The Media, Opinion Polls, Pressure Groups and Lobbyists Good leadership is of extreme importance to the welfare of any people. Proverbs 28:2

Pluralism is the democratic process of involving many different people and groups in the decision-making process. Common ways of exerting influence include the media, opinion polls and pressure groups.

Power of the media The media involves all forms of mass communication such as the newspaper, television, radio and the internet. A free press in a democracy allows for the public to become informed, acts as a vehicle for the government to tell the people what it is doing, and a platform to criticize and/or praise government actions. The media defines reality for its audiences and shapes the public’s perception of the political world.

The media is a watchdog over the actions of the government, through investigate reporting, thereby increasing the accountability of politicians to the electorate. The media tends to trivialize political positions by focusing on a person’s physical appearance or birth defects, rather than the issues e.g. Harper’s belly gets more attention, than his policy on Health Care.

Televised political debates tend to help electors decide how to vote, educate the public on the party’s positions and test how leaders can cope with under stress. Those against debates believe they focus too much attention on the leader, further de-emphasizing the influence of backbenchers. As well, television favours those who are smooth-talkers not necessarily those with something genuinely important to say.

Catchy advertising tends to have more influence than their party platforms, resulting in media-friendly politicians who are less accountable to any specific platform of promises.

Media bias All members of media have some form of bias, although the ideal seems to be one of a neutral observer and reporter. This might be as subtle as selecting to tell the readers/viewers about one story and not another, or blunt as supporting a particular position in an editorial or political cartoon.

Advertisers can greatly influence what the media will or will not broadcast e.g. Ford of Canada is not likely to buy ads for a news documentary detailing the faulty manufacture of their trucks. As well, the owners of the media can easily influence the position of their radio or television station, newspaper or website by dictating the content or slant, or hiring those who share a particular political view. The CBC, in theory, is less effected by these biases because it is publicly owned and depends less upon advertisers.

Responsible citizens need to understand the bias of the media they are consuming and use that information according to their system of values and beliefs (ideology).

Polls and the electorate Opinion polls are surveys of what a sample of people (typically 1 or 2 thousand) believe, at one particular moment, on a series of issues. Statistically, the results can be extrapolated to likely represent the views of all citizens (i.e. 30 million Canadians).

Typically, polls are accurate to within + or -4% of their findings, 19 times out of 20 (margin of error). This means that if a poll says that 40% of the people support a party leader, in fact it may mean as few as 36% or as many as 44% support that leader. However, once out of 20 times, the results may in fact be way out of line e.g. only 20% support that leader.

Opinion polls tend to give citizens greater input into the political decision-making process (pluralism) and often act as a form of direct democracy. Most parties would be wary about supporting a position that is unpopular in the polls because, come election time, the electorate may very well choose to vote against them because of that position on that issue. Polls may also encourage voters to get involved if they see that their favourite party is trailing or the issue they care about appears to be winning or losing influence.

Polls may in fact be very inaccurate leading people to take inappropriate actions. They also tend to create a bandwagon effect whereby people support a particular position or party because everyone is doing it (popularity), paying little attention to the actual issue.

Pressure/Lobby/Special interest groups Pressure groups are voluntary organizations whose members collaborate to influence the government to adopt policies which will benefit the group, examples: Pro-Life, Pro-Choice, Save the Whales, Save the Earth, Pro-Labour, Pro-Business, Pro-Free Trade, Anti-Free Trade.

To achieve their goals, pressure groups, persuade members to write to local Members of Parliament, submit briefs to government committees, influence election results by making their views known to the public. Pressure groups specialize in lobbying behind closed doors believing that by talking to the right people at the right time they can make things happen their way. Most attention is paid to civil servants and Cabinet Ministers because most policies begin in the civil service and ministers make final policy decisions.

Some believe pressure groups are an essential part of democracy (pluralism) because they make preferences known, act as a check on executive authority (accountability) and as a communication link between government and governed, and provide decision-makers with information on the "real world" i.e. governments use these groups as a means of testing their proposals before taking them to Parliament or explaining policies to the public (trial balloons).

Others feel that some groups are better organized and more wealthy than others so they have greater influence over weaker groups or groups with no pressure groups operating on their behalf. More pressure groups exist on behalf of producers (business) than consumers, therefore, business has the advantage. As well, lobbying behind closed doors is undemocratic because decisions made there are not open to public scrutiny. The wealthiest groups have the greatest opportunity to influence the government.