Politics AS - Unit 1

Politics AS unit 1 notes Dora Elia.

Dora Elia.

UNIT 1 – People and Politics -

1.1 Democracy and Political Participation 1.2 Party Policies and Ideas 1.3 Elections 1.4 Pressure Groups

1.1 Democracy & Political Participation What is Democracy?

DEMOS

KRATOS

PEOPLE

POWER

Democracy

Forms of government in the world -

today;

Democracy Dictatorship Monarchy Theocracy

- Anarchy - Martial Law - Oligarchy - Religious Autocracy

EXAMPLES SYRIA – dictatorship – hereditary NORTH KOREA – dictatorship – hereditary communist RUSSIA – oligarchy IRAN - Theocracy SAUDI ARABIA – monarchy – absolute power UK – monarchy – constitutional power BURMA – martial law – armed forces SOMALIA – anarchy (failed states) CUBA – one party state – vote for candidates from 1 party – no choice

Define Democracy -

Democracy establishes and protects freedom Democracy protects minorities – ‘tyranny of the majority’ Democracy controls government power Democracy encourages participation Democracy disperses power

Importance of Democracy Ancient Greece 500BC – all male citizens could vote – this was short lived and died out USA, 18th Century, 1776 – led to the Declaration of Independence France 1789 revolt – became a republic – abolished slavery New Zealand, 1893 – first country that allowed women to vote Dora Joanna Elia.

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Forms of Democracy Direct Democracy – This is where the power to make decisions lies with the people. The earliest accepted form of this democracy was in Ancient Greece whereby the people (although only the Men) would gather, listen to speeches from leading citizens and then vote upon the issue. The majority vote was accepted. Clearly however, this form of democracy is not applicable with today’s society as many more decisions must be made and the voting population is much larger. This does not mean, however, that Direct Democracy is not possible and in many countries it is used in the form of REFERENDUMS. Switzerland for example has had more than 550 referendums since 1848. **The arguments FOR and AGAINST Direct Democracy are relatively interchangeable with those For and Against Referendums.

Representative Democracy – The Representative system of Democracy evolved when it was realized that it was not feasible for so many people to meet to vote on issues at regular intervals. Political Philosophers also noted that most of the voters where illiterate and ill-educated and incapable of making an informed decision on matters of importance. There was also fear that the views of the minorities would be swamped out by the masses. The solution was to allow the people to vote on a Representative to take their views and get them represented in Parliament. This had the additional plus that the people who stood for election were, in general, better informed about political issues than the common Man. This system is used currently in the UK. The country is split into 650 different constituencies (soon to be 600) and each constituency elects one MP in a ballot during an election. The winning MP is sent to Parliament to represent the people, who live in his constituency during voting on issues etc.

A Liberal Democracy – This is not so much a type of democracy but instead is used to ‘rate’ democracies. A Liberal Democracy is one where the Government is; held accountable to its decisions (Iraq), there are free and fair elections (all citizens over 18 have the right to vote and there is an independent electoral commission who ensure they are fair), there is a peaceful transfer of power if a government has to hand power over (no violence recorded), information is freely available to the citizens (free press and free publishing), the rights and liberties of citizens are recognized and protected (EU convention on Human Rights), a variety of beliefs, opinions and lifestyles are tolerated providing they do not threaten the state and the powers of the government are controlled and limited by either law, elected institutions or both (in 2005 Parliament denied the government’s request to be able to detain terror suspects for up to 90 days without trial). The UK falls into this bracket, as do most western democracies.

Dora Joanna Elia.

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Representative Democracy 1649 - 53; Parliment is soverign - ultimate power

1688 - King James II was replaced because he was Catholic & the parliment did not want that.

1832 - The Great Reform Act introduced, fairer and regular systems for the elections of MP's. Middle classes could vote.

