Pressure Groups in the UK and US Politics - Essay Example

Pressure groups in U.K. and U.S. politics Table of contents Introduction. 2. Pressure groups in Great Britain. 3. U.S pressure groups and their differences from the British ones. 4. Conclusion. 1. Pressure groups are groups of citizens which provide their influence on political parties, legislatures, executives and other subjects and sources of authority. Pressure groups in contemporary democratic countries are strong political, economic and social power which affects governmental decisions and the whole nature of political system. Pressure groups can be sectional, promotional, insider and outsider, and all types of pressure groups try to achieve the purposes of people who present these groups and their interests. These groups provide different ways to participate in national and local politics between election campaigns and defend their interests by many ways. Pressure groups are essential part of democratic process - they provide a real possibility to influence governmental decisions and transform public views into actions which often assert government to change its policy, but there are also essential lacks: the groups often defend their interests ignoring other sections of population and making misbalance in governmental policy. Pressure groups activity is widely developed in such democratic states as the United States and the United Kingdom. There are differences and similarities of pressure groups activity features in these countries, and the aim of this paper is to analyze and compare the roles played by pressure groups in U.K. and U.S. politics. The paper will be referred to common trends of U.K. and U.S. pressure groups development, as well as specific organizations and their activities in the both countries. 2. The main difference between U.K. and U.S. pressure groups activities is that there are more such groups in the United States than in the United Kingdom. This difference is determined by the political system of the Great Britain: it has no written constitution: "In other words, just as in the USA political actions can be measured against the constitution to see whether they are legitimate or not, so now in Britain political actions and laws can be measured against the European Convention on Human Rights to see whether or not they are legitimate" (Dobson, 2004). So, pressure groups features in Great Britain are determined by its political system. One more feature of U.K. pressure groups activity is that groups and parties in Great Britain cannot influence governmental policy so much as in the United States because of partial secretiveness of the British political system, and the range of pressure groups is not so widely presented as in the USA with their constitutional and more democratic traditions. Some of the most powerful British sectional pressure groups (groups which present interests of some sections of the population) are the National Union of Teachers, Trades Union Congress, the Confederation of British Industry, the Nation Farmer's Union and some others. There are also promotional pressure groups in U.K. politics. These groups are fighting for real aims, and they can consist as well of small amount of members as great amount. The examples of such groups are Liberty and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), but their influence on British political parties and governmental decisions is limited unlike such groups in U.S. political life. One of the reasons of this situation is that the British government is not so fragmented and decentralized as that of the United States where the policy of federalism is prevailed. So, "in the early 1980s over 250,000 supporters of CND marched in London on several occasions. Despite this show of popular support, CND failed to influence the government's defense policy" (What are promotional pressure groups). As was mentioned before, pressure groups in the political process of the United Kingdom provide wide developing of democratic processes and allow public opinion to be heard. Political parties in Great Britain cannot represent the essential interests of all social, economic or environmental groups, and pressure groups are able to realize this function as they show great variety of corporate and public views and opinions: "They complement and supplement electoral democracy in two main ways: first, by providing an important mechanism by which citizens can influence government between elections; and second by enabling opinions to be weighed as well as counted" (Do pressure groups add to democracy). Pressure groups activity in Great Britain helps the government to fulfill its functions better; they also pay social and governmental attention to essential problems in Great Britain and in the world (for example "Amnesty International" and "Greenpeace"). But there are also opposite opinions on the role of pressure groups in U.K. political life. As pressure groups defend interests of some groups of British population, the interests of other sections of citizens can be ignored. For example, if some insider groups lobby laws for allocation funds which allow large corporations to get more marine products, environmental organizations and small firms involved in this kind of business should protest, and such protests can be resulted in political and social instability in the country: "Large-scale demonstrations mounted by any group may lead to unpleasant clashes without the police, sometimes involving militants with their own agenda. This level of civil disobedience cannot be justified in today's democratic system" (Do pressure groups add to democracy). This feature of pressure groups activity is also characteristic for the U.S. political life, but in the United States such activity is largely presented and gains more success that in the United Kingdom. 