Pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.

Pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.

The term ‘pressure group’ originated in the USA. Pressure groups are forms of organisations, which exert pressure on the political or administrative system of a country to extract benefits out of it and to advance their own interests. It acts as a liaison between the government and its members. Their aim is to see that laws or government’s actions are favourable to their interests.The pressure groups are also called interest groups or vested groups. They are different from the political parties in that they neither contest elections nor try to capture political power. They are concerned with specific programmes and issues and their activities are confined to the protection and promotion of the interests of their members by influencing the government.
The pressure groups influence the policy-making and policy implementation in the government through legal and legitimate methods like lobbying, correspondence, publicity, propagandising, petitioning, public debating, maintaining contacts with their legislators and so forth.

• However, some times they resort to illegitimate and illegal methods like strikes, violent activities and corruption which damages public interest and administrative integrity

The generally use three different techniques in securing their purposes:

• Electioneering: They can try to place in public office persons who are favourably disposed towards the interests they seeks to promote.
• Lobbying: they can try to persuade public officers, whether they are initially favourably disposed toward them or not, to adopt and enforce the policies that they think will prove most beneficial to their interests.
  • Lobbying takes place when a few members of pressure groups loiter in the lobbies of the legislatures with a view to securing an opportunity to interact with legislators and to influence the decisio~ls of the legislators.
  • Lobbying is a communication process used for persuasion.
  • Lobbying is used in governmental decisionmaking and it aims at influencing the policy process.
  • It acts as an instrument that links citizens and clecision-makers.
• Propagandizing: they can try to influence public opinion and thereby gain an indirect influence over government, since the government in a democracy is substantially affected by public opinion.

Pressure Groups and Political Parties:

• Pressure groups have to be differentiated from political parties.
• Political parties:
  • in the strict sense of the term, political parties are associations of individuals sharing common values and preferences. They are organised on ideological lines and present a vision for the future.
  • They have well trained cadres who are engaged in continuous political mobilisation of the masses.
  • They use all the political means available to capture the power and consolidate their position to attain or realise their ideological goals.
  • In a broader sense they are also interest groups. They have a social base whose interests it must protect and promote.
  • They may adopt pragmatic approach and operate only in the immediate context.
  • They may, sometimes, degenerate to the level of a pressure group to extract benefits for their group. In such a situation the distinction between a pressure group and political party may even disappear.
• Pressure groups:
  • unlike the political parties are formed to solve their immediate problems.
  • They are relatively more temporary than political parties.
  • A pressure group may appear for a short time if it does not present any long-range programme.
    • However, where the interests of the group are of long-range, the pressure group may also last longer. In such cases it may even project the sectarian interests as general or universal interests. It depends on the imagination of their leadership.
  • The pressure groups may have a well-knit organisation and organised membersllip. Generally they do not have cadres and do not directly deal with people. In most of the cases they deal either with the political parties or governmental apparatus.
  • The pressure groups have far greater flexibility compared to political parties as they do not go to people and stake their claims for power. It is precisely this process that distinguishes political parties from pressure groups.

Characteristics of pressure groups:

