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Three Months of Britain's e-Petition System

Posted by samzenpus on from the I-wish-to-register-a-complaint dept.

eldavojohn writes "The idea seems simple. Provide feedback for your government via the internet. If enough people sign a petition, address it. That was the idea when an e-Petition site was launched in Nov 06 for Prime Minister Tony Blair. The BBC is reporting on the million or so petitions that the PM has received since the site went live. While most petitions are rejected or ignored, they have a top ten with one petition having 600,000 signers. Is this a valid way to provide feedback to the government or merely an exercise in keeping the populace happy?"

6 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. it's a homonym by User+956 · · Score: 2, Funny

    The idea seems simple. Provide feedback for your government via the internet. If enough people sign a petition, address it. That was the idea when an e-Petition site was launched in Nov 06 for Prime Minister Tony Blair.

    Well, online wine delivery never really took off in the States, I hope the Brits have better luck.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  2. Tagging a slashdot question... by Coopjust · · Score: 2, Funny

    Whenever Slashdot asks a question in a story I perform a service as a reader:

    I tag the story "yes", "no", and "maybe".

    Just doing my part ;)

  3. I can't believe by peepleperson · · Score: 5, Funny

    that I'm the first to point out that the 33rd most popular petition is for Tony Blair to stand on his head and juggle ice-cream.

    1. Re:I can't believe by adrianmonk · · Score: 2, Funny

      the 33rd most popular petition is for Tony Blair to stand on his head and juggle ice-cream.

      Two things:

      1. That's truly hilarious (in a British sort of a way).
      2. If Blair has any brains or political savvy at all, he'll one-up the person who started that petition by waiting until the momentum and press coverage behind it peaks, then announcing that, because he is absolutely committed to being responsive to citizens' needs, he'd be glad to stand on his head and juggle ice cream. And then, of course, he'll actually do it, with skill and aplomb.
  4. Re:2,400 Petitions, 1 Million SIGNATURES by IanDanforth · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe I'll get a +1 Funny :)

  5. Re:How about a breath of fresh air instead? by thetroll123 · · Score: 3, Funny

    >1337, the Hundred Years War?

    1337? Shouldn't that be "teh hu|\|Dr3D y3aRz \/\/aR" then?