Blog
Pressure groups update: students and young people
7th December 2010
The recent wave of protests over student fees and allegations of tax avoidance by some of the UK’s most famous corporations make it a good time to revisit questions about pressure groups and democracy.
Pressure croups can help to educate and inform the public. The internet allows them to disseminate their ideas widely and free of charge. They run campaigns and, for example, take out advertisements in national newspapers. A more educated electorate is better able to hold its political representatives to account. UK Uncut are raising awareness about an issue that would normally be reserved for the business pages and they are acting as a catalyst for discussion of an issue that is particularly important when contrasted with how changes to government spending policies adversely affect hundreds of thousands of people, and as the IFS have pointed out may hit the poorest hardest. Likewise it has been argued that the students are graduates who are protesting about proposed fees hikes are not acting selfishly, but are instead raising alarm about a change that will impact on future generations of undergraduates.
Extending the point further, democracy should encourage pluralism and diversity of opinion. These qualities should be reflected in an intelligent and informed citizenry which holds a wide range of views and subjects government to constant and informed scrutiny. In a country such as the UK where political representation at the national level of the Westminster parliament is limited to two (and a half) major parties, it is particularly important that there are other outlets for political involvement and the expression of views. This is especially true of young people, who traditionally are the least likely to participate in mainstream/party politics. I have often found that young people are not apathetic about politics. Instead, they are often frustrated, disenchanted and disillusioned with the choices presented at election time. Many have compared the current wave of protests to the spirit of the ’68, the last time students and young people took part in frequent mass protest.
On the other hand pgs have been criticised for using illegal activities to promote their cause. Some animal rights activists have used intimidatory tactics against companies and employees of companies involved in animal experimentation for scientific purposes. Cars, houses and other forms of property have been attacked and in one case the body of a woman whose farm had bred animals for use in research was exhumed and removed. The pg Reclaim the Streets describes itself on its website as ‘A direct action network for global and local social-ecological revolution to transcend hierarchical and authoritarian society’. Tactics involve illegal obstruction of streets. Critics argue that this type of action undermines the important democratic principle of the rule of law. So we have to question the actions of UK Uncut and the student protesters in this context also. It is difficult to condone acts of vandalism and violence, even if protesters feel it is the only way that they can get their point across.
For more background on the UK Uncut protests see here: