The Law of Elections and Business Interest Groups in Britain
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296001300308 |
| Date | 01 September 1960 |
| Published date | 01 September 1960 |
| Author | Alfred P. Brainard |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
670
THE
LAW
OF
ELECTIONS
AND
BUSINESS
INTEREST
GROUPS
IN
BRITAIN
ALFRED P.
BRAINARD*
University
of
Washington
*
This
article
was
written
prior
to
the
1959
elections,
the
results
of
which
in
no
way
have
caused
the
author
to
modify
the
opinions
herein
expressed.
ECENT
WRITINGS
by
British
political
scientists
have
stressed
the
role
of pressure groups
as
a third
force to
the already
well-described
and
of
pressure
groups
as
a
third
force
to
the
already
well,described
and
-L-
well-known
duality
of
party
and
government.,
There
has
been
an
in-
creasing
amount
of
material
in
print
which
details
various
aspects
of
this
vast
phenomenon.
As
yet,
much
of
the research
has
scarcely
uncovered
the
salient
features
of
this
subject.
In
part,
this
has
been
occasioned
by
the
scarcity
of
avail-
able
sources
especially
on
this
side
of
the
Atlantic.
Whatever
materials
are
available,
are
by
no
means
widely
disseminated
or
sufficiently
detailed
to
allow
any
semblance
of
comprehensive
study.
However,
the
increase
in
scholarly
ma-
terials
from
British
writers
promises
to
provide
some
remedy
for
the
present
deficiencies
while
underscoring
developments
in
British
politics
within
the
last
decade,
particularly
the
emergence
of
extra-party
interest
groups
defying
party
and
government.
This
has
been
most
true
of
those
organized
business
interests
whose
existence
was,
and
still
is,
threatened
by
the
nationalization
program
of
the
Labour
party.
The
election
of
1950
is
most
noteworthy
in
this
respect.
Re-
cently,
certain
charges,
first
voiced
in
1949
and
partially
answered
by
the
courts
in
1952,
asserting
the
illegality
of
certain
types
of
pressure
group
behavior,
have
been
renewed
in
connection
with
the
forthcoming
general
election.
These
charges
have
been
occasioned
by
a
public
opinion
survey
on
attitudes
toward
nationaliza-
tion
sponsored
by
various
firms
of
the
steel
industry.
This
survey
was
directed
by
Mr.
Colin
Hurry
and
was
implemented
by
the
British
Market
Research
Bureau.
It
involved
some
two
million
questionnaires
localized
in
127
marginal
constituencies.2
As
they
were
in
1949,
these
charges
have
been
raised
by
the
Labour
party
in
the
press
and
in
Parliament,
and
question
the
legality
of
political
propaganda
originating
from
pressure
groups
with
regard
to
the
British
law
of
elections.
The
exploration
of
this
question
is
the
major
concern
of
the
following
discussion.
The
conclusions
derived
should
lead
to
further
questions
as
to
(a)
the
role
of
pressure
groups
in
the
political
processes
of
the
United
Kingdom;
and
(b)
the
nature
of
the
British
political
process
in
general.
Mr.
Hurry’s
project
is
in
some
respects
an
extension
and
a
refinement
of
techniques
used
by
various
companies
in
the
period
1949-51.
Methodologically
speaking,
there
is
a
great
deal
of
similarity
between
this
undertaking
and
that
of
the
insurance
companies
in
1949,
although
the
latter
was
on
a
lesser scale.
Hurry’s
attempt
goes
beyond
a
mere
survey
of
attitudes.
Rather,
the
suggestion
1
See
among
others,
S.
E.
Finer,
Anonymous
Empire
(London:
Pall
Mall
Press,
1958);
Finer,
"In-
terest
Groups
and
the
Political
Process
in
Great
Britain,"
in
Henry
W.
Ehrmann
(ed.),
Interest
Groups
on
Four
Continents
(Pittsburgh:
University
of
Pittsburgh
Press,
1958);
and
J.
D.
Stewart,
British
Pressure
Groups
(Oxford:
Clarendon
Press,
1958).
2
Manchester
Guardian
Weekly,
Air
Edition,
February
5,
1959,
p.
9.
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