Pressure groups are an important influence on modern politics, with people feeling strongly about single issues, willing to protest, lobby and petition for their cause.

A revised edition of this introductory textbook on pressure groups in Britain and their role in the political process. Coverage examines definitions and characteristics of pressure groups, and shows how groups seek to influence British politics and local, national and European public policy.

Pressure-group activity has increased in the British Parliament in recent years. This study examines the activities of pressure groups in relation to individual MPs, legislation, select committees, party and all-party subject groups, political consultants, and the House of Lords. The essays adopt a broad definition of the term to include groups such as trade unions and business and professional organizations, as well as those bodies specifically created to exert political pressure. Providing a comprehensive picture of pressure-group activity in relation to Parliament, this book places it within the wider context of pressure politics in Britain today.

The author argues that pressure group politics offers little to the socially excluded and that this is unlikely to change despite current rhetoric."--BOOK JACKET.

Containing all the information and analysis needed to understand the British system of Government and politics, Mastering British Politics is an essential text. This fifth edition has been fully revised and updated to reflect the results of and developments since the 2005 General Election.

Containing all the information and analysis needed to understand the British system of Government and politics, Mastering British Politics is an essential text. This fifth edition has been fully revised and updated to reflect the results of and developments since the 2005 General Election.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1970.