Trolling and Pressure Groups in the USA

The magazine Ars Technica has a report about a pressure group called "Stop Bad Patents" which is starting a new campaign to get Congress to stop "Patent Trolling" - companies which buy up patents and then sue other businesses for using these patents. The trouble is that while the action can be seen as entirely spurious, it is generally cheaper to settle than to go through the courts.

The Pressure Group's web site can be found here.

[Picture - Ars Technica]

Political Party Size & Pressure Groups

In brief, according to the Daily Telegraph, the number of registered members of the Conservative Party have fallen significantly to under 100,000, and according to the Conservative Home web-site, this is 58,000. This figure is the lowest since WW2.

By contrast, Labour has gone from 156,000 to 188,000 between 2009 and today.

Neither figures are great for the two big parties in UK politics, and this ties in nicely with a key issue that is dealt with in Unit 1; partisan dealignment and the fall in participation in politics.

Pressure Groups

Also, while I am thinking about it, the anti-Fracking protests in Sussex over the Summer are great examples of Pressure Group action. Students studying Unit 1 should certainly be thinking of using events like these in their essays.

[Picture credit - BBC News]

Presidential Power & Pressure Groups

In brief, the amount of power the President has is a regular and key question at A2; recent events have served to highlight the limits to that power, and to demonstrate how far the President can act in foreign policy before being called to account.

US Private Bradley Manning's leaks, and those of Edward Snowden have highlighted how far the US government (eg the NSA) has broken US law through surveillance of US and other activities, such as the one called "Operation Prism", which started under President Bush Jr. Interestingly, it took the actions of these individuals to bring attention to the issues at stake, and now there are various court cases going on prosecuting these individuals.

The New Yorker has an article which  highlights the US government's security operation and says that it has sinister intent; specifically, the prosecutions are not against dubious government actions, but against the leakers.

Arguably in this case, President Obama has carte-blanche to act in the way that his administration are doing as his actions are not being probed by the other branches of the US system.

Pressure Groups

A Pressure Group story caught my eye; that Netflix has taken advantage of the US Supreme Court's decision "Citizens United v FEC" and set up a political action committee, a "SuperPAC", which is designed to support political candidates who share their ideas about media and the internet. Their group is called "FLIXPAC".

Pressure Groups and Judicial Review in the UK

As the Summer holiday continues, there have been two recent court cases which illustrate in one way or another the relationship between the judiciary and the law-makers in the UK.

Probably useful for G&P students in unit 2, although any question about pressure groups should probably mention this too.

3 terminally-ill men requested the right to die, and their battle went all the way to the Supreme Court. Most of their case was rejected; details can be found here on this BBC page. The BBC's health correspondent has a blog posting about it here.

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, said this:

In the judgement, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge said Parliament represented "the conscience of the nation" when it came to addressing life and death issues, such as abortions and the death penalty.

"Judges, however eminent, do not: our responsibility is to discover the relevant legal principles, and apply the law as we find it."

In other words, the Supreme Court in the UK is very different to that of the US; in the UK the court is not prepared to pass laws from the bench, whereas in the US, the Supreme Court is prepared to make judgements which have the effect of law-making.

Another case which caught my eye is where a pressure group went to court to stop the closing of a hospital. Lewisham hospital in SE London will not close, thanks to the effort of the group "Save Lewisham Hospital". The government is probably going to appeal the decision, but for now it's a great example of a local pressure group taking action to change government policy.

[Picture Credit - Save Lewisham Hospital & BBC News]