1884 - more legitimate - most men could vote

1928 - universal suffrage - all adults, men & women over 21

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Referendums A Referendum is “A popular vote where the people are asked to determine an important political or constitutional issue directly”. Referendums may be held for a whole variety of reasons such as: - The inability of a Government to decide on an issue: 1975, Labour asked “Do you think the UK should stay in the European Community”. 67% voted YES. - To ensure the affected people consent to the law: 1998 vote to approve a London Mayor. 72% voted YES. - To resolve issues between parties/factions: 2010 AV Vote sorted the argument between the pro-reform Lib Dems and Anti-reform Conservatives.

- A referendum entrenches the law, preventing it from being attacked by future governments: e.g. it would now be very hard for the Government to remove the Scottish Parliament without another Referendum as the Scott’s voted in favour.

A summary for the arguments for & against Referendums Arguments For Referendums Arguments Against Referendums - They are one of the most direct - Some issues are too complex for forms of democracy which are people to understand. For example available in modern society. had the Government held a - People are more likely to referendum on whether they respect and follow decisions if should ratify the EU bill on a they have been made by the financial transaction tax in 2011, whole population. It gives the not many of the public would have been able to make an informed law legitimacy. This is especially important in places like Northern and educated decision on the Ireland in 1998 where they matter. needed strong support for the - Allows heavy media influence, for Good Friday Agreement. 70% YES example in the 2011 Alternative was deemed enough.

Voting (AV) referendum ‘The SUN’ - It prevents government from was very negative towards the making unpopular decisions. idea of AV. This may influence voter decisions.

Shown by the strong NO vote in the 2004 North-East England - Tyranny of the Majority – for regional government referendum. example in 1979 in the Welsh - Helps the government resolve referendum on the Wales Act 20% difficult issues such as the 1975 of the voters voted YES, but this EU referendum. was the minority so it is likely that these people’s views will be largely ignored.

NO referendums on moral issues

NO referendums with obvious outcomes NO referendums on financial issues

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Criticisms of the UKs democratic system The UK's democratic system is not without its faults and has been criticized on a variety of grounds over the years. These arguments include: 1) There are a number of important, non-elected institutions within the governments of the UK. The most notable examples of this is the House of Lords, which is not currently elected by the people in a vote, yet still hold the power to block or suggest amendments to policy areas. The House of Lords does not have democratic legitimacy or a mandate from the people so many argue that they should either be elected or not have this power, claiming that it is undemocratic and does not promoted political participation.

2) Secondly, the electoral system used in the UK is the recipient of much criticism. A more detailed explanation can be found in section 1.2, but in summary - it frequently allows governments to be formed with less than 50% of the popular vote (e.g.

Labour in 2005 received 35% of the vote, yet obtained 55% of the seats), which arguably discourages political participation.

3) The UKs political system is dominated almost entirely by the three main parties which hold just over 90% of the seats between them. This is seen to limit adequate democratic representation within the UK as minor parties are marginalized and underrepresented in regional assemblies and governments. E.g. UKIP gained just under 1,000,000 votes in the 2010 election (around 3% of the total vote) yet they obtained no seat in parliament and are therefore not representing the 3% of the population who voted for them.

4) The power which the UK democratic system lends to pressure groups has been criticized also. A more detailed explanation can be found in section 1.3, but in summary - The leaders of pressure groups are not elected or accountable, pressure groups are not normally under public scrutiny, they lack internal democracy and those who are rich are able to gain an unfair advantage.

5) The membership to the EU has been criticized as many decisions are now made in the EU government and the UK electorate has little democratic control. The UK Government also has few powers to override the EU on issues. E.g. The EU charter on Human Rights contains a passage granting all prisoners voting rights, and the UK Government.

Dora Joanna Elia.

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Political Participation People can vote in; - General elections - Local elections - European elections - Referendums

- London mayor elections - Greater London assembly elections

Turnout 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40%

76%

73%

75%

77%

71%

30%

59%

61%

65%

2001

2005

2010

20% 10% 0% 1979

1983

1987

1992

1997

Turnout

Why don’t people vote?

-

Disabled On holiday In prison

- Working - Not Registered

20% of the population

People not bothered about voting – 20% of the population

To increase participation: -

Make voting compulsory Move the voting day from Thursday to a more convenient day Create an e-voting system More Referendums

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1.1 revision topics             

What is meant by democracy?

What is meant by the democratic deficit?

Nature of the ‘participation crisis’ in Britain Problems of lack of legitimacy in UK government and parliament In what ways has EU membership undermined UK democracy?

What is meant by democratic renewal?

How can citizens participate in politics in the UK? Nature of direct democracy Why referendums have been held Arguments for and against referendums Nature of representative democracy Direct and representative democracy compared How citizens are represented in the UK

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1.2 Party Policies & Ideas What is a ‘Political Party’?

A political party is an organisation that develops a set of political goals and policies.

The party system was developed between 1830 and 1870.

Features & Functions Features  They have some kind of organisation  They develop political policies and programmes  They seek government office  They put up candidates for election  They campaign to achieve public support  They train and recruit leaders

Functions  Developing policies and programmes (including aggregation)  Selecting candidates for office  Representation  Selecting political leaders  Helping to run elections  Political education among the people  Organisation of parliamentary procedure  Mobilising popular consent for the political system

Factionalism A tendency within parties to split into different internal groups who hold views that are at variance with main beliefs of the party. Such groups, or factions, may be formal groupings or merely informal tendencies.

Left/Right Wing A commonly used way of describing political tendencies. Left wing normally refers to ideas associated with socialism or social democracy, while right wing normally refers to conservative ideas.

Political Spectrum LEFT

GREEN

Communist Dora Joanna Elia.

LIB DEM LABOUR CONSERVATIVES UKIP BNP 50

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RIGHT Nazi’s

Conservatism A state of mind and a political movement that is naturally averse to excessive change and reform. It is sceptical about strongly held political views, prefers the known to the unknown and generally supports the retention of traditional institutions and values.

Conservative Approach

Considers minor adjustments based upon experience

considers existing structure/provisions

looks at the problem

Is prepared to accept that earlier policies may have been inadequate

Conservatism Today Liberal conservativsm

Collectivist/paternal conservatism

e.g. the 'New Right' in the UK and US in the 1980s/1990s. In Britain the advent of thatcherism and 'neo-liberal' policy.

Describing much of the post-war Conservative history in Britain. 'One-nation Tories'. often marginalised under Thatcher as 'the wets'

free market economics..deregulation.. privatisation..restrictions on the power of unions

limited state intervention.. 'rolling back the frontiers of the state'

mixed economy (Keynesianism)

More significant state intervention

quick and radical change

slow gradual change ... evolution not revolution

Maintaining national sovereignty

increasing integration in Europe

quite individualistic

Collectivistic ... pluralistic

Limited welfare provision... low 'safety net' only

support for universal welfare state ... paternalism

Paternalism: Where authority is centralised but the state is benevolent; caring for the most needy.

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Liberalism A state of political mind or a political movement that places freedom, rights and tolerance high on its scale of values.

Liberal view of human nature Liberals have a generally positive view of human nature. Some early liberals saw men as self-seeking and egotistical, but later writers believed that humans are rational and compassionate, if corruptible. Liberals place the emphasis on guidance (encouragement for individuals to develop in the right direction); they believe that individuals, given choices, can be helped to make the decisions that benefit them and society at large.

Different forms of liberalism

•Particularly common in the 19th century, classical liberalism saw minimal state intervention as being the deal. there was an empahasis on freedom, toleration and equality. individuals were rational and had choices to make.classicalliberalism emphasised the desirability of self-help and self-improvement.

classical liberalism

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New/progressive liberalism •The social impact of industrialisation - particularly its more expolitative face made many liberals realise that greater regulation might be needed. the market could not be allowed to go unchecked. Self-help would not be enough. There was a need for state provisions of schools and hospitals.

Pensions and unemployment benefit could be provided.

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•Often associated with the 'New Right', neo-liberalism involved 'rolling back the frontiers of the state'; ending ot at least minimising state provision/intervention. it was a return to classical liberal ideas of self-help and equality of opportunity rather than outcome. Neo-Liberals once again emphasised the centrality of the market in providing for the needs of individuals.

