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Garner, Ferdinand & Lawson: Introduction to Politics

Scenario 5

You are a member of a pressure group which works on behalf of orphaned children in Britain. You hear a report on a late-night radio station, which claims that orphans in an Eastern European country are being kept in inhumane conditions in a state-run orphanage. Your organization has links with a similar (though smaller) campaigning body in the country in question. Your own group has 50,000 members, all of whom are strongly committed to the cause and experienced in Internet campaigning. Among that number are 17 British MPs, one junior Foreign Office minister, a pop singer with many fans in Eastern Europe, and the head of a media corporation. You decide to contact all of them, but also to make personal appeals to specific individuals. Who would you contact first?

Helpful hint: This question asks you to evaluate the relative impact on pressure group activity of a mass membership, politicians, and the media.

Possible answer to scenario 5