• Based on Certain Interests
• Use of Modern as well as Traditional Means:
  • they try to follow modem means of exerting pressure, without fully giving up the traditional or old ways of operation.
  • They adopt techniques like financing of political parties, sponsoring their close candidates at the time of elections and keeping the bureaucracy also satisfied.
  • Their traditional means include exploitation of caste, creed and religious feelings to promote their interests.
• Resulting Out of Increasing Pressure and Demands on Resources:
  • As the resources of developing countries are usualIy scarce, there are cIaims and counter claims on their resources from different and competing sections of the society.
  • The public policies thus become the devices through which allocation takes place. Dissatisfied people generally group themselves in organisation to pressurize the government.
• Alternative to Inadequacies of Political Parties:
  • Pressure groups are primarily a consequence of inadequacies of the political parties. The political parties are expected to articulate the demands of different deprived and dominant interests in the system. They are also expected to organise and mobilise the support structure to various demands.
    • This has left enormous gaps in the socio-economic system of the country. These gaps have come to be filled up by the pressure groups.
  • In a mixed economy where the state has opted for planned development, the dominant interests are always suspicious of the intentions of the state. This gives rise to organised pressure groups as a counter-check to politics and political parties.
    • For instance, the Acts like Monopolies Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) or land reforms can always be a source of doubt about the real intentions of the policy formulators. That is the reason why the dominant interests are alert throu pressure groups.
• Represent Changing consciousness:
  • Pressure groups are a sign of changing consciousness.
  • The consciousness of different groups go on changing as the result of:
    • changing material conditions; and
    • increasing politicisation.
  • For instance the increase in the food production or industrial goods does bring a change in the way individuals and groups look at the world.
  • The changing material conditions and consciousness create a new situation for the rise of pressures and in turn the pressure groups.
  • In present times, the role of some movements, for protection of rights of people, has become significant. They are playing the role of a pressure group. For example, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) movement has generated consciousness amongst the people in questioning the actions of government regarding dam construction and its repercussions.
  • Similarly, in the State of Rajasthan, a people’s organisation known as Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghthan (MKSS), could succeed in making the people question and demand information on money spent on roads; loans to poor and so on. This made the basis for the right to information movement.

Types of Pressure groups: P.G. can be classified into four categories:

• Institutional Interest Groups:
  • These groups are formally organised which consist of professionally employed persons.
  • They are a part of government machinery and try to exert their influence. But they do have much autonomy.
  • These groups include political parties, legislatures, armies, bureaucracies and churches.
  • Whenever such an association raises protest it does so by constitutional means and in accordance with the rules and regulations.
  • Example: IAS Association, IPS Association, State civil services association, etc.
• Associational Interest Groups;
  • These are organised specialised groups formed for interest articulation, but to pursue limited goals.
    • Interest articulation is a way for members of a society to express their needs to a system of government.
  • These include trade unions, organisations of businessmen and industrialists and civic groups.
  • Some examples of Associational Interest Groups in India are Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Indian Chambers of Commerce, Trade Unions such as AITUC (All India Trade Union Congress), Teachers Associations, Students Associations such as National Students Union of India (NSUI) etc.
• Anomic Interest Groups:
  • These spontaneous groups with a collective response to a particular frustration.
  • In such type of groups, perpetual infiltrations such as riots, demonstrations are observed. These groups are found in the shape of movement demonstrations and processions, signature campaigns, street corner meetings, etc. Their activities may either be constitutional or unconstitutional.
• Non-Associational Interest Groups:
  • These are the kinship and lineage groups and ethnic, regional, status and class groups that articulate interests on the basis of individuals, family and religious heads. These groups have informal structure. These include caste groups, language groups, etc.

Pressure Groups in India:

• Business Groups – Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Federation of All India Foodgrain Dealers Association (FAIFDA), etc
• Trade Unions – All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS)
• Professional Groups – Indian Medical Association (IMA), Bar Council of India (BCI), All India Federation of University and College Teachers (AIFUCT)
• Agrarian Groups- All India Kisan Sabha, Bharatiya Kisan Union, etc
• Student’s Organisations- Akhila Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), All India Students Federation (AISF), National Students Union of India (NSUI)
• Religious Groups – Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Jamaat-e-Islami, etc.
• Caste Groups – Harijan Sevak Sangh, Nadar Caste Association, etc
• Linguistic Groups – Tamil Sangh, Andhra Maha Sabha, etc
• Tribal Groups – National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), Tribal National Volunteers (TNU) in Tripura, United Mizo federal org, Tribal League of Assam, etc.
• Ideology based Groups – Narmada Bachao Andolan, Chipko Movement, Women’s Rights Organisation, India Against Corruption etc.
• Anomic Groups – Naxalite Groups, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), Dal Khalsa, etc.

