Democratic Politics

How do they influence politics ?
Pressure groups and movements exert influence on politics in a variety of ways.
(a) They try to gain public support and sympathy for their goal and their activity by carrying out information campaigns, organising metting, file pettition etc. Most of these groups try to influence the media into giving more attention to these issues.
(b) They often organise protest activity like strikes or disrupting government programmes. Workers’ organisations, from pressure groups or movement groups may participate in official bodies and committees that offer advice to the government.
While interest groups and movements do not directly engage in party politics they seek to exert influence on political parties. Most of the movement groups take political stance without being a party. They have political ideology and political position on major issues. The relationship between political parties and pressure groups can take different forms, some direct and others very indirect.
(c) In some instances the pressure groups are either formed or led by the leaders & political parties or act as extended arms of political parties. For example, most trade unions and students’ organisations in India are either established by or affiliated to one or the other major political party. Most of the leaders of such pressure groups are usually activities and leaders of party.
(d) Sometimes political parties grow out of movements. For example, when the Assam movement led by students against the foreigners came to an end, it led to the formation of the Assam Gan Parishad. The roots of parties like the DMK and the AIADMK Tamil Nadu can be traced to a long drawn social reform movement during the 1930 and 1940s.
(e) In most cases the relationship between parties and interest or movement groups is not so direct. They often take positions that are opposed to each other. Yet they are in dialogue and negotiation. Movement groups have raised new issues that have been taken up by political parties. Most of the new leadership of political parties come from interest or movement groups.