Electronic petitioning and modernization of petitioning systems in Europe

With the pilot project "Public Petitions", which started in September 2005, the German Bundestag included the internet in the petition procedure and thus achieved greater transparency of the petition process. Since then, petitions can be submitted electronically, signed on the internet and discussed. The Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB) has accompanied this process scientifically and asked about the yields and consequences of the pilot project. Were more petitions submitted? Who participated in the electronic petitions? How were the petitions discussed in the online forums and how were the results of the discussions introduced into the political process of deliberation on petitions? This study provides answers to these and other questions for the first time on the basis of a comprehensive empirical study. The analyses of the pilot project of the German Bundestag are placed in the context of the development of petitioning and e-democracy as a whole. Case studies on the introduction of electronic petition systems in the Scottish Parliament, the British Prime Minister, South Korea, Australia (Queensland) and Norway complete the picture.
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This book is based on TAB report Nr. 146 "Elektronisches Petitionswesen und Modernisierung des Petitionswesens in Europa. Endbericht zum TA-Projekt".