An interest or pressure group is an organized association that aims to influence the policies or actions of government. Sectional groups advance or protect the (usually material) interests of their members, while promotional ones are concerned with shared values, ideals or principles. Whereas insider groups enjoy privileged access to policy formulation, outsider groups lack access to government and so are forced to 'go public'. Group politics has been understood in a number of ways. Pluralism emphasizes the dispersal of power and the ability of groups to guarantee democratic accountability. Corporatism highlights the privileged position that certain groups enjoy in relation to government. The New Right draws attention to the threat that groups pose in terms of over-government and economic inefficiency. Organized groups benefit the political system by strengthening representation, promoting debate and discussion, broadening political participation and acting as a check on government power. They may, nevertheless, pose a threat, in that they en trench political inequality, are socially and politically divisive, exercise non-legitimate and unaccountable power, and make the policy process more closed and secretive. Interest groups exert influence through a variety of channels, including the bureaucracy, the assembly, the courts, the mass media, the parties and international bodies. The level of influence that groups have in a particular system, however, relates to how accommodating that system is to group activity in general, and to what access points it offers groups in terms of the distribution of policy-making power.

1. GROUPS,
INTERESTS AND
MOVEMENTS

2. • An interest or pressure group is an organized association that aims
to influence the policies or actions of government.
• Differences between interest groups:
• Sectional v associational: Sectional groups advance the interests of
their members, while promotional ones are concerned with shared
values, ideals or principles.
• Insider v outsider: Whereas insider groups enjoy privileged access
to policy formulation, outsider groups lack access to government
and so are forced to ‘go public’.
Interest groups

3. • Group politics has been understood in a variety of ways.
• Pluralism emphasizes the dispersal of power and the
ability of groups to guarantee democratic accountability.
• Corporatism highlights the privileged position that certain
groups enjoy in relation to government.
• The New Right draws attention to the threat that groups
pose in terms of over-government and economic
inefficiency.
Models of group politics

4. • Groups have a broad range of tactics and political strategies at their
disposal
• Activity tends to focus on the bureaucracy as the key institution in
the process of policy formulation. Other points of access include:
• the bureaucracy
• the assembly
• the courts
• political parties
• the mass media
• international organizations
How do groups exert influence?

5. • The political culture
• The institutional structure
• The nature of the party system
• The nature and style of public policy
Factors affecting the general
importance of groups

6. • Level of public sympathy for the group and its goals
• Size of membership and activist base
• Financial strength and organizational capability
• Ability to disrupt or inconvenience government
• Institutional links to parties or government bodies
Why are some groups more
influential than others?

7. • A social movement is a collective body in which there is a high level
of commitment and political activism not necessarily based on a
formal organization.
• New social movements are distinguished by:
• Their capacity to attract the young, better-educated and relatively
affluent
• Their generally postmaterial orientation
• Their commitment to new forms of political activism, sometimes
called the ‘new politics’.
Social movements