Online petitions are booming. Private platforms to convey have a feeling of political participation, but the results are for the Bundestag are not binding. What is the democratic value of petitions?
Anyone who surfs the Internet, is hard: petition calls private platforms such as the open petitions and Change.org. For all sorts of Good you should use: for the recognition of asylum seekers, the extension of a road, an end to marijuana prohibition or against all of this.
What hardly anyone knows: The oldest petition platform of the German Internet of the German Bundestag operates. However, while there 2016 11.236 entries received the lowest number of petitions since 1987, to celebrate private platforms records. In 2016, posted an open petition to Germany 4172 petitions – a fifth more than in 2015. Similar Plus mean the 12 million page views. The number of Newsletter subscribers has increased by 12 percent to 3.6 million, it says in the just published annual report, the DW exclusive before publication was allowed to see.
Private vs. state
The opposing developments hang together somehow, believe MEPs as experts. At a public meeting of the petition Committee at the beginning of the week, it was widely agreed that an important reason for the success of the private providers in the professional Marketing, especially on social media.
More attractive you are, because that’s where almost every Petition will be published. The Committee on petitions, however, published only about ten percent of the entries, in which the desire for publication, said the sociologist Ulrich Riehm from the Karlsruhe Institute for technology assessment and systems analysis (ITAS) before the Committee. This procedure seem to be non-transparent and demotivating.
Similar to the participation of researchers Markus Linden of the University of Trier sees it. The practice of awakening the suspicion, the Committee operated as a “thought police” that he criticizes: “The Forum should be all the public input map, which is consistent with privacy rights and the free democratic basic order.”
The limits of private providers
Linden alleges, but also private providers for certain practices. So you would bring with your success stories the impression that certain petitions have a direct influence on the policy: “This is more of a signature collection, which the Bundestag does not even recognize, forward not a success.”
Democracy by the click of a mouse: Online petitions
What is the influence of a Petition actually has on policy and legislation, meanwhile, to understand. This also applies to petitions submitted to the Bundestag. Although obliged to respond to each petitioner. However, even if it means that the application had been granted, this is not a conclusion as to whether the Petition was the reason for the parliamentary decision.
In the case of the open petition to you, therefore other standards: “We have asked the petitioner,” says managing Director Jörg Mitzlaff: “76 percent of the respondents stated that a Petition is successful, if a Dialog between citizens and policy.” Even if the concerns of the petitioner are not met at the end, could apply to a Petition therefore, as a success: “it is Important that the concerns are heard and our petitions make it all the way in the committees.”
In the annual report of the open petition gives examples of how this can work on local and state level. It is also clear that – particularly on the Federal level – a private Online Petition in Parliament alone has so far hardly taken into account.
Participation without loss of Sovereignty
Somewhat different is the case of petitions to the German Bundestag Since 2005, petitioners, who are able to win, within four weeks from the time of entering of your request to 50,000 Mitzeichner be heard before the petitions Committee. Participation of researchers from Linden sees this as a step in the right direction, but calls for more: “The Bundestag should listen to more petitioners than in the past – and not just in the Committee. If the number of Mitzeichner is particularly high, you should leave the petitioner in the plenary session talk.”
Thus, Linden, would the Parliament of the ever-increasing desire for political participation, without losing any of its sovereignty as a legislator: “The people would decide how the Referendum, but could have a say in the Agenda of the people’s representation.”
Public-private partnership?
What role can play private petition platforms, is among experts controversial. The communication expert Christian Scherg rejects their participation to a large extent: “The question is, how do I control whether it is real Tuning, is treated in the private petition platforms rather step-motherly.”
Other experts, such as sociologist Ulrich Riehm from the Karlsruhe Institute for technology assessment and systems analysis (ITAS) to trust private voting platforms to guarantee the necessary data security. Signature lists must be examined in the Committee on petitions anyway, so Riehm, regardless of whether they come about on the Internet or on the marketplace.
Against the surveillance state: a Petition from the year 2014
Linden warns, however, that there should be no privileging of individual private actors. This would not necessarily be the case, when the Bundestag agreed to direct co-operation: “You would have to make a choice with whom to cooperate and with whom not.”
Jörg Mitzlaff of the open petition says, for him, such a privatization of the Petition stand case in the debate: “It’s about clearly defined rules for the collection process of public petitions and the legal recognition of digital signatures.”
Under this condition, Linden would, in principle, no Problem in allowing private platforms, the petitioner serve as a multiplier and collected signatures from the Bundestag would be recognized.
A win for the debate culture
Largely in agreement, the experts in the Committee on petitions was, that the policy of public petitions, – whether published in a parliamentary or private – should pay more attention to it. Ultimately, a state from pressures in Yes civic will, says Linden: “The more interests are included in the democratic process, so as a representative he is.”
This is also a guarantee of the fact that extreme positions will not prevail. A good example of the debate around the free trade agreement TTIP: “It could have been discussed from the beginning, a lot of level-headed, if you would have paid to private petitions more attention.”