Definition , Types, Nature & Functions of Pressure

Groups, Differences between Political Parties vs

Pressure Groups
Md. Mohinuddin | February 28, 2017
PRESSURE GROUP
“a group that tries to influence public policy in the interest of a particular
cause.” An interest group that endeavors to influence public policy and especially governmental legislation, regarding its
particular concerns and priorities or  a group of people who seek 
to exert pressure on legislators, public opinion, etc,in order to promote their own ideas or welfare “A pressure
group can be defined as a group of people, who come together with the sole aim of influencing government
policies and laws in their favour.”

Simple Definition of pressure group. : a group of people who share an interest, concern, or set of opinions and
who try to influence politics or the policies of government, business, etc.
Today there is no country in the world which is free from pressure groups.These groups try to influence and
pressurise every political institution to serve their own interests and to ensure that at least in no case their
interests suffer, if at all these are not promoted.

Prof. S. Finer has characterised these groups as ‘anonymous empire’ whereas Richard D. Lambert is of the view that
these are unofficial government, which implies that no government can run without taking their view point into
consideration.

These groups influence both public policy as well as administration and go a long way in determining political
structure of the society and the form of government. In India Prof. Rajni Kothari has made a significant study of
working and organisation of these groups.
Pressure groups are concerned primarily with certain issues and thus may not field their candidates at the time
of elections. But those who have some common interest come together and try to change the course of public
affairs.
If taken in this sense any social group which seeks to influence the behaviour of any political officer, both
administrative as well as legislative, without attempting to gain formal control of the government can be called a
pressure group.

It exerts persuasive powers to get certain political decisions in its favour. These groups have no public but only
private interests and also these are organised groups of people who have some common interests for solving
their own problems.
Pressure group, body, organized or unorganized, that actively seeks to promote its particular interests within a
society by exerting pressure on public officials and agencies. Pressure groups direct their efforts toward
influencing legislative and executive branches of government, political parties, and sometimes general public
opinion.
Interest group, also called special interest group or pressure group, any association of individuals or organizations,
usually formally organized, that, on the basis of one or more shared concerns, attempts to influence public policy in its
favour. All interest groups share a desire to affect government policy to benefit themselves or their causes. Their goal
could be a policy that exclusively benefits group members or one segment of society (e.g., government subsidies for
farmers) or a policy that advances a broader public purpose (e.g., improving air quality).  

Pressure Groups are organized groups which influence politics through direct or indirect means  They have
specific interests in mind e.g. Trade Unions , FBI. A pressure group is an interest group which exerts pressure
on the government or the decision-makers for the fulfillment of their interests.

Pressures groups are characterized by

1.Strictly structure

2. Pressure focus.

3. Protective ,Promotive

4. Harsher in attitude.

5. Must influence the government.

Besides, They influence the policy making for their own specific interests. Pressure Groups are related to some
specific areas like professional activities. They indirectly participate in political activities. They do not participate
in the struggle to capture political power. Hence they do not take part in elections. But they influence the
political power to a great extent and that is why they are termed as ‘Anonymous Empire’
They adopt various mechanism which include appeals, petitions, demonstrations, picketing, lobbying, and
processions. They also write in the media, distribute pamphlets, issue press releases, organize discussions
and debates, put up posters chant slogans.
TYPES OF INTEREST GROUPS
Non-profit and usually voluntary organization whose members have a common cause for which they seek to
influence public policy, without seeking political control. Their primary activities are lobbying the members of
legislative bodies through contribution to political parties, working to elect sympathetic or pliable politicians, and
conducting covert or open propaganda campaigns.

The major types of interest groups are :

(1) Economic association or Associative : such as chambers of commerce, trade unions, religious bodies,

(2) Professional association or Institutional : such as that of architects, doctors, lawyers,

(3) Public interest group (PIG) or Spontaneous : such as 'Friends Of environment' who aim to benefit people
beyond their membership, and

(4) Special interest group (SIG) or Non-associative : a sub-groups formed within the framework of a larger or
main group to focus on a very narrow area of interest.
FUNCTIONS OF PRESSURE GROUPS
1.Links government to the people:

One of the functions of pressure groups is that it serves as a link between the government of the day and the
people it governs. There are times when the government of the day wants to introduce a policy but does not
know whether the people will accept the policies or not. Pressure groups take the issue to the people through
their activities and is able to communicate back to government what the views of the people are.
2.Promotes participate in government :

Another function of pressure groups is to engender public participation in the activities of government of the
day. Some pressure groups engage in demonstrations and other measures to put their views across to the
government. The activities of pressure groups therefore, promote political participation and carries the citizenry
along.
3.Source of information to government :

