is crucial as it helps to keep law-making fair and reasonable. Pressure groups can explain what their cause or members need and how the law can reflect this. In addition, having the information supplied by pressure groups helps to prevent Parliament from making any absurd laws that would not make sense to most people they applied to. This helps to improve legislation and make it more accessible. For example, the British Medical Association helped to create the smoking ban, as they could explain the health issues.
Gives Minorities a Voice
Another advantage of pressure groups is that they allow minority groups to be heard, when their views may otherwise go unnoticed or not gain any traction. Forming a group makes them more visible and increases the chance that Parliament will take them into account when they are drafting legislation.
Pressure groups can also help to raise public awareness of the particular issues faced by the minority group. For example, there are various groups focused around gaining awareness and support of LGBTQ+ issues, which help to bring these issues into the public eye and ensure they are represented in Parliament.
This helps to keep the law-making process democratic, as it means that everyone’s voice can be heard, no matter how small a group they come from. As Parliament is supposed to represent the views of the whole population, it is necessary for them to hear from minorities in order to represent them.
Raise Awareness
In addition, cause groups can help to raise awareness of their particular issues. The advantage of this is twofold. Firstly, there is a chance (depending on the cause) that Parliament will pay attention and implement new policies to deal with it. At the very least, they will have more information about it so that they can make properly informed decisions.
Secondly, pressure groups raise public awareness of important issues. For example, environmental groups have encouraged people to be more careful about the impact they have on the environment, as well as helping new legislation to be passed.
Wrapping Up
I hope that this helps you understand some of the many benefits pressure groups can bring to the law-making process. However, there are also some disadvantages, which we will be looking at in my next blog post.
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Great. Thanks.
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Glad it helped!
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Thank you very much! Using this for my GCSEs.
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Glad to hear it’s helping!
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