(This is an archived page, from the Patterns of Power Edition 3 book. Current versions are at book contents).
People can increase their influence by banding together to put moral pressure upon politicians to behave differently. The campaign at the end of the 18th century for the abolition of slavery was, in the words of Niall Ferguson,[1] "one of the first great extra-Parliamentary agitations":
"When 11,000 people in Manchester alone – two thirds of the male population – signed a petition calling for an end to the trade, it amounted to a call for an ethical foreign policy, a call so widespread that the government did not dare ignore it. …..
This was the birth of a new kind of politics, the politics of the pressure group. Thanks to the work of zealous activists armed only with pens, paper and moral indignation, Britain had turned against slavery. Even more remarkably, the slave trade had been abolished in the face of determined opposition from some powerful vested interests."
The political impact of pressure groups, or interest groups, is described later (6.4.4).
There are several moral issues which command sufficient public interest for groups to be formed. The formation of ‘Green’ movements in several countries is a notable example (6.2.3.3).