When you take into account the world’s history of democracy, especially in places such as the U.K, it’s important to note that its democratic nature is constantly evolving, as opposed to countries such as the United States, where its constitution was more or less drawn up in one sitting.
However, it’s not far off shocking that despite the evolution of democracy throughout the past five hundred years, it’s only in the 21st century that civilians were able to directly voice their opinion/dissatisfaction with the government – mostly in the form of pressure groups.
If you’re not aware of what exactly a pressure group is, it’s defined as an organization that tries to influence government policy in the interest of a particular cause.
An extremely well-known example of this is the Black Lives Matter movement. BLM stands to exert pressure onto government by holding public protests or creating petitions etc to influence the executive and/or congress. Pressure groups are close to becoming the social norm and they play an extremely vital role in a country’s democracy for a magnitude of reasons.
The reason why pressure groups are important is perhaps because of the faults of the party system of a country. Voting turnout has never been overwhelming and in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, just over half the population of voting age citizens cast ballots. A lot of people don’t identity with political parties, thus finding it hard to put their trust into them and voting. But instead of simply being politically inactive, a number of citizens have turned to pressure groups in their community or even joined one online – which strengthens democracy since everyone has an opportunity to have a voice.
Another reason why pressure groups are important in society is not only because it influences government policy but it, to an extent, creates a partnership with the government and helps resolve issues quickly and efficiently that they would not have been able to do in the past. It builds a strong foundation of trust between the citizens and the government, which can only be a positive for the most part, as well as being able to efficiently run the country – benefitting everyone, I believe.
Personally, I think it can only be a step forward when more people have the opportunity to speak their mind, this is the beauty of living in a society with free speech and free press – everyone gets a say. Although this can sometimes be manipulated and taken too far, it’s important to acknowledge the evolution of democracy and the prime role that pressure groups play in our society.
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