Pressure Groups Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

A pressure group is widely defined as a group of people who come together to influence policy on a matter of mutual interest. Other terms commonly used to refer to pressure groups are special interest groups and lobbies. Interest groups are found in every society, autocracies and democracies, in the world. They are distinct from political parties in that they do not field their own members for political office, but rather attempt to influence policy through the existing set of policy makers, including executives, legislators, political parties, dictators, ministers, bureaucrats, judges, and international organizations. Groups may be formally or informally organized; be interested in a single or a wide range of issues; and be temporary entities or permanent organizations with dedicated budgets, staff, and space. They organize across a range of issues and geographic locations. Some examples are the Beijing Software Industry Association, a local single-sector economic interest group; the American Civil Liberties Union, a national multi-issue social group; and Greenpeace, an international environmental group.

Pressure groups employ a wide range of resources and tools to influence policy, including legal and illegal financial donations to policy makers, technical and political information, media campaigns aimed at influencing public opinion, member demonstrations, and the votes of their members. Strategic decisions regarding whom to lobby, how to lobby and when to get involved in the policy process vary as a function of the nature of issues, characteristics of groups, and the institutional and regulatory environment of countries.

An active community of interest groups allows members of society to represent their interests and concerns to policy makers at all stages of policy making and allows policy makers, in turn, to benefit from the information and expertise of such groups. The belief that such interactions bring better representation, more equitable distribution of benefits and costs, and better policy in both democratic and authoritarian systems has led international organizations and aid agencies—such as the World Bank, the United Nations (UN), and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—to promote civil society groups and business organizations as essential components of democratic and economic reforms. However, the evidence of success has so far been mixed.

In many countries, groups with money or political connections have frequently dominated access to policy makers. Critics argue that success in influencing policy and its consequences, therefore, has accrued primarily to these groups. Furthermore, by flushing the political system with money, rich pressure groups have also increased political corruption and constrained political competition. These critics thus argue that pressure groups have come to dominate the political process to an extent that they are undermining the integrity of the democratic process and need to be constrained.

Proponents point to the experience of many developing countries where pressure groups in favor of reform were critical to overcome the resistance of traditional elites and entrenched bureaucracies who were opposed to beneficial economic and political reforms. Similarly, social interest groups in repressive regimes have successfully lobbied governments to increase social and media freedoms, release political prisoners, and redress public officials’ infractions. These scholars argue that designing appropriate regulatory systems that require pressure groups to disclose their membership, the sources of their funds, and their lobbying actions, as well as instituting high penalties for illegal behavior, will minimize their costs without sacrificing their benefits.

However, without more evidence, the debate about the appropriate role of interest groups in society cannot be resolved. Most of the current knowledge about pressure groups is based on information from a few developed democracies like the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union. For most of the world, there is little systematic evidence on basic questions about how pressure groups organize and lobby in these countries, whether they are able to exercise any influence on policy, and what their net impact on society has been.

Bibliography:

Campos, Nauro, and Francesco Giovannoni. “Lobbying, Corruption and Political Influence.” Public Choice 131, no. 1 (2007): 1–21.
Coates, Dennis, Jac C. Heckelman, and Bonnie Wilson. “Determinants of Interest Group Formation.” Public Choice 133, no. 3–4 (2007): 377–391.
Frieden, Jeffry A. “Invested Interests.” International Organization 45, no. 4 (1991): 425–451.
Grossman, Gene, and Elhanan Helpman. Special Interest Politics. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2001.
Hellman, Joel S., Geraint Jones, and Daniel Kaufmann. “Seize the State, Seize the Day: State Capture, Corruption and Influence in Transition. ”World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 2444. http://info.worldbank. org/etools/docs/library/17638/seize.pdf.
Kennedy, Scott. The Business of Lobbying in China. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2005.
Nownes, Anthony. Total Lobbying. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Lobbyists, Governments and Public Trust: Building a Legislative Framework for Enhancing Transparency and Accountability in Lobbying. Paris: OECD, 2008.
Olson, Mancur. The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1965.
Thomas, Clive S., and Ron J. Hrebener, eds. “Special Issue: Interest Groups, Lobbying and Lobbyists in Developing Democracies.” Journal of Public Affairs 8, no. 1–2 (February–May 2008).

This example Pressure Groups Essay is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.