Pressure Groups

Pick a pressure group, fully explain its actions, whether it is a insider, outsider, sectional or promotional and whether it is or was successful and why?

An outsider pressure group is a type of pressure group that has little or no contact with decision makers, this is usually down to ideological disagreement with the current government in power. It could also be in relation to illegal activities they sometimes participate in due to their want for taking direct action. 

An example of an outsider pressure group would be Fathers for Justice (F4J), F4J fight for the equal rights of fathers and mothers. On estimation around 200 children lose their fathers in courts everyday due to their being an injustice in the system. F4J say that:  “F4J is a lone voice swimming against a current of vested interests”. This emphasises that F4J are an outsider pressure group with little/no support from the government.

Contrasting with my previous point of outsider pressure groups having very little support from the government. “Since 2008 the group has been committed to the political process, having won the support of 104 MPs from all parties in the last Parliament.” Now on their website they have a manifesto, so are they now a political party or a high profile pressure group?

On the 29^th of November 2015, a protest occurred on the gallery roof of Buckingham Palace, staged by a copy cat group of F4J. After their protest in September 2004 when a protester dressed as Batman scaled the building. This emphasises the chain reaction one single pressure group can create, and result in a worldwide movement.  

F4J is a very successful pressure group gaining support from thousands of people, F4J was initially funded by money from it’s founder Matt O’Connor when it was established in 2001. Since then it has become a successful self-funding model generating income from registrations and merchandise sales. The organisation refuses to take money from government, solicitors or other organisations that might compromise the integrity of its campaign. Therefore confirming it’s status as a pressure group still.

F4J say that “when democracy fails, by breaking old laws you make new ones” in an attempt to explain their illegal demonstrations, in order to “restore and balance justice in society”, using the Suffragettes and Tolpuddle Martys as a example to follow by. 

Does Corbyn align himself with more traditional socialist views or is he a social democrat and why?

Jeremy Corbyn is known to be a hard core left winger of the labour party, and people associate Corbyn to be a traditional 'old fashioned' socialist. But there are many reasons as to why Corbyn may fall under the social democrat title.

The Labour party used to be a social democratic party, before 1997 when it was transformed to follow neoliberalist ideas, which is comparable to 'new labour', but now 2015 Jeremy Corbyn is now the new leader of the Labour party and in his movement he is gaining support from all different types of people. He is for benefits and a welfare state that benefits anyone and everyone, he believes that the state should assist and aid the country in times of need. For example he is extremely backing the NHS and aiming to stop the privatisation of health care in the UK. He follows the very socialist idea of 'people are social creatures that are bound together by a common humanity'. 

Shown where he wants to protect people at work by ending zero hour contracts and increasing the minimum wage, he is extremely for the working class and aims to achieve equality for all - "a society that accepts no barriers to everyone's talent and contribution. These ideas are very socialist, but Corbyn does show his social democratic stance when discussing that he wants to achieve a mixed economy.

 A mixed economy is where society is made up of a mix between private and public industry, this is stemmed from an ideology of nationalism. This is seen when Jeremy Corbyn discusses that he aims to "re-nationalise' the Royal Bank Of Scotland" and other public sectors. This is also shown when he says "Privatisation over the last four decades has been a history of the British people being robbed and the spivs snatching up the public assets being given the licence to print money. From the earliest privatisations of water, energy and rail to the PFI schemes from the last decade, it has been one long confidence trick." This here emphasises what Corbyn is striving for, a mixture between capitalism and state intervention where he aims to renationalise common, every day utilities.

To conclude, Corbyn's ideas can easily be mistaken for 'old labour' and traditional. But really he is trying to aid the growth of the country with a mixture of capitalism and state intervention: a social democracy.