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Analyse Why Some Pressure Groups Are More Successful In Achieving Their Aims And Objectives Than Others

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Analyse Why Some Pressure Groups Are More Successful In Achieving Their Aims And Objectives Than Others
Analyse why some pressure groups are more successful in achieving their aims and objectives than others.
Pressure groups are organised groups of people who share a common interest that they wish to protect or a common aim that they wish to promote. They seek to influence public policy by gaining access to decision makers who have power. There are two main types of pressure groups; Interest Group and Cause Group – an interest group aims to protect the interests of its members whilst a Cause group promotes issues and policies that do not exclusively benefit the group’s members. Pressure groups perform several different function within the USA, these include; representation, participation, scrutiny and agenda building. Throughout this essay, I will analyse why some groups achieve their aims whilst acknowledging that the majority fail to do so.
One of the determining factors as to why some pressure groups are more successful in achieving their aims and objectives than others is which party (Republican or Democrat) controls their aims. This is significant as a pressure groups whose aims are similar to the policies of the controlling party are more likely to achieve their aims; for example, in 2013, The National Rifle Association achieved its aim of blocking ‘background checks on people wishing to purchase firearms’ as the Republican controlled senate also objected to this new legislation as The Republicans ‘acknowledge, support and defend the God-given right of self defense’. Likewise, The Tea Party was unsuccessful in achieving its aims of repealing Obamacare as despite the House of Representatives repealing the law over 50 times, the Democrat President, Barack Obama, is able to veto the law. Therefore, it is clear that a groups success in achieving its aims largely depends on whether the controlling party supports or objects their aims.
A further factor which determines why some pressure groups are more successful in achieving their aims is the pressure group’s

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