Understanding Petitions

A petition is a written request of action that is signed by supporters. For centuries, people have used petitions to request actions from governments. In addition, people use petitions to inform organizations of the opinions of interested people.

The Founding Fathers made sure that the right to petition was included in the United States Constitution. In fact, the right to petition was included in the Constitution even before freedom of speech and freedom of religion, highlighting the importance of petitions to the political process.

 
Signing a Petition
There are several reasons why people sign petitions. Some petitions seek to gather signatures in order to get a proposition placed on a ballot. In these cases, people sign the petition in support of the proposition. If enough people sign the petition in the required amount of time, the issue will be voted upon by the general electorate at a later date.

In other cases, signing a petition is a way to express your feelings on an important issue that isn't a voting issue. The issue could be local, national or international.

Other people sign petitions for relatively unimportant issues. For instance, some people sign petitions to protest the cancellation of a television show.

Writing a Petition

People write political petitions for a number of reasons, including the following:
  • to call attention to a particular cause
  • to get a candidate on a ballot
  • to request government change
  • to request the passage of a bill.

You do not have to be an expert on a particular subject or on your area of interest or concern to write a petition. However, you do need to write your petition intelligently and in a compelling manner. It is also of the utmost importance to be respectful and courteous when writing your petition.

Before writing your petition, you must first decide who has the power to affect your issue. Is it your town mayor, one of your government representatives or your president?

After you know to whom you will address your petition, you must write an explanation about your issue of concern. This may involve some research on your part. This portion of the petition should include the following information in the following order:

  1. a description of the issue
  2. why the issue is important
  3. facts and information supporting your request
  4. why you think your request is both reasonable and feasible.
When writing your petition, it is important to be clear about your objectives and to stay on topic.

Online Petitions

The Internet has changed petitioning. Today, many petitions are available online. In some cases, you must print these petitions in order to sign them and circulate them. Once the required number of signatures has been obtained, you can mail these petitions to the appropriate person or organization.

In other cases, online petitions are circulated solely online via a Web site or e-mail. In these instances, people can electronically sign the petition.

An advantage of online petitions is that you may be able to reach a much larger audience than you would be able to with a conventional petition. You may also be able to reach your audience more quickly.

A disadvantage of online petitions is that electronic signatures can be difficult to verify.
 
Resources
 
Go Petition (n.d.). How to Write a Petition - Effective Petition Writing. Retrieved July 23, 2007, from the Go Petition Web site: http://gopetition.com/howtowriteapetition.php.
 
Newton, Adam. First Amendment Center (2007). Petition. Retrieved July 23, 2007, from the First Amendment Center Web site: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/petition/overview.aspx.