- PARTICIPATION
- They offer an alternative means of political participation for those who are uninterested in the main political parties, or who feel that their vote is wasted at elections due to FPTP.
- Only 24.4% of the electorate voted for Conservative candidates in the 2015 General Election, giving the Government a questionable mandate.
- As membership of the main parties and turnout in elections declines, they assume an increasingly important role in keeping government informed of public opinion.
- They educate the public on issues that can go overlooked by the main parties.
- It is arguable that, in recent decades, our main political parties have moved closer towards the political centre – many views on either side of the spectrum are often no longer heard or prioritised.
- The 2016 Act for the Act campaign used the stories of average Britons whose rights had been protected by the Human Rights Act, to expose the public to cases that might not have received much media coverage.
- 2.REPRESENTATION
- Political parties need to win over the majority of voters and are likely to adopt causes and positions that have their support – can lead to a tyranny of the majority, in which minorities are overlooked and underrepresented.
- Organised pressure groups are vital for giving minority groups a voice as they lack popular support.
- In September 2017, attention was drawn to the welfare of prisoners, after pressure groups like Howard League for Penal Reform and the Prison Reform Trust, bought attention to the rising rates of suicide within UK prisons and in 2013 they managed to reverse the government’s decision to ban books being sent to prisoners.
- With their greater experience and organisation, pressure groups can ensure that their views are considered.
- 3.EXPERTISE
- The input from pressure groups can greatly help policy formation and implementation.
- While often extremely well educated, ministers and MPs are rarely experts on every issue, even in areas that they specialise in as a part of a select committee or government department.
- The British Medical Association is likely to be consulted for medical policies, or Liberty might be consulted for their views on the extradition process, or human rights in the UK.
- Working with pressure groups helps to address potential problems early on, avoiding issues further down the road. For example, in October 2015, the House of Commons Health Select Committee took evidence from a number of medical and nutritional experts, as well as the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, on the question of how to reduce childhood obesity.
- After many of the experts recommended the introduction of a “sugar tax”, the committee proposed this action to the Government, and, in his 2016 Budget, the Chancellor announced that such a tax will be levied from 2018.