AQA Government and Politics Chapter 9: Pressure Groups (Essay Plans)
Updated 2023/2024
This Resource includes 16 9-Mark Question Plans and 4 25-Mark Question Plans for the 'Pressure Groups' topic - also including a list of key definitions alongside a specification checklist (+ topics that hav...
Pluralism – Democratic politics involves numerous groups
competing for power and influence on a roughly equal basis
Political Agenda – Issues that are the subject of decision-making
and debate by those with political power
Insider Pressure Groups – Pressure groups with close ties and
contacts with the government
Outsider Pressure Groups – Pressure groups that lack strong
established links with government
Interest Groups – Pressure groups that defend and advance the
specific interests of their members (e.g., trade unions and business
groups) selfish in their aims, though arguably their stance is in
the national interest
Promotional Groups – Pressure groups that set out to achieve a
specific set of aims that are not in the direct self-interest of their
members (e.g., human rights or nuclear disarmament causes)
selfless objectives (based on ethics and principles)
Lobbying – Influencing government / parliament / public bodies
,Explain and analyse three factors that contribute to pressure
group success (9 Marks)
P = Large Membership
E = RSPB = around 1.1 million, National Trust = over 5 million,
exceeding any political party or trade union membership
A = TISB an elected gov may not wish to alienate such an immense
group, thus grabbing their attention and contributing to their success
E.g., 2011 = National Trust set up a petition signed by thousands
against changes to land-use planning – thus government modified
aspects of policy to accommodate Trust’s fears
P = In tune with the National Mood
E = XR managed to raise environmental concerns up the political
agenda during the 2019 election
45% of 18-24-year-olds cited the environment as one of their top
three concerns during that election
A = Less significant, less popular groups can still wield significant
influence behind the scenes of public mood
E.g., NFU held considerable power and influence despite not being
a public priority
P = Media Attention and Support
E = Howard League campaigned against the banning of sending
books to prisoners – received media support alongside best-selling
author Philip Pullman – successful and overturned September 2014
A = Less significant as the media can also make a group less
successful through negative publicity by highlighting association with
violence and disorder – e.g., after XR threw fake blood over the
Treasury, The Independent highlighted their “failure to persuade
decent people”
, Explain and analyse three different types of Pressure Groups
(9 Marks)
P – Insider Groups, close ties and contacts with government
E – National Trust has close ties with the government and political
establishment – allowed to declare its land ‘inalienable’ due to
various Acts of Parliament from 1907 onwards
A – TISB insider groups with close ties and contacts with the
government have the opportunity to informally lobby the government
and ensure their views are cooperated – e.g., in 2011 the Trust forced
the government to modify aspects of its national planning policy in
order to accommodate their fears about the countryside
P – Outsider Groups, lack strong established links with government
E – Extinction Rebellion (XR) lack these links and instead rely on
mass demonstrations such as blocking roads, e.g., blocking a road on
Trafalgar Square in August 2018
A - TISB unlike insider groups, they are not constrained by their
close ties with government and its institutions, and thus have the
freedom to act and take policy stances (e.g., Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament, who is at-odds with government policy regarding the
Trident nuclear submarine)
P – Sectional Interest Groups, defend specific interests of members
E – Trade Unions = NEU striking from February-May 2023 over a
pay dispute, as members want a 12% pay rise when the government is
only offering a rise of 5%
A – TISB , despite being defined as more selfish in their aims,
sectional interest groups justify their stance as being in the national
interest – with the NEU in particular representing “the good of the
education service as a whole” according to their General Secretaries
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