Exert ‘behind the scenes’ influence

Regardless of which groups are most powerful, pressure-group

influence is exerted in a way that is not subject to scrutiny and public accountability. Pressure groups usually exert influence ‘behind closed doors’. This particularly applies in the case of insider groups, whose representatives stalk the ‘corridors of power’ unseen by the public and away from media scrutiny. No one knows (apart from occasional leaks) who said what to whom, or who influenced whom, and how.

Not only does this contrast sharply with the workings of representative bodies such as Parliament, but it also undermines parliamentary democracy. Insider links between groups and the executive bypass Parliament, rendering elected MPs impotent as policy is increasingly made through deals between government and influential groups that the Parliament does not get to discuss.