Conservatives and has appointed many trade unionists to lower-level
patronage posts, it has sought, for image-building purposes, to avoid
the appearance of automatic deference to them, of which some
previous Labour governments were accused.
In all democratic systems non-producer interest groups – residents
affected by planning proposals, consumers of both private and public
goods and services, housewives, carers and so-called ‘cause’ groups
that operate more altruistically on behalf of others seem less effective
than producer groups. In Britain groups such as the Royal National
Institute for the Blind, Greenpeace working for the environment, the
Consumers’ Association and more especially the many local ‘cause’
groups generally have less effective and permanent communication
links with Whitehall. Such groups may only hear of legislative or
administrative decisions after they have been made, rather than
whilst they are being considered. This then makes it much more
difficult – if not downright impossible – to influence the decisions
concerned. Even trying to amend a Bill in Parliament when it is still
under consideration is a relatively late stage to try to affect events.
By this time the prestige of the government may have been attached
to the Bill and amendments may affect compromises reached between
civil servants or ministers and other more established groups.
The rise to increasing prominence in the UK of professional
lobbyists (Moloney, 1996) has highlighted the importance of infor-
mal links between ministers, civil servants, parties and interest
groups. The more policy is made in private at the pre-legislative stage
by informal coteries of political advisers, professional lobbyists
retained by wealthier and established groups and small factions of
politicians who are in favour with the head of government, the less
responsive and democratic it will seem. If some lobby groups attain
preferential access to government through financial support to
parties, or by retaining well-connected professionals, then this clearly
constitutes a move away from pluralism toward corporatism in the
political system.
The mass media
Confining ourselves here to the existing conventional mass media –
press, radio and television – we are mainly concerned with broad-
casting: the centralised origination of simplex flows of information to
DEMOCRACY 197