Neo-liberalism

Socialism A state of mind and a political movement that places such values as equality of opportunity, social justice and collectivism high on its scale of values. It is either opposed to free market capitalism or proposes measures to moderate the undesirable effects of capitalism.

The impact of capitalism from a socialist perspective Human cost Capitalism is exploitative. workers are not rewarded for the full value of their labour and are often exposed to unacceptable levels of harm.

Human spirit Capitalism encourages greed, jealousy and an unhealthy form of competition. it acts against co-operation and altruism.

Democracy

Inequality

Democracy is illusionary. It appears to offer real hope of change but merely acts to preserve the capitalist order through minor concessions and incentives.

Capitalism entrenches inequality. Its main motivation is the accumulation of wealthy and - given limited wealth - this ensures there will always be losers as well as winners.

Resources Capitalism is wasteful of resources. Producs designed to fail or be superseded at certain points (fail-rates and inbuilt redundancy). The desire for ever cheaper raw materials and ever cheaper energy sources encourages the destruction of natural environments. Capitalism acts against long term environmental planning in favour of short term profits.

Socialists have the desire to remould society rather than allowing it to evolve through interaction. Socialists favour: - The redistribution of resources resulting in greater equality of outcome - An emphasis on co-operation and common goals rather than competition and individualism - State provision of education and welfare - Collective control of the means of production

Different Strands of socialism Revolutionary socialism (e.g. Marxism)

Reformist socialism (e.g. social democracy) Born of a mistrust of capitalism, but not of democratic institutions.

Based on an acceptance of capitalism, but wanting adjustments to bring greater benefits to a greater number of people.

Take control of the state through revolution (proletarian). Take control of the means of production and create a dictatorship of the proletariat. The state then becomes the ‘vehicle for change’ organising people collectively

Use existing democratic structures to reform from within, thus moving towards an end goal held in common with revolutionary socialists.

Use existing democratic structures to bring greater benefit to a greater number.

Extend rights, raise the level of the welfare safety net, and extend wealth redistribution through taxation.

State withers away, creating a more communal co-operative style of existence

Same as root.

A more palatable form of capitalism.

Root

Root

Adjusters

Result

Radical Reformers Born of a mistrust of the democratic model. Has a fundamental dislike of capitalism.

Sees democratic institutions as a tool of the bourgeoisie

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UK Prime Ministers from 1937 -2012

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain Sir Winston Churchill Clement Attlee Sir Winston Churchill Sir Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan Sir Alec Douglas-Home Harold Wilson Sir Edward Heath Harold Wilson James Callaghan Margaret Thatcher John Major Tony Blair Gordon Brown David Cameron Nick Clegg (deputy pm)

Governed 1937 – 1940 1940 – 1945 1945 – 1951 1951 – 1955 1955 – 1957 1957 – 1963 1963 – 1964 1964 – 1970 1970 – 1974 1974 – 1976 1976 – 1979 1979 – 1990 1990 – 1997 1997 – 2007 2007 – 2010 2010 - present

Total Number Of Prime Ministers since 1895 Conservative PM’s

16

Labour PM’s

8

Liberal Democrat PM’s

3.5 (deputy in 2010)

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Political Party Conservative Conservative Labour Conservative Conservative Conservative Conservative Labour Conservative Labour Labour Conservative Conservative Labour Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats

Consensus Politics Consensus politics refers to a circumstance where two or more major political parties broadly agree on most basic policies. In other words, a period when there are few or no major political conflicts. It may also refer to a single issue where different parties agree to support the same policies. This implies a lack of strong ideology in politics.

Adversary Politics Adversary politics is the opposite of consensus. It is defined as the situation where there are deep and widespread ideological differences between the mainstream competing political parties who have realistic chance of gaining power and forming a government.

This would cover issues such as economic policy, defence policy and welfare policy. The policy differences are expansive and fundamental.

