How Has Pressure Group Activity Changed In Recent Years In The UK
How has pressure group activity changed in recent years in the UK?
A Pressure Group is a group who seek to change government policy on issues relating to their cause. They may represent a specific group of people or may have a broader agenda to their activity. This activity has had to change in recent times to keep up with the evolving system of politics we use today, and has changed to become more effective in their goal to change government policy.
One way Pressure Group activity has had to change is in the ways they’ve had to access government and the contacts they’ve had to obtain to do this. Previously, Pressure Groups would look to consult ministers, civil servants and their advisors and whilst they still do this, decision making is much more spread out amongst other institutions of government such as the EU which many groups will now lobby to try and get them to change legislation at a higher level. With the EU being allowed to change legislation within the UK, Pressure Groups with limited resources will join with its European counterparts to try and lobby at the European level as EU law is binding on all member states. This means that groups that may be unsuccessful in the UK will still have a chance at changing policy making within the UK if they manage to band together with European groups of a similar status and petition the EU to change some of its legislation. This is a continually growing way of Pressure Groups trying to get what they want, and as of 2010, there were more than 4,400 accredited lobbyists attached to it and with the European Committees act of 1972, EU law takes precedence over British law when the two are in conflict. One of the biggest areas Pressure Groups go to the EU with is that which involve the environment. These issues gain a lot of sympathy on EU level and it gives groups like SAS (surfers against sewage) a greater platform to put forward their issues. With Pressure Groups knowing that the British government can’t stop them if
A Pressure Group is a group who seek to change government policy on issues relating to their cause. They may represent a specific group of people or may have a broader agenda to their activity. This activity has had to change in recent times to keep up with the evolving system of politics we use today, and has changed to become more effective in their goal to change government policy.
One way Pressure Group activity has had to change is in the ways they’ve had to access government and the contacts they’ve had to obtain to do this. Previously, Pressure Groups would look to consult ministers, civil servants and their advisors and whilst they still do this, decision making is much more spread out amongst other institutions of government such as the EU which many groups will now lobby to try and get them to change legislation at a higher level. With the EU being allowed to change legislation within the UK, Pressure Groups with limited resources will join with its European counterparts to try and lobby at the European level as EU law is binding on all member states. This means that groups that may be unsuccessful in the UK will still have a chance at changing policy making within the UK if they manage to band together with European groups of a similar status and petition the EU to change some of its legislation. This is a continually growing way of Pressure Groups trying to get what they want, and as of 2010, there were more than 4,400 accredited lobbyists attached to it and with the European Committees act of 1972, EU law takes precedence over British law when the two are in conflict. One of the biggest areas Pressure Groups go to the EU with is that which involve the environment. These issues gain a lot of sympathy on EU level and it gives groups like SAS (surfers against sewage) a greater platform to put forward their issues. With Pressure Groups knowing that the British government can’t stop them if