Pressure groups thereby improve the accountability of decision makers to electorates. Although few people would deny that pressure groups play an important role in British politics, critics have argued that this role may not be the one suggested by the pluralist model. Pressure groups improve participation, but in an unequal way, benefiting the well organised but disadvantaging the weakly organised. Pressure groups themselves may not be representative of their members. Their officers are not usually elected.
Few groups have procedures for consulting their members.
As a result, the views expressed by group officials may not be shared by the group s members. Although the views of pressure groups may sometimes be considered, they are likely to be ignored if they do not confirm with the ideology or agenda of the decision makers. Pressure group activity gives people hope that they can make a difference. This hope is a distraction. The ruling class would rather that people put their energies into pressure group activities, which do not question the fundamentals of the system than into political activity, which seriously challenges the right of the elite to govern.