pressure groups, difference between pressure groups and interest groups

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.

Economic association: such as chambers of commerce, trade unions.


Professional association: such as that of architects, doctors, lawyers.

Public interest group (PIG): such as friends of environment who aim to benefit people beyond their membership.

Special interest group (SIG): a subgroup formed within the framework of a main group to focus on a very narrow area of interest.

Methods of pressure groups

lobbying state members and the Parliament via petitions, letters and deputations;


consulting with ministers or senior public servants;

hiring professional lobbyists;
taking legal action through injunctions or appeals to higher courts;


campaigning for, or opposing, certain candidates at elections;
demonstrating outside Parliament and government offices or marching in the streets;


using the industrial muscle of strikes for political purposes.

Difference between pressure and interest groups

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