PRESSURE GROUPS & THEIR EFFECTS

Pressure Groups & Their Effects



Pressure Groups & Their Effects

Introduction

A pressure group, also known as an interest group or lobby, is an organization formed by like-minded people who seek to influence PUBLIC POLICY to promote an interest. Pressure groups exist in all modern pluralist democracies and have sprung up on all sides. Some defend producer interests (Silva, 2009). In response, others press for consumer concerns or push for broad policies such as protection of the environment. The proliferation of some pressure groups is so extensive, their size so large and their organization so sophisticated, that they virtually constitute another arm of government.

Discussion

Examples of powerful pressure groups are the business-financed Business Council on National Issues (BCNI), the CANADIAN TAX FOUNDATION, the commercial banks, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, the automobile, steel, rubber, chemical and energy industries, which act alone or through their trade associations such as the BCNI, the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE and the CANADIAN MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION (Scott, 1998). The BCNI is an association of chief executive officers of large Canadian corporations formed in 1977 to co-ordinate business participation in the policy-making process. The Institute of Association Executives, which in Ottawa alone has 318 members, constitutes a virtual lobby of lobbyists. Other pressure groups, such as Executive Consultants Ltd and Government Policy Consultants Inc, comprise former politicians, ex-public servants, and advertising and public relations specialists, who sell their services for a fee (Lasswell, 2005).

Worldwide Funds for Nature

Worldwide Fund for Nature in 1986, but the affiliated groups in the United States and Canada retained the original name. The organization now typically refers to itself as WWF—The Conservation Organization, or simply WWF. It has been responsible for international agreements on conservation and has supported research on endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S.

Largest privately supported international conservation organization in the world. Founded in 1961 by a small group of European scientists, naturalists, and business and political leaders, including Peter Markham Scott, the organization raises funds and channels them to other conservation groups. It directs its efforts toward protecting endangered environments such as coral reefs, saving endangered species, and addressing global threats such as pollution (Lasswell, 2005). It has helped establish and manage parks and reserves, and was instrumental in saving the giant panda (whose image it uses as its symbol) and other endangered species.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned Wednesday that the Arctic has warmed at about twice the rate of the rest of the globe, saying that human-induced climate change was affecting the area more severely and earlier than expected. The new WWF report said the changes to the glaciers, ice sheets and other parts of the polar area would feedback on the environment and have large-scale negative impacts for all forms of life, as the Arctic helped regulate Earth's climate.

"People around the world will be affected by this," ...