Pressure (Advocacy) Groups
Pluralism:
• Political power in society does not rest simply with the electorate or the governing elite, but is
distributed amongst a number of groups representing widely different interests within society
• See Robert Dahl
Elitism:
• Political power in a society rests with a small group who gain power through wealth, family
status or intellectual superiority
• See C. Wright Mills
What are pressure groups?
• An organised interest group in which members hold similar beliefs and actively pursue ways
to influence government. They do not seek control of government, but rather seek to influence
policy makers.
Two categories of PG’s:
• Institutional:
o Pressure groups that represent groups, organisations and professionals
§ Business/trade groups
§ Labour unions
§ Agricultural groups
§ Professionals
o E.g. American Medical Association, American Business Conference
• Membership:
o Represent individuals rather than organisations
o Can be single issue groups:
§ National Rifle Association
o Can be an ideological group:
§ American Conservative Union
o Can represent individuals with a common social characteristic (gender, religious, ethnic
etc.) and have multiple issues:
§ National Organisation for Women
o Can be public interest:
§ Friends of the Earth
o Think tanks are a particularly important type of membership group
Growth in the significance of PG’s:
• Expanding federal government:
o With the centralisation of power and the size of the federal government’s regulatory
control over business and healthcare, many groups have appeared to use the
centralisation to their advantage, and counter it
o E.g. the US Chamber of Commerce claims to represent the interests of more than 3 million
businesses
o The AFL-CIO combines 57 trade unions to represent over 12 million workers
• Increasing partisanship:
o The increasing adversarial character of US politics has given rise to the growth in
ideological and partisan groups
o Partisan think-tanks such as the Heritage Foundation (Conservative) and the liberal
Centre for American Progress
o Also, the divisions over policies has led to divergent pressure groups:
§ E.g. NARAL Pro-choice America champions the right to abortion, and the National
Right to Life Committee is against abortions
Pluralism:
• Political power in society does not rest simply with the electorate or the governing elite, but is
distributed amongst a number of groups representing widely different interests within society
• See Robert Dahl
Elitism:
• Political power in a society rests with a small group who gain power through wealth, family
status or intellectual superiority
• See C. Wright Mills
What are pressure groups?
• An organised interest group in which members hold similar beliefs and actively pursue ways
to influence government. They do not seek control of government, but rather seek to influence
policy makers.
Two categories of PG’s:
• Institutional:
o Pressure groups that represent groups, organisations and professionals
§ Business/trade groups
§ Labour unions
§ Agricultural groups
§ Professionals
o E.g. American Medical Association, American Business Conference
• Membership:
o Represent individuals rather than organisations
o Can be single issue groups:
§ National Rifle Association
o Can be an ideological group:
§ American Conservative Union
o Can represent individuals with a common social characteristic (gender, religious, ethnic
etc.) and have multiple issues:
§ National Organisation for Women
o Can be public interest:
§ Friends of the Earth
o Think tanks are a particularly important type of membership group
Growth in the significance of PG’s:
• Expanding federal government:
o With the centralisation of power and the size of the federal government’s regulatory
control over business and healthcare, many groups have appeared to use the
centralisation to their advantage, and counter it
o E.g. the US Chamber of Commerce claims to represent the interests of more than 3 million
businesses
o The AFL-CIO combines 57 trade unions to represent over 12 million workers
• Increasing partisanship:
o The increasing adversarial character of US politics has given rise to the growth in
ideological and partisan groups
o Partisan think-tanks such as the Heritage Foundation (Conservative) and the liberal
Centre for American Progress
o Also, the divisions over policies has led to divergent pressure groups:
§ E.g. NARAL Pro-choice America champions the right to abortion, and the National
Right to Life Committee is against abortions