An example of adversary politics in Britain would be the early 1980’s when the Labour Party, led by Michael Foot, advocated nationalism, unilateral nuclear disarmament and increased welfare provision, while the Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, advocated privatisation, multilateral nuclear disarmament and reduced welfare.

Dora Joanna Elia.

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1.2 revision topics                

Definition of a party Features of parties Functions of parties Democratic role of parties Undemocratic features of parties Role of parties in political participation Nature of party government Nature of two-party system Nature of conservatism Nature of British Socialism Nature of liberalism Current policies of all 3 parties Difference between consensus and adversary politics Main policies on which parties agree Main policies on which parties disagree The nature of the coalition agreement

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1.3 Elections Types of Elections In the UK there are many types of elections:

General Election: This must be held at least every 5 years, although it may be called earlier if the Government wishes it to be so. In this election, each of the UK’s 650 constituencies vote on which representative they want to send back to the House of Commons to represent them. Currently the voting is conducted under First-Past-ThePost.

Bi-election: When an MP resigns or dies, a replacement must be found and an election is held in the old MPs constituency.

Regional Assembly: In the Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies elections are held at fixed times to elect the MPs for these Assemblies.

European Parliament: These have been held every 5 years since 1979 and occur in the whole of Europe. In the UK the country is split into 7 Regions and each one elects a number of MEPs to go to the EU Parliament.

Functions of Elections Elections have 3 main functions Representation, Choosing the Government and Participation: 1) Representation – Elections exist to allow the electorate to choose representatives to make political decisions on their behalf. In the UK, each of the 650 constituencies pick one representative to send to the House of Commons.

2) Choosing the Government – While this occurs indirectly in the UK, it is still a function of elections. As voters vote on prospective MPs they are also voting on a party (which their MP belongs to) at the end of the election, the leader of the largest party becomes the Prime Minister, and if one party gained more than 50% of the seats, they are able to form a majority government. Otherwise a minority government or a coalition government must be formed. The perfect example being the current Government which is a coalition between the Conservatives (majority) and the Liberal Democrats (minority) – it would be fair to say that this is likely to be the only time that the Liberal Democrats would be actively involved in Government as it has become apparent that such coalitions do not work.

3) Participation – Elections also give legitimacy to both the government who was voted into power and to the election system itself as in both cases the public have been able to give their views and choose a government. It ensures a Mandate from the Masses.

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Election Systems There are numerous types of election system all of which can alter the results of an election in some way. They are generally split into 3 categories: 1) Plurality – This is a system where the winning candidate only needs to get the most votes, rather than more than 50% to win. (First-Past-The-Post) 2) Proportional Representation – This is a system where the seats are awarded in proportion to votes cast. (Party List, Additional Member System, Single Transferable Vote) 3) Majoritarian – This is a system where the winning candidate needs to get more than 50% of the votes cast to win. (Supplementary Vote, Alternate Vote)

Plurality Systems First-Past-The-Post (UK General Elections): Under this system, the country is split into constituencies holding a certain number of people (between approx., 60,000 to 75,000 in the UK with the exception of the Isle of Wight – 110,000). During an election, each Party can send 1 prospective MP to stand for election in each constituency. The voters then vote on which candidate they want to represent them in Parliament. The winning candidate is the one who gets the most votes, and then returns to Parliament.

Advantages - Strong link between MP and Voters - Little chance of extreme parties gaining many seats.

- Simple and easy to understand and run - Tends to produce strong, single party Majority governments

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Disadvantages - Large numbers of votes wasted.

- Benefits concentrated support rather than wide spread support.

Lib Dems in 2010 – 23% of vote = 8% of Seats.

- Encourages tactical voting - Hard to start a new Party

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P.R. Systems Party List (EU Parliament): In this system, each Party puts forward a list of candidates for a large constituency and in voting, the people vote for a Party rather than a person. The votes are then counted and seats are awarded in proportion to votes cast (so 40% of the vote = 40% of the seats). Each constituency has multiple members. In a closed list the voters are not able to specify a preference in which candidate from the list will be chosen, but in an open list system, they are able to do so.

