AS Politics

What are they?

Pgs are groups of like-minded individuals who campaign for their own interests andor to achieve goals or pursu common causes.  They seek to influence government policy in their favour.

Features:

1. Pgs are significantly more numerous than political parties: often fragment opinion whereas political parties tend to agregate an d accomodate with a view of being elected.

2. Pgs do not generally seek election, but some groups do as a way of raising public awareness, even though they have little realistic chance of being elected.

Classification of pgs by aim: 

Sectional and Cause groups:

Early attempts to classify groups focused on who or what causes they represent.

Sectional Groups:

Represent the itnerests of a particular section of society.  They are, therefore, sometimes referred to as a setoral. interest or protectionist groups.

Membership of such groups is normally restricted to the groups whose interests they serve.  For example, a teachers' union such as the NASUWT or NUT will represent the interests of its members who will, for the most part, be practising teachers. The BMA, another exape of a sectional group as it promotes the interests of the medical profession.