Insider groups may be involved in the decision-making process by being on committees with Ministers, MPs and civil servants, as well as writing advisory papers and sponsoring MPs. Outsider groups also have an opportunity to lobby politicians and their views will often be taken into consideration. There is criticism of the undue influence that may be wielded by the large and wealthy groups. There are some very large and wealthy pressure groups which can afford to use expert parliamentary lobbyists, who know the parliamentary and legislative system and can make direct contact with Ministers and MPs. Some people argue that some pressure groups have more opportunities than others to influence what decisions are made by Parliament.
In what ways do Pressure Groups try and influence the Government? (25) A pressure group is defined as a group that tries to influence policy on an interest or for a specific cause. They can be either an Insider group, or an Outsider group, with Insider’s being more respected and being consulted by the current Government. There are many ways in which a Pressure Group can influence Government, such as Direct Action, Lobbying, influencing Government directly, using the media and influencing Political Parties. One way in which pressure groups can influence is by direct action.
If bills get past the committee stage, members can make influential recommendations as they are perceived to be policy specialists. This could mean it is harder to gather enough votes due to the range of evidence provided and therefore the bill can be rejected at the 2nd or 3rd readings. The issue of ‘pork-barrel’ politics also arises in the committee stage. Congressmen may insert ‘earmarks’ into bills, which is a provision that gives money to a particular Congressman’s state. In order for many bills to get passed there is often a need for compromise between members of Congress as such favours are often exchanged in order to gain crucial votes on legislation.
The privileged and well organized wealthy upper class of this country dominate the polls, the majority of the U.S. is not represented in election, further slowing the progress of political reform. Voting is the most obvious way for the average American citizen to exercise their rights, though only one-third of eligible voters take part in mid-term congressional elections and there was only a 57.6 percent voter turnout in this last presidential election. Public officials can only respond to the information they are given, which is more often than not from the most advantaged Americans. Those who have higher incomes and have received the highest levels of formal education are more likely to be politically active, making their needs and values taken into account by government officials first and foremost. The influence of the minority proves to in turn promote the government unresponsive to the needs of the vast majority of the population, prompting middle and lower class Americans to believe that their vote does not matter and cannot make a difference.
Not only that, but Matthews goes about explaining what one must do in order to become successful if one chooses to enter politics. The books main purpose serves to help newcomers to politics or even veterans to better prepare themselves for all of the dirty, clever, and above all, brilliant tricks that politicians use to gain an upper hand in one of the dirtiest “games” around. What interests a reader about this book is how Matthews is able to make a dull topic such as politics interesting and somewhat captivating. He uses well known figures that have been engraved in the minds of people such as Roosevelt, Kennedy, Carter, Reagan, and others to help capture the attention of the
Pressure groups are becoming more powerful and influential and important in enhancing democracy. Some pressure groups such as Greenpeace use direct action to gain attention from government and from media It's about taking direct action against the government, so it is still political. You're seeking to influence the government by what you do. If you're campaigning, a result of it can be direct action You may be trying to cause a public inconvenience through things like strikes. Pluralists would say that Pressure Group power is democratically based and so the larger you are the more spread that power is.
Analyse the factors that affect the outcomes of presidential elections To become President of the United States of America, there are a lot of variables that stand on the way of the candidates. It is not a simple matter of pure policy and tradition (although these do play a part) instead the candidates need to appeal to a wide range of different demographic profiles i.e. ethnic minorities, and states renowned for their inconsistent voting patterns (swing states) Furthermore, the personality and presentation of the candidate, plays a key role along with the tactical organisation of the campaigns. Arguably though the biggest factor that affects the outcome of the Presidential election is the money spent by the candidate. Due to the fact that there is a direct correlation between the candidate who spent the most money on their campaign, and the eventual winner of the election, suggests that whoever spends the most money on their campaign will ultimately become president.
Why and how do US Pressure Groups attempt to influence election results? US pressure groups attempt to influence election results to get sympathisers into power and monitor how these individuals use the power. William Storey sums up the reason why Pressure groups try and get influence an election into two goals, the first is to help sympathetic people win elections. The second is to make sure those elected help use their power to advance the agenda of the group that helped them win. It is clear that pressure groups do gain influence over election results as there are concerns that pressure groups play a too significant role in elections, potentially making politicians more responsive to their agenda than to the concerns of the voters.
And finally, Consumer Campaigns; for example protests to highlight the cause and gain coverage. The factors in which pressure groups need to be successful include Money; from members/supporters, Support; from public - inc. Memberships within the group, and finally Achievable Goals; with realistic goals, the public is more likely to be in favour of a group promoting salient issues and who have a clear plan. There are a number of access points that pressure groups can use to gain political access. These include The Executive. If pressure groups target ministers/civil servants in different departments, eg.
Economic/Political Analysis -Are the poor and the wealthy equally concerned about the “freedom from fear”? Compare and contrast both speeches to answer this question.- From President Franklins Roosevelts speech and Barack Obamas speech, the poor and wealthy people are fairly concerned about “freedome of fear.” There are quite a few things that a lot of people in this world are in fear of. President also said in his speech that we shouldn’t fear anything, but fear itself. It also, doesnt mean if you are not as rich in this world as others around you, you can not do the things wealthy people do to improve in the world. President Franklin Roosevelt also said in one of his speeches that, you dont have to be rich to be happy in life, happiness in life comes from accomplishment.