Advantages - High degree of proportionality.

- Every vote has the same value.

- Simple for voters.

Disadvantages - Large constituencies mean there is little voter-MP link.

- In a closed system there is no say over the MP.

AMS (Scottish Assembly): This system is a hybrid between Party List and FPTP. Each voter gets 2 votes, one of them works like FPTP and the other works the same as Party List. The seats are then awarded 2/3 FPTP and 1/3 Party List. The results are then adjusted to make it more proportional, so doing well in FPTP means your score is lowered, and doing poorly means it is raised.

Advantages - Each voter has at least 1 effective vote.

- Mostly proportional - Allows voters to show personal support in the FPTP vote and party support in the List vote.

Disadvantages - Not very easy to understand - Possibility that the ‘List’ MP would be overshadowed by the personally chosen FPTP MP.

STV (RoI Assembly): Under this system, all the constituencies have between 3 and 5 MPs depending on the constituencies’ size. In the vote, voters rank candidates in order of preference and in order to secure a seat, a candidate must reach a quota. If no candidate reaches the quota first time, a calculation is done to find the surplus vote, but this is very difficult to and if there is no surplus the bottom candidate is eliminated and all their votes move onto the second choice until one candidate reaches their quota. Once one candidate reaches a quota, all the spare votes for that candidate are moved onto their second choices and this process continues until enough candidates have achieved their quotas.

Advantages - Simple for the voters to use.

- No wasted votes.

- Ensures wide spread representation in a very divided society.

- Gives governments a strong mandate.

Dora Joanna Elia.

Disadvantages - Difficult to run as the surplus calculation is complex. Means long counting period and large expense.

- Can lead to constant coalitions.

- Requires very large constituencies.

- Weak MP-Constituency link.

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Majoritarian Systems SV (London Mayor): In this system there are 2 columns on the ballot paper, one for first choice and one for the second choice although there is no obligation to use the second choice if you do not want to. In the first counting stage, if one person wins over 50% of the vote they win, if not then all but the top 2 candidates are eliminated and their secondary votes are added on to the relevant candidate if they are applicable. The winner is then declared.

Advantages - Simple for the voters to use.

- Encourages positive campaigning.

Disadvantages - Many wasted votes.

- The winner does not necessarily have the support of over 50% of the electorate.

Alternative Voting - AV (Australia): This system allows the voters to list their favourite candidates in order of preference.

When voting happens, if one person wins over 50% in the first count then the voting ends. If not the bottom candidate is eliminated and the secondary votes for that candidate added onto the other candidates as applicable. This continues until one candidate has over 50% of the vote.

Advantages - Eliminates tactical voting - All MPs would have majority support - Retain current constituencies - Coalitions are no more likely than in FPTP

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Disadvantages - Promotes a central view point.

- Doesn’t stop 2 party dominance.

- Prone to ‘Donkey Voting’ – randomly picking candidates due to lack of knowledge.

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Proportional Representation There are many advantages and disadvantages to the proposal that the UK should change its current FPTP voting system and change it to a PR system instead. Below is a table summarizing the arguments on both sides:

-

-

-

Is Proportional Representation a good thing?

YES NO It delivers are better representation - People lose the power to choose the of ethnic and political minorities government as the numerous within society. It effectively parties do this after the election to removes the Tyranny of the form the coalition government: e.g.

Majority as nearly everyone is the current coalition government represented. It is easier for voters was not directly elected by the to stand by their political views electorate, but formed behind rather than having to resort to closed doors in retrospective of tactical voting. the election.

Coalition politics prevents - Creates weak, indecisive conviction politicians like Margret governments who are not directly Thatcher as more parties are accountable for their actions. involved in Government so more  Allows extreme parties to gain views are represented. This could representation within government prevent highly unpopular bills as larger parties frequently have to such as the Poll Tax in 1990. ‘top up’ with the small parties to Having a PR system can increase form governments: an extreme voter turnout by decreasing example being the Nazi party in political atrophy: e.g. In the UK the the 1930s who gained voter turnout is roughly 60%, yet in representation at first by topping Ireland where they use a PR system, up the larger parties in a turnout is about 70%.