Another function of pressure groups is as a source of information to the government. As the pressure groups
lobby government on various fronts, the interaction offers the government valuable information on aspects of
issues they may not even be aware of.
4.Checks dictatorship :

Also, the activities of pressure groups ensures that governments do not perpetuate themselves in power
thereby drifting into a dictatorship. 
5.Promote the interest of the minority :

Again, pressure groups champion the rights of the under-privileged, especially promotional pressure groups. As
they go about their activities, they ensure that the interests of minority groups are not trampled upon by the
government. Thus, pressure groups act as watchdogs on the government.
6.Influencing legislation :

Another function of pressure groups is to put pressure on government so that it can implement policies that
inure to the benefit of its members. If not putting pressure on government to influence its policy, it is putting
pressure on government to change a policy direction or to withdraw entirely a particular policy that does not
favour their members.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POLITICAL PARTIES & PRESSURE

GROUPS
Pressure groups :
1. Pressure groups have specific interest and work for the collective interests of its membership only.

2. Membership of pressure groups is limited.

3. Pressure groups resort to agitation a politics like marches, demonstrations, strikes, fasts.

4. Pressure groups are informal, often secretive, conceited and conspiratorial and sometimes even
unrecognized entities.

5.Pressure groups do not contest election.

Political parties :
1. While political parties have a broad based programme that covers many aspects of national life influence
and coerce the government.

2. Membership of the parties is very broad based and it is a wide coalition of diverse members and they have
mass memberships.

3. Political parties use only Constitutional means to achieve their aims.

4. Political parties are the formal, open and recognized part of the political system competing for power.

5. Political parties contest in election and want to establish government.

Moreover :

1.Pressure groups are not primarily political in nature.

2. Pressure groups do not seek direct power;

3. Pressure groups do not contest elections; they only support political parties of their choice.

4. Pressure groups do not necessarily have political ideologies.

5. The interests of the pressure groups are usually specific and particular.

Functions of Pressure Groups

Recall that a pressure group is a group of like minded people who seek to influence (put pressure
on) government on a particular issue. They do not seek power through being elected. The
primary roles and major functions of pressure groups can not be underestimated. Below some of
their functions have been outlined and include:

1. Pressure groups try to make the government more attentive to the needs of the people. This is
because as groups with many members sometimes nationally spread, they command more
respect than individuals who may be fighting for similar causes.
2. Pressure groups provide specialised and expert information to the government on their interests
and explain government policies to their members and the general public. Thus they are an
important link between the government and the people.
3. They help to educate their members and the whole society on their fundamental human and
political rights, and on some government policies.
4. The political education and consciousness of citizens are promoted through the activities of
pressure groups.
5. They promote economic stability of the country through their useful advice to government on
economic policies. Example is the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry,
Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA).
6. They promote certain general welfare services. For example, human rights groups like the Civil
Liberties Organisation (CLO) offer free legal services in court, especially on cases bordering on
the exercise of fundamental human rights.
 7. Pressure groups help to integrate the differing interests of various groups in the society into a
manageable whole. With this, the government’s attention to these needs will be more focused
and effectively addressed.
8. They promote and protect the interest of their members. For example, the Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASSU) got a special salary scale approved for its members.

Importance of Pressure Groups

In theory, pressure groups are an asset in a democratic society. They allow ordinary people to
participate in politics and even small groups with little money have the chance to influence
government policy in the right circumstances. This positive view of pressure groups is
called pluralism. On balance, however, the evidence tends to support the
contrasting elitist position on that, although everyone is free to organize on behalf of a favorite
cause, certain individuals and groups have an advantage.

The following highlight the importance of pressure groups:

 Promote discussion and debate and mobilise public opinion on key issues
 Perform a role in educating citizens about specific issues
 Groups can enhance democratic participation, pluralism and diversity
 Groups raise and articulate issues that political parties perhaps won’t touch because of their
sensitivity
 They provide an important access point for those seeking redress of grievance
 They represent minorities who cannot represent themselves
 Groups can be an important and valuable source of specialist information / expertise for an
overloaded legislature and civil service
 Many groups play an important role in implementing changes to public policy
 Pressure groups encourage a decentralisation of power within the political system
 They act as a check and balance to the power of executive government

Theoretical Perspectives of Pressure Groups

Much work has been undertaken by academics attempting to categorize how advocacy groups
operate, particularly in relation to governmental policy creation. The field is dominated by
numerous and diverse schools of thought:

 Pluralism: This is based upon the understanding that advocacy groups operate in competition
with one another and play a key role in the political system. They do this by acting as a
counterweight to undue concentrations of power. However, this pluralist theory (formed
primarily by American academics) reflects a more open and fragmented political system similar
to that in countries such as the United States.
 Neo-pluralism: Under neo-pluralism, a concept of political communities developed that is more
similar to the British form of government. This is based on the concept of political communities
in that advocacy groups and other such bodies are organised around a government department
and its network of client groups. The members of this network co-operate together during the
policy making process.
  Corporatism or elitism: Some advocacy groups are backed by private businesses which can have
a considerable influence on legislature.

