What is it about?
This study investigated whether the emotional factors of citizens still influence their behavior on government-hosted e-petitions, which are legitimate policies but require minimal effort—merely a few clicks. Regarding the topics of the petitions, the results showed that citizens were more supportive of petitions related to political issues and minorities. In terms of the petitions' intentions, over time since the implementation of the e-petition policy, there has been increasing support for petitions that suggest punishment for individuals or organizations. Conversely, support for petitions aiming to implement policies or laws has decreased.
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Why is it important?
The virtue of the government's e-petition policy lies in promoting democratic values by creating a low threshold for participation and including more citizens. However, this research highlights that participation can be biased toward petitions based on their topics and intentions. This suggests the need to reconsider the threshold for participation and the policy areas that are highlighted through citizen participation and those that are not.
Perspectives
The data were extracted from the 'National Petition of Korea's Blue House'; the results may differ due to the varying social and political contexts of other countries.
Tony M. Han
City University of Hong Kong
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Clicktivism on Government E-petition: A legitimate emotional outlet?, Digital Government Research and Practice, August 2024, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3689371.
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