[1] Early attempts to classify advocacy groups, first developed in the United Kingdom by J. D. Stewart in the 1950s, generally focused on who or what causes they represented.
[4] This therefore makes them more inclusive, as they generally try to establish wide popular support and do not implement as many restrictions on group membership.
Charities such as Save the Children may fall under this category,[3] as well as churches and religious organizations (e.g., Catholic Action in Italy), veterans' groups (e.g., the Union Française des Associations d'Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre), and groups supporting the rights of people with disabilities (e.g., the Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (ONCE)),[4] and some have even argued that organised religious groups such as the Roman Catholic Church would fall into this category.
For example, Charter 88 was clearly an outsider group prior to the 1997 general election, but assumed more influence following Labour's victory that year.
[1] Richard Heffernan argues that both organised and disorganised social movements, such as those campaigning for gender, racial and sexual equality or for the civil, political and social rights of those being discriminated against can be influential on sectional groups (such as trade unions, professional associations and trade organisations) as well as cause groups.