Popular Struggles And Movements

Pressure groups and movements exert influence in a variety of ways:

a) They mostly carry out information campaigns, organizing meeting, filling petitions, etc. to gain the support of public

b) By organizing strikes and protest they seek to make the government take care of their demands

c) They also influence decisions making by lobbying

d) Sometimes political parties grow out of movements. So the pressure groups raise the issues and influence the various political parties

The relationship between political parties and pressure group can take different forms:

a) Sometimes political parties grow out of movements and in that case, the pressure groups raise the issues and influence the various political parties

b) They often take positions that are opposed to each other

c) Most of the times they raise new issues by pressure or movement which leads to change in the policies of the political parties

Some of the activities of pressure groups are useful in the functioning of a democratic government are as follows:

(i) We know that the pressure groups are those organisations that influence government policies. They do not have their direct control or share on political power

(ii) Pressure groups are formed when people with common occupation or interest come together to achieve a common objective

(iii) Pressure groups influence the government to complete the needs and concerns of ordinary citizens. They also raise voice of common people of our society

A pressure group is an organization which influences the government to complete the needs and concerns of ordinary citizens. They also raise voice of common people of our society These groups influence the government policies through protests and demonstrations. Pressure groups are formed when people with similar opinions get together for similar objectives.

e.g.: FEDECOR and BAMCEF

Difference between a pressure group and a political party is as follows:

a) Pressure groups contains those people who have same interest and aspirations and have a common objective or goal to achieve whereas political parties contains those people who come together to win the elections and hold the government

b) Pressure groups are not accountable to the citizens of our society whereas political parties are accountable to them

c) Pressure groups do not have direct power in their hands whereas political parties have directly control over the power

The groups which promote the interests of various social sections such as workers, teachers, lawyers etc are called Sectional interest groups.

One of the main difference between pressure groups and political parties is that pressure groups do not seek to get into power while political parties seek to get into power by winning election

Therefore, option (c) is correct

Correct match of above given statements is as follows:

Organisations that seek to promote the interests of a particular section or group: Sectional interest groups

Organisations that seek to promote common interest: Public interest groups

Struggles launched for the resolution of a social problem with or without an organizational structure: Movement

Organisations that mobilise people with a view to win political power: Political parties

Hence, option (b) is correct

Correct match of the above list is as follows:

Pressure group: Fertilizer dealers’ association

Long-term Movement: Women’s Movement

Single issue movement: Narmada Bachao Andolan

Political party: Asom Gana Parished

Therefore, option (a) is correct

The pressure groups are the organized expression of the interests and views of specific social sections and also take positions on political parties

Hence statement A and B are correct. Therefore option (b) is correct

There are many movement which take up issues and are ignored by political parties and these all things can be easily concluded from the example of Mewat, The six- year ling Assam movement (1979-1985), led by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), was aimed against the infiltration of foreigners from Bangladesh into Assam. At the end of this movement, the State Assembly was dissolved, the government was dismissed, and fresh elections were held. The Asom Gana Parishad, formed out of The AASU, contested and won the elections, forming the Government of Assam. This is the best example in which we can easily see that that how a pressure group came up to form government