What is Pressure Group? | Definition, Working, Advantages vs Disadvantages

Any change in government policies can affect citizens heavily. For this reason, citizens need to maintain communication with the government. It helps the government understand the ground reality of any issue. The citizens can do this task through various pressure groups.

These groups maintain close contact with the government and speak on behalf of any certain group. To a certain extent, these pressure groups can also influence the government. They often persuade the government to make better policies for citizens and industries. Let’s learn how pressure groups work and their advantages and disadvantages.

Key Takeaways

1. A pressure group is a group of individuals or organizations that seeks to influence public policy and decision-making by the government or other institutions.
2. Pressure groups can use a variety of tactics, such as lobbying, protests, and media campaigns, to achieve their goals.
3. Unlike political parties, pressure groups do not seek to control the government or hold public office but rather to influence those in power.

How does it work?

It is a group of collective individuals who works closely with the government and tries to influence government policies for better governance. The main objective of these groups is to help the government formulate policies which will benefit the group and overall inhabitants of the nation.

For example, the most common pressure groups are school associations, church societies, business organizations, and trade unions. Any government policy change can affect these groups heavily. Hence, these groups always try to influence government policies for their benefit.

Many political experts believe these groups are essential for a democratic governing system. Through these groups, citizens can communicate with the government and help the government with better policies. These groups often bring the opinion of minorities who don’t have much say in mainstream politics.

These groups also bring forward critical information about the nation to the government. They also express different pieces of advice to the government. Through these pressure groups, the government can understand the nation’s opinion. These groups can also influence the public and set the agenda for the election. These groups often go against radical policy change in the government and detrimentally influence the government.

Advantages of Pressure Group

Pressure groups play an important role in government policy formation. They often contact the government on various subject matters. In short, these groups often become the voice of the citizens. They often give the government various data points about the nation, which helps the government formulate better policies for the people.

Even though pressure groups are not official political representatives of people, they often represent different factions of society and various industries. Hence, they are very important for a democratic governing system.

Disadvantages of Pressure Group

Even though pressure groups are essential for a democratic governing system, sometimes they can create trouble for the government. Different political ideologies often influence many pressure groups and can put unfair pressure on the government. They can also instigate mass movement and call for a strike.

These tactics often put unfair pressure on the government and prevent the government from making any radical policy change. In the long run, these erratic movements from pressure groups can slow down a country’s growth rate. For this reason, most governments do negotiations with pressure groups before making any big policy change.

References

1. https://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/Citation/1960/11000/Pressure_Group_Politics.35.aspx
2. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/BF01718992.pdf