LT: What are most successful

methods for collective

organisations to use?
DTC- Are the most successful
methods the least ethical?
 How would you promote
the cause of each of these
groups?
 Why do different pressure groups use
different methods?
• Audience size
– Organisation which need to communicate to a large groups will
use tv ads. Niche groups do not need to do this
• Finance
– Some groups may not have the money for more expensive
methods
• Insider/outsider status
– Insiders will naturally use their close links for lobbying whereas
outsiders will have to influence the government via public
opinion
• Philosophy
– Groups with radical aims will more likely use radical methods e.g.
Animal Liberation Front
 Methods
1. Parliamentary Methods
2. Direct Action
3. Mobilising Public Opinion
Part 1

PARLIAMENTARY & LEGAL

METHODS
 Parliamentary Methods- Overview

A. Lobbying
B. Research
C. Legal Challenge

These methods tend to be used by groups who

want to use the existing system to affect change
 A. Lobbying
• Lobbying = Meeting with, and discussing issues and
concerns with decision makers so as to influence
them.
– Many pressure groups donate money to their campaigns/fund
all-party parliamentary groups
• Insider groups tend to have the most success at
lobbying.
– Countryside Alliance managed to successfully push for an
amendment to the foxhunting ban allowing the use of
dogs to ‘flush out’ but not kill foxes
– Lobbying by Church groups to secure an exemption from
having to perform gay marriages or allowing gay couple
to adopt from their agencies
– Cuadrilla were able to get approval for fracking in several
sites
 B. Providing research
• The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TSA) published research in 2017
showing how the sugar tax was not well designed and should
be scrapped
• The TPA said some beverages laden with sugar will be
exempt from the levy and it claimed that the 10 most sugary
drinks it analysed will not be subject to the tax.
• The survey found that Coca-Cola, with 10.6 grams of sugar
per 100 millilitres, will be subject to the levy, but a Starbucks
signature hot chocolate with whipped cream and coconut
milk, which has 11 grams of sugar per 100 millilitres, will not.
 C. Legal Challenge
• Pressure groups can ask for a judicial review to see if the
government’s actions follow the law.

Campaign Against the Arms Trade Gina Miller (Anti-Brexit Campaigner)

 C. Legal Challenge
• In December 2022 The3Million, a pressure group set up to
protect the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, helped
secure a judicial review against the government arguing that
the UK government’s policy to make EU citizens submit a separate
application to convert their “pre-settled” status into permanent
residence was unlawful.
• The group had argued that those who had merely forgotten to
convert their status risked losing the right to work, access to free
NHS healthcare, the right to social security benefits and the ability
to re-enter the UK after going on holiday.
• The High Court ruled in their favour forcing the government to
change its policy
 C. Accessing Human Rights Act
• An aim of the act was to protect minority rights.
• Many pressure groups represent minorities therefore the a
has created opportunities
• Liberty is esp. active and also environmental groups
Part 2

DIRECT ACTION
 Direct Action- Overview
A. Illegal acts
B. Boycotts
C. Strikes
D. Marches, Rallies & Protests
E. Media Stunts
F. Civil disobedience

Rather than indirectly participating in politics via a representative, direct action

involves active involvement in politics. It is often used when methods like
lobbying have been unsuccessful and it has the goal of prompting decision-
makers into action by generating significant media coverage for a cause
 A. Illegal acts
• Terrorism –
intimidation of
businesses
• Violence – bombings,
shootings, threats,
attacks
• Criminal damage –
damage to property,
releasing animals into The removal of the Edward Colston
statue by BLM protestors is a clear
the wild – Animal example of direct action which led
Liberation Front. to change
B. Boycotts
• A boycott of Topshop
was based on their
unethical practices which
are said to include
sweatshops in the UK
and tax avoidance.
• Another example is
boycotting of Amazon
due to the low amount
of tax they pay in the UK
B. Boycotts
• Following an increase in
energy bills, the
organisation ‘Don’t Pay’
was set up to get people
to pledge to not pay
their energy bill
• It was thought that mass
non-conformance would,
like the anti-poll tax
campaign in 1990 force
the government to step
in
 C. Strike
• Some trade union pressure groups may go on strike (official
& unofficial) or break their contract of employment. An
example is the 2023 strikes by nurses, doctors, railway
workers and teachers against below inflation pay increases
 D. Marches, rallies and protests

