As society advances, people's level of knowledge constantly increases. People no longer blindly obey the government when they are dissatisfied with policies and exercise different channels to express their opinions, this reflects the increase in civic participation and political awareness. This essay purports to discuss the following statement: “The power of pressure groups to influence government is, in reality, limited. » with examples from Hong Kong. Green Sense (2004), the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU, 1948), the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Unions (HKPTU, 2010) and the Association for the Advancement of Feminism (AAF, 1984), which part of the pressure groups in Hong Kong. Pressure groups and interest groups can have the same meaning in some way, when an interest group actively pursues the goal with the government. Both arise from freedom of association as a voluntary organization in which members are free to join and share a common interest or goals and attempt to influence public policy. Their goal is to protect or strengthen common interests in order to influence the government on specific issues, but these groups are different from political parties. (Jordon and Maloney, 2007 and Watts, 2007) Parties in Hong Kong such as the Democratic Party (1994), the Civic Party (2006), the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB, 2001) and the Liberal Party (2004) are primarily focused on politics and tend to be ideological, based on political ideals, philosophy and fighting elections and government formation, and having general political interests. Conversely, pressure groups are pragmatic and generally do not run for elected office and have narrow political interests. Memberships from...... middle of paper ......line]. Last accessed March 15, 2011 at: http://aaf.org.hk/The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. (2011). [online]. Last accessed on March 15, 2011 at: http://www.cgcc.org.hk/The Democratic Party. (1994). [online]. Last accessed March 15, 2011 at: http://www.dphk.org/The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions. (1948). [online]. Last accessed March 15, 2011 at: http://www.ftu.org.hk/The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (1903). [online]. Last accessed March 15, 2011 at: http://www.spca.org.hk/United Nation. (2011). [online]. Last accessed March 15, 2011 at: http://www.un.org/WATTS, Duncan. (2007). Pressure groups. [online]. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. MyiLibrary book last accessed March 16, 2011 at: http://myilibrary.com/World Trade Organization. (2011). [online]. Last accessed March 15, 2011: http://www.wto.org/