ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to shed light on what the political scientist S. E. Finer described as an 'anonymous empire', in examining the role of pressure groups in the political system. It mainly focuses on the pressure groups, but the concept of pressure, whilst including pressure groups, also extends well beyond them. This is because pressure, which may be described as the effort by a group to achieve influence by various means of persuasion, occurs within all social organisations. Groups of people adopt differing views and try to persuade decision-makers to adopt them in such widely diverse organisations as government departments, churches, schools, universities, trade unions and private companies. Pressure groups enrich democratic societies by developing and propagating information over a wide range of subjects.
