Pressure groups and interest groups: meaning, role and tactics
An interest group unites people around a specific interest. When it presses the government to act for that interest, it becomes a pressure group; it never contests elections.
Features of interest groups
- They are well organised.
- Members share common interests.
- The interest that unites them is specific and particular, such as wages for workers.
- Members work to attain, protect and promote that interest.
- Examples: a trade union of factory workers, a farmers' union, a teachers' association, a business association, a students' union.
Interest group and pressure group
| Interest group | Pressure group |
|---|---|
| Formally organised | Strictly structured |
| Interest-oriented | Pressure-focused |
| May or may not influence government policy | Must influence government policy |
| Softer in outlook | Harsher in attitude |
| More or less protective | Protective and promotive |
Role and techniques of pressure groups
- Role: they raise and debate public issues, mobilise public opinion, educate people, widen democratic participation and try to change public policy.
- Peaceful appeals: petitions, memorandums to legislative committees, press releases, writing in the media, pamphlets, posters, discussions and debates.
- Public action: demonstrations, processions, public meetings, dharnas, picketing and slogans.
- Satyagraha: non-violent protest, the method Gandhi made famous.
- Strikes and boycotts: for example, lawyers boycotting courts or teachers boycotting classes.
- Lobbying: directly persuading legislators and officials.
Political parties and pressure groups compared
| Point | Political party | Pressure group |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Basically political | Not mainly political; may be cultural, economic or social |
| Aim | Seeks power to form the government | Only influences those in power |
| Elections | Nominates candidates and contests elections | Does not contest; may support a party of its choice |
| Ideology | Always tied to an ideology | Need not have a political ideology |
| Scope | Policies with national and international reach | Specific and particular interests |
Close, but different
Parties and pressure groups often work together. Trade unions provide workers to parties at election time, and parties press for laws that protect workers. Your lesson notes that the student wings NSUI and ABVP train future leaders for the Congress and the BJP respectively. Its example of a group that is not mainly political: the RSS supports the BJP but is, by and large, a cultural organisation. Many other pressure groups have no link with any party.
When a farmers' union holds a dharna for better crop prices, or a teachers' association submits a memorandum, it is acting as a pressure group. It wants a policy changed, not a seat in government.
2 marks: “Define a pressure group and name two methods it uses to influence the government.” A pressure group is an interest group that presses the government or decision-makers to meet its interests. Methods: petitions and demonstrations (also lobbying, strikes, satyagraha).
2 marks: “How is a pressure group different from an interest group?” An interest group promotes a shared interest and may or may not influence the government. It becomes a pressure group only when it presses the government. So all pressure groups are interest groups, but not all interest groups are pressure groups.
3 marks: “Give any three differences between political parties and pressure groups.” Parties are basically political, pressure groups are not mainly political; parties seek power, pressure groups only influence those in power; parties contest elections, pressure groups do not. (Also: ideology, and national versus specific interests.)
Every pressure group is an interest group that pushes. Parties want power; pressure groups want policy.