Pressure group operation in theory and practice: a theoretical evaluation of the effect of New Zealand abortion-related pressure groups on legislatory change.

Abstract

In this dissertation I study the operations and effectiveness of New Zealand abortion-related pressure groups in influencing politicians and legislatory change over the period of the preparation, introduction, readings and eventual failure of the 1989 Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Amendment Act. The object of this study is to provide a case study against which to evaluate the relevance of political theories that deal with the roles of interest groups in the political system. Many theories focus on the role and influence that pressure groups possess in the political system. The foremost, pluralism, posits a significant and highly influential role for pressure groups in the political system and subsequently neo-pluralism adjusts these expectations, but still asserts that pressure groups can impact on the politican system. Liberal feminist studies have drawn from pluralism, but posited that female-dominated political struggles, like abortion, and female-dominated pressure groups, as abortion-related pressure groups tend to be, operate in a different way to traditional political struggles and pressure groups. Similarly New Zealand studies assert that the New Zealand social and political context affects the relevance of classical pluralist models. Lastly, gramscian-derived socialist feminist theories reject the relevance of pluralism to such a divided struggle in which disparities of influence and power between groups are so apparent. Examining the roles and effectiveness of the pressure groups, the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, Operation Rescue, the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand, the Women's National Abortion Action Campaign and Choice, the extent to which various theories explain the influence and significance of abortion-related pressure groups on abortion legislation in New Zealand can be evaluated.