1. Categories
   1. Pressure/interest groups
      1. Sectional groups - organised in order to advance the specific interests of their members. Unions, business lobbies, professional bodies etc
      2. Causes or promotional groups - shared values, ideas, such as pro-life, pro-choice, liberties groups, environmental groups
      3. Peak organisations - broad umbrella organisations, like TUC as opposed to individual unions.
   2. Inside/outside groups
      1. Insiders have privileged access to political insiders, often with statutory consultation rights and so on, like BMA
      2. Outsiders do not have such access.
   3. History
      1. Possibly the first would have been Wilberforce's anti-slavery movement. But big growth after second world war and then again after sixties and now.
   4. Resources/assets. What gives them influence?
      1. Publicsympathy
      2. Expertise
      3. Size of membership or activist base
         1. What penetration of their potential membership do they have? Eg the BMA is mreo or less compulsory for doctors in UK so it can say it represents all doctors. Whereas individual unions have a declining proportion of their potential memberships.
      4. Financial strength
      5. Personal or institutional links to parties or government
      6. Ability to take collective action such as invoking sanctions
         1. E.g. Striking, boycotting, moving jobs overseas or not cooperate.
2. Tactics
   1. How do they influence policy?
      1. Bureaucracy targetting
         1. Obviously only applicable to the "inside" groups who have such access, and this can be formalised in e.g. Government consultation etc. source of the revolving door.
         2. Business groups can be particularly influential here. But also note that businesses do not otherwise have "votes" so lobbying may be the primary substitute.
      2. Legislature and it's members
         1. A major target of lobbying organisations. Including through campaign contributions.
      3. Courts
         1. Such as through judicial review process where'd that it used - e.g. Pro-life organisations target SCOTUS over Roe v Wade.
      4. Political parties
         1. Depends on the role of parties in a system. Where party system is strong such as in UK there are few opportunities. Though there are also institutional ties such as Trade Unions and Labour in UK and US.
         2. Other hours see connection with any one party as a problem for their message so steer clear
      5. Mass media and public opinion campaigns
         1. Often more used by "outsider" groups young to get public attention etc
      6. Supranational bodies
         1. Places such as EU attract considerable lobby/pressure out interest. Often encouraged by those bodies.
3. Theories
   1. Pluralist view
      1. Power widely dispersed
      2. All groups have potential to organise and aim access to government
      3. Groups internally responsive so leaders reflect broader infests of members
      4. No one group can dominate for long
      5. Groups look for allies and compromise
      6. IGs act as "gatekeepers" that filter deman on government.
   2. Elitist view
      1. C Wright Mills, Robert Dhal
      2. Resources a distributed uneqally
      3. Power elite cools resources and influence. Only marginal issues are left to pluralist competition
      4. Resource inequality is cumulative
      5. Rules of game structured to favour middle/upper class interests
      6. Dominated by make, educated, upper and middle class "joiners"
      7. Some interests find it very difficult to organise and lack resources to do so.
         1. Education, time, money problems. Or they rely on other people to protect them.
      8. Groups are oligarchic, unelected and have unaccountable leaders.
      9. But she does that leave mutual self help type organisations.
   3. New Right View
      1. Socialgroups regarded with suspicion
      2. Fear of over government
      3. Manicure Olsen - pressure group activity as a majority determinant or prosperity
      4. BUT limited evidence to link well organised groups and economic growth
      5. Collective notions like community.
4. Social movements
   1. Various organisations and groups brought together in a loose organisation
   2. High level of commitment or activism required
5. New Social Movements
   1. Young, affluent, educated people
   2. Post-materialist
   3. Challenge prevailing social ovals/political styles and embrace libertarian pirations
   4. Decentralised organisation and participatory decision making
   5. Informal and unconventional methods