Rainbow Coalition.

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2010 British General Election Party Conservative Labour

Liberal Democrats

Green

Scottish Nationalist

Plaid Cymru DUP Sinn Fein SDLP Alliance Others Total  

   

The results of the 2010 general election Seats won No. votes (millions) % votes 307 10.73 36.1 258 8.61 29.0 57 6.84 23.0 1 0.29 1.0 6 0.49 1.7 3 0.17 0.6 8 0.17 0.6 5 0.17 0.6 3 0.11 0.4 1 0.04 0.1 1 1.93 6.9 650 25.69

% seats 47.5 39.7 8.8 0.2 0.9 0.5 1.2 0.8 0.5 0.2 0.2

The FPTP system failed to give one party an overall majority in the House of Commons since 1974.

Small parties failed to make a breakthrough.

- the Green party won its first seat in Brighton, but performed badly everywhere else.

- The BNP and UKIP did not win any seats, each party typically polling 10002000 votes, often many fewer.

There was no significant progress for the nationalist parties in Scotland & Wales.

The Conservative Party only won 1 seat in Scotland, 40% of the votes in England and 56% of English constituencies.

The overall turnout was 65%, with 24% of the votes Conservative.

A coalition was formed between the winning party, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats as a majority of votes was not won using the FPTP system.

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1.3 revision topics        

The functions of elections Meaning of the term ‘Proportional Representation’ How first-past-the-post works How STV, AMS and regional list systems work The effects of FPTP The effects of the use of other electoral systems in the UK The nature of mandate and manifesto Why AV was rejected

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1.4 Pressure Groups A pressure group is "an organization which seeks to influence the details of a comparatively small range of public policies and which is not a factor on a recognized political party". There are various different classifications of pressure groups which affect the ways in which they work:

Types of Pressure Group Pressure Groups can be categorized by whether or not they are in direct contact with policy makers: Insider – An Insider group is a Pressure Group which has strong links with decision makers and is regularly consulted on policy areas. These groups work inside the political system through contact with MPs, peers and official committees. This may be because their policies are acceptable to the government and the government wishes to be seen as taking other opinions into account, or because the group is of use to the development of policy. E.g. the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). This group is regularly consulted by the government and produce reports on how businesses are operating, performing and their attitudes towards new issues such as business taxation.

Outsider – An Outsider Pressure Group does not participate in the consultation process, either by choice or because they are excluded by the government. They can only use indirect methods to attempt to change policy. They work outside the political system, attempting to influence policy via methods such as mobilizing public opinion.

E.g. Occupy - This was a group set up to try and balance the differences between executive pay and worker pay, their methods included camping in high-profile cases to make their voices heard. They were not consulted by the government on policy.

They can also be categorized based on what types of issues they are campaigning to change:

Interest/Sectional – An Interest or Sectional group is one which is acting on behalf of a particular section of society (e.g. Religious communities); they are sometimes known as Interest groups as they act upon the Interests of a particular segment of society. E.g. National Union of Teachers (NUT) represents Teachers, furthering their interests including better pay, working conditions and pensions.

Cause/Promotional – A Cause or Promotional group is focused on promoting a particular issue. They are not self-interested as they are trying to promote a particular idea or cause to further, in their opinion, the general good. E.g. The Electoral Reform Society was set up to examine how changing the electoral system used in the UK would change the election results.

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Campaign Methods Used By Pressure Groups Lobbying – Lobbying is the processes where-by a pressure group gets in direct contact with a policy maker via the use of committees and commissions which meet to develop policy, consultation with ministers on issues which concern the groups campaign and by giving policy makers help in the form of a source of education or by scrutinizing the legislation.

Insider pressure groups find it easier to lobby than Outsiders as they are in direct contact with policy makers. Outsider groups however are still able to attempt to lobby policy makers but typically experience less success than Insiders. The recent exposure of the Cash for Access debacle is a good example of Lobbying in action, scrutinizing the way in which the government works.