[Attributions and Licenses]

Share Thoughts
 Benefits and Incentives

How Pressure Groups Achieve Their Aims 

Share Tweet Email 

This is a lesson from the tutorial, Pressure Groups and Public Opinion and you are encouraged
to log in or register, so that you can track your progress.

Log In

ressure Groups And Stability Of Regime In

Pakistan
1896 words (8 pages) Essay

 16th May 2017  Politics  Reference this

Disclaimer: This work has been submitted by a university student. This is not an example of the
work produced by our Essay Writing Service. You can view samples of our professional work
here.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com.

Share this: Facebook  Twitter  Reddit  LinkedIn  WhatsApp   

The literature review will focus on the issues and the reasons that affect the stability of regime in
Pakistan, mainly focusing on the different forms of pressure groups, the role they have played,
whether positive or negative in the past and what is the future of Pakistan if these pressure
groups continue to be dominating and influential. Also some of the important eras will be
highlighted like Zia’s regime or Musharraf’s regime. Most of the articles are basically theory
based with no such statistical model applied and basically focus on the prevailing instability in
Pakistan and issues related to it.

Get Help With Your Essay

If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to
help!

Find out more

According to the writer the reason behind the instability is basically the lack of a proper political
system in Pakistan. No government has survived for long and successfully. The national
assembly has been dissolved 10 times and 3 times the reason was military interference. No
political parties have worked together in peace. There has been always a conflict of interest or
power. At the same time religious parties have created their own brand of Islam and are
exploiting the situation. Lack of fair elections and corruption has led to extreme cases like
political victimization and political polarisation. Even though democratic political institutions
exist they are weak and fragile. Another factor is of the existence of feudal lords, which has
caused a structural imbalance between the middle class, and the upper class, which comprises of
mostly landlords and industrialists. Majority of the power lies in the hands of the upper class.
Another issue that has been highlighted in the article is the ethnic conflict that has been in
debate for years. Other issues that are discussed in the article are the role of army, rising power
of the religious parties and lack of proper rule of law. To conclude the article discusses that
future of Pakistan lies in a more democratic environment where there is less corruption and the
role of judiciary would be stronger in maintaining a balance between the arbitrary power and
the party in power. Today the masses are more informed about the political system in Pakistan
and one way it has contributed to the development of the country as a whole however there are
other major factors like increase in the level of suicide attacks, food shortage, water and power
shortage which has adversely affected the country.

What was a basic ideology for the existence of the country is now more of a pressure group that
seeks to gain power by exploiting the constant military intervention and forcing out the secular
political parties. The creation of political polarisation amongst civilian and military, among
different ethnic groups and provincial groups and among Islamists and secularist has disrupted
the regime stability. Also now religious pressure groups have become more powerful, well
armed and well financed and influence different branches of government. People have lost trust
in the secular parties like Muslim League (Nawaz) and PPP and at the same time most of the
military rulers have used Islamist for their own political purpose, be it Zia or be it Musharraf.
According to the author the best way to control the growing power of Islamists is through
democracy and strengthening the civil society. Also he suggests that U.S intervention in such
matter should be taken especially after September 11 attacks. The biggest limitation of this
article is that it focused more on the role of Islamist in the past than their existing role. Also the
conclusion is very uncertain and vague as to how should this pressure group be controlled. The
condition of Pakistan is deteriorating and if we look at the current scenario the one of the
biggest problem the religious groups that has created disruption and fear among the lives of
the people. The writer focuses more on the past the past then the future.

From 1947-1958 the two most economically powerful pressure groups in West Pakistan were
the landlords and the business groups. In East Pakistan the power lied in the hands of the
middle class income groups, after the land acquisition act in 1951. Whereas in West Pakistan
feudalism was on it peak whereby one-fifth of the cultivable land was owned by one-half of one
percent of the owners. Not only were these landowners active in politics by capturing the
majority seats in the assembly. In provincial elections in 1951 in the former Punjab about 80
percent of the members elected were landlords. Out of 40 members in the constituent assembly
28 members were landlord groups. The landlords groups have been long engaged in rivalries.
As rival groups were more or less in agreement in retaining their landed interests, politics in
Pakistan has become a cynical pursuit of sheer power. The domination of feudal lords and family
rivalries affected the politics of Pakistan. The influence of business groups was small since at that
time there were few industries. It was indirect, whereby they were formally organized and they
put effective pressure on the decision-making authorities from outside the governmental
institution. The labor class is very weak, but slowly the trade unions are growing strong and
influential when it comes to labor issues.