Functions, Role & Importance of Pressure Groups:

• Pressure groups have become a very important part of an administrative system. These groups try to pressurise the administrative and political system of a country either to ensure that their interests are promoted or to see that at least their interests are not relegated to the background. No system can function effectively without taking their viewpoint into consideration.
• Interest Articulation: Pressure Groups bring the demands and needs of the people to the notice of the decision-makers. The process by which the claims of the people get crystallized and articulated is called interest articulation.
• Agents of Political Socialisation: Pressure groups are agents of political socialisation in so far as they influence the orientations of the people towards the political process. These groups play a vital role as two-way communication links between the people and the government.
• Pressure groups play a vital role in the legislative process, not only as important structures of interest articulation, but also as active agencies engaged in lobbying with the legislators for securing desired laws or amendments in laws and policies of the government.
  • Right from the time of preparation of election manifestos of various political parties to the passing of laws by the legislators, the pressure groups remain associated with the process of rule-making.
• Pressure Groups and Administration: Pressure Groups are actively involved with the process of administration. Through lobbying with the bureaucracy, the pressure groups are usually in a position to influence the process of policy implementation.
• Role in Judicial Administration: Pressure Groups try to use the judicial system for securing and safeguarding their interests. Interest groups often seek access to the court for redressal of their grievances against the government as well as for getting declared a particular decision or policy as unconstitutional.
• Pressure groups play a leading role in the formulation of public opinion. Each pressure group is continuously engaged in evaluating all such laws, rules, decisions and policies which have a direct or indirect bearing on the interests it represents. It always places the pros and cons not only before its members but also before the general public for eliciting popular support as well as for catching the attention of the government.
  • They try to gain public support and sympathy for their goals and their activity by carrying out information campaigns, organising meetings, file petitions, etc. Most of these groups try to influence the media into giving attention to these issues.
• Pressure groups help in improving the quality of government. Consultation with affected groups is the rational way to make decisions in a free society. It makes government more efficient by enhancing the quality of the decision making process – the information and advice provided by these groups helps to improve the quality of government policy and legislation.
• Freely operating pressure groups are essential to the effective functioning of liberal democracy.
  • They serve as a vital intermediary institutions between government and society;
  • They assist in the dispersal of political power;
  • They provide important counterweights to balance the concentration of power.
• Pressure groups enable new concerns and issues to reach the political agenda, thereby facilitating social progress and preventing social stagnation. For example, the women’s and environmentalist movements.
• Pressure groups increase social cohesion and political stability by providing a ‘safety-valve’ outlet for individual and collective grievances and demands.
• Pressure groups complement the work of opposition political parties by exposing the bad policies and wrongdoings of the government. Pressure groups thereby improve the accountability of decision makers to electorates.
• Pressure groups help to educate people, compile data and provide specific information to policy makers, thus they work as an informal source of information. Active constructive participation of numerous groups in polity helps to reconcile general interest with individual group interests.

Shortcomings of Pressure Groups:

• Narrow selfish interests: Unlike the pressure groups in the developed countries of the West, where these are invariably organised to safeguard economic, social, cultural interests, etc. in India these groups are organised around religious, regional and ethnic issues. Many a time factors of caste and religion eclipse the socioeconomic interests. The result is that instead of serving a useful purpose in the political administrative process, they are reduced to work for narrow selfish interests.
• Misuse of power: Instead of the pressure groups exerting influence on political process, they become tools and implements to subserve political interests.
• Instability: Most pressure groups do not have autonomous existence; they are unstable and lack commitment, their loyalties shift with political situations which threatens general welfare. They many a times resort to unconstitutional means like violence. Naxalite movement started in 1967 in West Bengal is one such example.
• Propagating extremism: Pressure groups can allow too much influence over the government from unelected extremist minority groups, which in turn could lead to unpopular consequences.

Conclusion:

• Pressure groups are now considered as an indispensable and helpful element of the democratic process. The society has become highly complex and individuals cannot pursue their interests on their own. They need the support of other fellow beings in order to gain greater bargaining power; this gives rise to pressure groups based on common interests.
• Democratic politics has to be politics through consultation, through negotiation and some amount of bargaining is also involved. Thus, it is very essential for the government to consult these organised groups at the time of policy formulation and implementation.