`Pressure group activity is necessary for democracy.’

Today was the deadline for my Media Politics and Power essay the title was `Pressure group activity is necessary for democracy.’ Critically discuss this proposition.

After looking at various different arguments from different researchers I came to the conclusion that pressure group activity is necessary for democracy as pressure groups are a means of political participation and influence for members of the public especially minority groups. Pressure groups allow minority opinions to be voiced and pressure group behaviour sometimes allows the public and not the politicians to set the political and news agenda. Finally and I believe importantly pressure groups offer an opportunity for a greater number of people to participate in the political process without them having to be politically partisan.