‘Pressure group activity in the UK presents a major threat to democracy.’ Evaluate the arguments in favour of this view.

A pressure group is an organised group of people with similar views on a certain issue, who want to gain influence and put pressure on policy-makers. In recent years, due to more access points, development of mass media and globalization, the number of members of pressure groups in the UK has risen and the importance of these organisation has significantly increased. The RSPB, with over 1 million members is bigger than three main UK parties together. Unfortunately, the pressure group activity can threaten the democracy in Great Britain.

The main role of every pressure group is representing views of a part of the society. Their activity is often self-interested, focused only on a single issue. They want to gain influence in their area of interest only without taking other views into consideration. Pressure groups, such as FOREST, represent minorities and their actions could lead to a ‘tyranny of minority’.

Moreover, the structure of many pressure groups is undemocratic itself. Unelected leaders can be very influential but regular members have a little impact on pressure group’s actions. This passive membership makes pressure groups less representative and, consequently, less democratic. Additionally, pressure groups are unaccountable for the public and they exercise power without any responsibility. They also tend to empower those who are already powerful and have access to financial and organizational resources, e.g. Trade Unions Congress.

Pressure groups’ actions can be either direct or indirect. Meeting politicians, writing letters to MPs or peers, funding political parties and lobbing are examples of indirect actions, which can be described as influencing policy-makers in order to get their support and achieve pressure group’s goals. These negotiations and deals are often being made ‘behind the scenes’, especially by insider groups, such as National Farmers’ Union.

Direct actions taken by the pressure groups are often single-issue and short-term. This could cause problems for the government in implementing their ‘bigger picture’ policies. Moreover, direct actions, such as strikes and protests can affect many other citizens, who would not, normally, take part in them. For example, the Tube workers’ strike or road protest of lorries’ drivers had an impact on many ‘not involved’ people and, therefore, caused harm to regular citizens, which undermines the system of representative democracy.

Additionally, during direct actions, illegal methods are being used and the law is being broken . This undemocratic activities, such as the use of violence or property destruction are said to be more influential than non-violent actions because they often cause immediate reactions of politicians.

In my opinion, the pressure group activity in the UK threatens the British democracy. The role, structure and methods of acting of different kinds of pressure groups are dangerous for equality of people and human rights. Public interest should be represented in a more democratic way to ensure fairness and accountability of pressure groups’ actions.