Parliamentary Methods – The Parliamentary Method is where a pressure group finds an MP to bring up relevant issues as much as is possible in the Commons. This is often done because the MP is a sympathizer to the group’s aims or for technically illegal financial returns. The House of Lords is particularly useful to pressure groups as the Lords are more independent of party control than MPs so the group is more likely to find a friendly ear in the Lords. A recent example of this is the 2010 equality act which sought to prevent discrimination over groups such as women, the disabled, ethnic minorities and gay people. However, a coalition of Christian churches argued that they should have an exemption to this act because they had a "special reason" to exclude gay people. The amendment to the act was successful. Outsider groups tend to not partake in parliamentary methods and so are described as 'extra-parliamentary'.

Direct Action – This is when a group attempts to gain as much publicity to their cause as possible via a variety of methods such as public stunts such as Greenpeace destroying fields of GM crops or the Animal Liberation Front releasing animals used for scientific tests into the wild.

Direct Action has become more popular with the advent of modern technology such as mobile phones and the internet as lots of people can be alerted to the action in a very short space of time.

Mobilizing Public Opinion – This method makes use of political parties need to hold onto their voting support. If a large group of people such as the old segment of the population represented by Age UK are campaigning for larger pensions and rebates on elderly council taxes then the government has to listen in order to maintain their voting support. This type of action becomes especially prevalent around elections as it is even more important that you do not loose voters then.

Dora Joanna Elia.

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Why are some pressure groups more influential than others?

There are many factors which can determine why a pressure group is or is not successful in achieving their aims. In a 25 mark essay, you only need to write about 4, and these are: 1) Their relationship to the government - the typical rule is that pressure groups which are of insider status such as the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) tend to enjoy much better success in getting their policies included into the governments legislation than, for example, the Trade Unions which after Margret Thatcher's premiership found themselves largely excluded from positions of government influence and thus have significantly less power to alter legislation than they enjoyed in the 60s for example 2) The size of the pressure groups membership/support - a pressure group which enjoys a larger amount of membership or public support has a much greater degree of leverage over the government than a little known pressure group. For example, the 1996 Snowdrop campaign which was calling for a ban on private ownership of handguns in the UK was successful largely due to the 750,000 signatures its petitions received in just 6 weeks.

3) Ability to cause disruption - the ability of a pressure group to quickly get it and aims known are often vital to their success. Farthers4Justice for example were able to gain a large amount of news coverage by doing public stunts such as dressing up as supermen and parading through the streets. A lot of public exposure sparks debate and the government is forced to make a decision on the issue presented by the pressure group.

4) Finance - Large pressure groups are able to pump a lot more money into lobbying and other activities which promote themselves and thus the issue they are representing. A good example is the supermarket Tesco which is able to spend millions every year lobbying the government to seek a better deal for themselves.

Dora Joanna Elia.

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How democratic are pressure groups?

Democratic Features  Provide opportunities for public participation within politics. The Iraq War rallies allowed hundreds of thousands of people to tell the government that they were against the war.  Protect the interests of minorities within society. For example, the Sikh society is represented by the Sikh Federation.  Act as a safe guard to the power of the state. NO2ID protested, along with other groups, against the proposed ID cards within the UK.

Dora Joanna Elia.

Undemocratic Features  Some groups wield more power than their support warrants, such as Tesco which while it is a large company, fights little for public interests, and instead fights to further its own.  Insider pressure groups have influence at the expense of outsiders. The government can justify ignoring outsiders as it is listening to insiders.  Pressure groups are not directly accountable to their actions.  The group’s leadership may not accurately convey the views of its members.

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1.4 revision topics            

Classifications of groups Functions of pressure groups Methods of groups Changing role of pressure groups Nature of direct action Factors in success or failure of groups Distinctions between parties and pressure groups Democratic role or pressure groups Nature of pluralism Nature of elitism Undemocratic features of pressure groups Digital democracy

Dora Joanna Elia.

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