Feudal system is still prevalent in the rural areas whereby the decision of the big landlord is
considered to be the final verdict. Also the major leaders of political parties have the landowning
background be it Asif Ali zardari, Sharif brothers or Altaf hussain. These landowners due to their
rivalries have affected the stability in a bad way. Even though this article is very old but is of
extreme relevance as discuses the root cause that lead to the emergence of Pressure groups in
Pakistan and is can be of importance when comparing the regimes over-time and how the roles
have changed.

The later impact of this was that when Zia’s regime ended the position and the jobs that were
promised to the religious Ulemas who had no formal education but merely an informal
education in the madrasas were rejected. This frustrated the religious militancy, which resulted
in an extreme behavior and disruption. Furthermore religious groups can be categorized as the
role of Taliban in destruction of Pakistan. The impact of the training of Taliban’s during the
Afghanistan war and providing them with arms and funding them has now become problematic
for Pakistan with a huge number of suicide attacks happening and terrorizing the whole country.
Zia-ul-haq immense support for the Islamic activists has resulted in the religious polarisation
that exists in today’s Pakistan. The statistics say that by 1996 there were around 2463 madrasas
only in Punjab and 1700 were supported from outside sources that included the Persian Gulf
and Middle East. These Islamic teaching centers are more now a central place for the political
activities. Thus, it can be concluded from this article that the rise of Islamists and constant battle
between Sunni and Shia has resulted in instability in Pakistan over the years.

However Pakistan which is presided by Musharraf and is in the shackles of economic recession
and anarchy needs heavy financing for not only sustaining the Musharraf’s regime but also its
economic well being. Despite strong U.S alliance it doesn’t do a sufficient to save Pakistan from
drenching. Religious extremism diverts a lot of attention of the government of Pakistan as the
attacks and events leading to deaths and bloodshed have recently increased in the country.
People feel insecure and threatened by their own fellows. In the name of religion wrong doers
are exploiting the weaker ones. Military has taken over the country, sometimes directly by
enforcing Marshal law and sometimes indirectly by influencing the government when making
the decisions. Also the prevailing condition as the country is on the verge of Civil war military is
more active within the country than on the outskirts to protect it from its neighbors.

Find out how UKEssays.com can help you!

Our academic experts are ready and waiting to assist with any writing project you may have.
From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service
perfectly matched to your needs.

View our services

The four categories of elites are economic, political social and religious. Each of these exerts
different levels of influence over the government. According to the author Political elites include,
officers, and members of large landowning families. Economic elites include the industrialist
class, which can be considered as newly wealthy and newly influential. The conflict between the
two elite classes is one of the major reasons for instability.

As 4th president has been dismissed since 1988, the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif won the
majority of seats however Benazir Bhutto claimed that the elections were unfair and there has
been extensive fraud. Although PPP became popular because of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto for giving an
ordinary man a political voice but Benazir ruled the party in a completely opposite opinion of
her father by supporting privatization over nationalization and viewing US as a major ally rather
than a potential threat. From a position of weakness in martial law period the judiciary has
began to re-assert its independence. However, the role of judges is still controversial. The
emergence of free press was a positive sign but at the same time, Pakistan’s mismanagement of
economies reflects the weakness of the political structure. The political game has taken over a
priority in the long-term policy making. Problems such as fiscal deficiency, debt and long-term
business interest erosion have always drifted the economic cursor.

The increase in ethnic fragmentation, religious extremism and centralization if political power
has created political crisis which needs to be solved as soon as possible otherwise it will result in
civil war amongst the ethnic groups, domestic and international terrorism and implementation
of marshal law. Not only the government of Pakistan should work on this but also should form
allies with the external players like US, Japan and European Union (EU). Furthermore in this
article the author talked about the regime of Nawaz Sharif as this article is written during that
period of time. Here the writer highlights some of policies adopted by Nawaz Sharif, in which he
aims at centralizing the power to the central and creating anarchy. Furthermore the conflicts
between the ethnic groups have increased widely whereby Punjab is considered to be the most
popular, developed and largely focused on in terms of allocating resources, improving
education system. This has resulted in other 3 provinces becoming more backward and less
developed and sense of deprivation. The writer also discusses on how the civil institution have
weakened during Nawaz Sharif’s era as he is trying to gain popular support of the military. Other
problems that were identified in the article were drug trafficking and settling of refugees. In
conclusion the writer has basically focused on support from the international players.

first is democratization and civil-military relations; and second islamization and Islamism’s
relation to the state. Both of issues are separate yet interdependent on each other and needs to
be analyzed and focused on as the future of the country is at stake. The writer also highlighted
Musharraf’s era and despite that he was more liberal than Zia but he used the brand of Islam
and is exploiting the public.