3. There are some significant reasons why pressure groups activity is more spread in the United States than in the UK. The USA is a democratic high developed state which plays larger role on the world political arena than the UK, and many U.S. government foreign political decisions affected political pressure groups activity in the second half of the 20th century and do it today (Vietnam and Iraq Wars, the Cold War and many others). For example, some consider that George W. Bush's decision to begin the war in Iraq in 2002 was affected by some pressure groups: "A report by the World Policy Institute based in New York, states that the president's policy may have been influenced by some of his advisors who have close ties to the 'military-industrial complex'" (Pressure Groups in America).In addition to that, the constitution makes a legal framework for political pressure groups to provide their large activity. Since the very beginning of the state US government and parties activity is more democratic and visible than that of Great Britain, and it allows pressure groups of different kinds and directions to influence political processes in the United States. For example, in the period of Ronald Reagan presidency a decision had been made to provide re-armament program and to construct neutron bomb. The Nuclear Freeze Groups began protesting, and it attracted much public attention (Pressure Groups in America). Since the United States is a very high developed industrialized state, large consumer of energy and oil and takes the first place in the world by air and water pollution it is not surprising that environmental pressure groups play important role in the U.S. political life. There are many such organizations and groups in the USA, for example the National Wildlife Federation, the Environmental Defense Fund, Friends of the Earth, many science and local organizations. These pressure groups influence had resulted in governmental acts which became response to these groups' activities: "The Clean Air Act Amendments (1970), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments (1972), the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974), the Toxic Substances Control Act (1976), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (Superfund) in 1980" (A Regulatory Revolution: The Environmental Decade). In the U.S. politics there are many pressure groups, large and small, and some business, farmer and labor pressure groups are rather strong in U.S. politics, and they greatly affect governmental decisions and political situation in the country. A World Policy Institute report has showed that "those companies that have given large but legal donations to the Republicans have received federal contracts for military equipment worth 27 billion (about $40 billion) since 2000" (Pressure Groups in America). Pressure groups activity in the United States, as well as in the UK, has positive and negative contribution to democracy. Pressure groups play positive role for pluralism development in American society; they also contribute much to the democratic institutions development by increasing public participation in political processes. Negative feature of pressure groups activity is seen from the view of elitism: "Those in power do not represent the varied interests of society but instead look after their own interests and prevent differing views from surfacing" (Are Pressure Groups good or bad for US Democracy). 4. This paper has discussed the main roles played by pressure groups in U.K. and U.S. politics. As is seen from the paper, in the United States pressure groups activity is presented wider and more active, and they influence the political process more successful than in the United Kingdom. The main reasons of that is the difference of the political systems in the both countries and different level of democracy in the USA and the UK. But pressure groups role is rather high, and it will be increased in the future. Sources Are Pressure Groups good or bad for US Democracy ThinkHistory.co.uk. Mr Drew's Politics Teaching. From http://www.thinkhistory.btinternet.co.uk/pressuregroupsusa.htm. Accessed on 20 April 2006. Dobson, Alan, Pr, Constitutions and Judiciaries. BBC News, 4 November 2004. From http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/2635571.stm. Accessed on 20 April 2006. Do pressure groups add to democracy Pressure Groups in British Politics. January 2004. From http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/do_pressure_groups_add_to_democr.htm. Accessed on 20 April 2006. Pressure Groups in America. From http://historylearningsite.co.uk/pressure_groups_in_america.htm. Accessed on 20 April 2006. A Regulatory Revolution: The Environmental Decade. Politics. From http://www.pollutionissues.com/Pl-Re/Politics.html. Accessed on 20 April 2006. What are promotional pressure groups Pressure Groups in British Politics. January 2004. From http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/promotional_pressure_groups.htm. Accessed on 20 April 2006. Read More