The Origins of the ‘New Poverty Lobby’

Abstract

A large number of interest groups attempt to influence the income maintenance policies of government in the field of social welfare. Many of these have emerged within the last 25 years and constitute the ‘new poverty lobby’. The purpose of this article is to explain the origins of the poverty lobby in general, and the new poverty lobby in particular. Various theoretical explanations of group origins are evaluated against data from a survey of more than 40 such groups, MPs and civil servants and none of these explanations is found to be wholly adequate. An alternative explanation is provided which sees groups arising as a result of environmental factors, group resources and lobbying strategies. This theoretical analysis also explains why groups in the new poverty lobby adopted similar organizational structures and strategies.