• Some pressure groups will go on marches and

demonstrations to show their views on a topic or issue
as with recent marches against racism and Brexit
 E. Media and publicity stunts
• Just Stop Oil disrupted
Premier League
football matches in
2022 by locking on to
the posts
• They also threw soup
at Van Gogh’s
sunflowers and threw
cake on a waxwork of
King Charles at
Madame Tussauds
 E. Media and publicity stunts
• The public interest in
the false accusations
against postmasters
increased massively
following the ITV
television show ‘Mr
Bates vs the Post
Office’
 F. Civil Disobedience
• Civil disobedience can be
considered to be direct
action, this includes causing
an obstruction, sit ins, lie
downs, making noises, etc.
• Insulate Britain blocked the
M25 in 2021
• Extinction Rebellion have
carried out various acts
including blocking bridges
and stopping traffic in 2022
 F. Civil Disobedience
• In 2022 members of Animal Rebellion
occupied Gordon Ramsay’s 3* Michelin
restaurant in Chelsea
• They sat at tables reserved for guests and
held mock menus outlining the
environmental costs of items on the
restaurant’s menu, including steak and veal.
• In a statement, the group said that they are
campaigning for a plant-based food system
and the creation of a mass-rewilding
programme.
• In 2021 they also blockaded a McDonald's
distribution center to encourage
McDonalds’ to move to a fully plant based
menu by 2025
Part 3

MOBILISING PUBLIC OPINION

 Mobilising Public Opinion Overview
• As attachment to political
parties wanes (partisan
A. Petitions/e-petitions dealignment) governments
are sensitive to shifts in
B. Leaflets/adverts public opinion.
• Pressure groups therefore
want to engage as many
C. Social networking members of the public as
possible to increase their
sites and blogs. influence
⮚ NUS tries to mobilise
students to remove
D. Celebrity tuition fees
⮚ Age UK tries to sign up
Involvement pensioners to secure
more rights.
 A. E-petitions (Successful)
A massive global campaign inspired by the
2015 Academy Award-winning film “The
Imitation Game” will soon lead to pardons of
an estimated 49,000 men in the UK who
were previously convicted under a now-
defunct law that criminalized homosexuality.
This campaign was also sparked by
a petition on Change.org with more than
630,000 signatures calling for justice for
these men.

This week, the

UK government announced the “Alan Turing l
aw,”
named after the British code-breaking
genius and war hero who was arrested and
convicted as a felon for being gay in 1952. A
punishment of chemical castration led to his
death by suicide two years after his
sentence.
 A. E-petitions (Successful)
A massive global campaign inspired by the 2015 Academy Award-winning film “The
Imitation Game” will soon lead to pardons of an estimated 49,000 men in the UK
who were previously convicted under a now-defunct law that criminalized
homosexuality. This campaign was also sparked by a petition on Change.org with
more than 630,000 signatures calling for justice for these men.

The Policing and Crime Act 2017 contains an ‘Alan Turing Law’ named after the
British code-breaking genius and war hero who was arrested and convicted as a
felon for being gay in 1952. A punishment of chemical castration led to his death by
suicide two years after his sentence.

Turing received a pardon posthumously in 2013, but upwards of 49,000 other gay
men were still on the book as convicted felons just because of their sexual
orientation. The passage of the “Alan Turing law” will forever remove that conviction
from their records with a similar pardon for those who have passed. Those men who
are living will be automatically pardoned so long as any offenses don’t break the
current laws.
 A. E-petitions (Unsuccessful)
• The Electoral Reform Society created a
petition to against the government’s 2022
Elections Act which requires voters to show
ID- they argue that it will lead to
disenfranchisement and is discriminatory
against young people
• Despite over 125,000 signatures the petition
has not been successful
 B. Leaflets and adverts

• Adverts such as this Greenpeace one try and inform

citizens about key issues and encourage them to lobby
their MPs to bring in legislation to reduce plastic waste
and protect the oceans
 C. Social networking sites and blogs
• Groups have used the
new mediums of social
networking sites such as
Facebook and Twitter to
convey their messages
and recruit members.
• The Brexit referendum
led to lots of messages
being shared via social
media
D. Celebrity Involvement
 D. Celebrity Involvement

David Attenborough's work on Blue Planet was very

important in leading to reductions in plastic usage
SUMMARY
Which methods would these groups
use?