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to realise what it is they need to do and when to do it. They need to have aims
set out, their focus e.g. what the main interest or cause of the group is and
what they are going to do to try and prevent the cause or further the interest.
A group may want to protest or influence decision makers, however this cannot
be done unless a pressure group is organized first.
Luckily, a pressure group having an Insider status allows them to stay close
with the government. It would allow a pressure group to gain trust from the
government. If the government is able to trust a group it makes it easier for
them to influence decisions that are made and have their say, therefore laws
can easily be made regarding their issues. The pressure group, confederation
of British industry has very close relations with the government and therefore
may find it easier to influence the government than any other pressure groups.
Celebrity involvement allows a pressure group to be well known within the
public and media. It allows groups to grow excessively due to the famous faces
which may be recognised with the pressure group. It may give some of them
extra advantages, for example; Jamie Oliver runs a one man pressure group to
do with healthy eating his celebrity status allows him have the advantage to
own television shows and influence the public through media.
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10 mark question.
What problems are associated with direct democracy?
Direct democracy is when the people themselves are directly involved in
making decisions, they may participate by voting in referendums or maybe
join or form pressure groups which are focusing on a specific interests of theirs.
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Pressure groups are organizations, they can be either formal or informal. Some
may choose to focus on an interest and aim to further that interest, whilst
others may promote a cause or issue. Pressure groups allow any citizen
sharing the same interest or concern about an issue or cause to join and help
maybe influence the decision makers decisions and get across views. Most
would agree that this benefits democracy, as it means that the people
themselves are making decisions and getting involved in activities directly.
However, there may some, with their reasons which would argue that pressure
groups do not strengthen democracy at all. In my opinion, pressure groups do
strengthen democracy , on the contrary this essay will explore reasons why
pressure groups DO and do NOT strengthen democracy.
Firstly, it is vital to focus on reasons for why pressure groups may seem to
hinder democracy and not strengthen it at all. One reason is that pressure
groups are seen as un accountable. This may because they do not seem to
have accountable leaderships, which could mean there is a danger of the
groups which claim to represent thousands, are only groups based on the ideas
of the individual running the group. Not all pressure groups are covered by the
1980s, industrial relations legislation which included the provision that union
leaders must be elected by their members.
Secondly, the activities of some pressure groups may challenge the democratic
process directly. Some pressuregroups such as animal right pressure groups
and environmental pressure groups may engage in illegal, violent or
controversial activities which they would be strongly criticised for. For
example, in 1990 an animal rights group caused the death of a research
scientists child in a car bomb. The activities which may be carried out by some
pressuregroups would infact weaken democracy as there would not be
anything for the people and by the people due to the harm caused to some for
others views and expression of emotions.
On the contrary, there are much more reasons for why pressure groups may
strengthen democracy. One reason is because they are an added form of
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