A petition represents one of the simple forms of democratic participation tools available today. Thanks to the internet we are able to start our own petitions, share them on social networks and reach many supporters all over the world almost instantly. As a statement of grievance which is followed by a list of signatures, the petition allowed different groups of people to make their voices heard. This is especially important for those that were once excluded from formal politics and that is why petitions have been know since the earliest day of history dating back to ancient Egypt were slaves have petitioned for better working conditions while building pyramids.
Throughout the history petitions sometimes played a central role at dawn of different democracies. Sadly today these roles remain forgotten. The cover photo of this article represents the 1893 women’s suffrage petition to the New Zealand’s government. Its main part consisted of 500 sheets which formed a roll of with a total length of over 270 meters (890 ft.). It was thanks to this petition that women gained the right to vote.
Today it has never been easier to start a petition. With the help of online tools such as Change.org anyone is able to start petition with a few clicks and few lines of text. The platform also monitors participants and outcomes of petitions so by the the of writing this articles there were 429,209,679 people taking action and 70.007 victories around the world so far. When compare to the effort people needed to put before in order to start and successful complete a petition, the same action with Change.org is seamlessly easy.
Just like all other tools for democratic participation that we advocate here, the successful outcome of petition heavily depends on citizen’s persistence and cooperation. Take into account that before successful women’s suffrage petition in New Zealand mentioned above there were 2 more same petition attempts before in 1891 and 1892. Both petitions have gathered much less signatures but women were persistent and committed to success which paid off in the end.
What is the last petition that you signed and have you ever started your own petition?
Enjoy your freedom!
