E-petitions help build campaigning communities

I have to confess that although I occasionally write about e-democracy, I haven't before signed an e-petition. I then got a nudge from Nancy Somerville who pointed me to an e-petition which Edinburgh's Active Citizenship Group (EACG) has submitted to the Scottish Parliament asking for a debate on the decision to withdraw funding from the Scottish Civic Forum. She explained:

EACG has run a number of seminars on how the parliament engages with the public and the Civic Forum has always been highlighted as an important element in that process. Edinburgh-based Civic Forum staff and volunteers have played an active role in helping to organise and run our public seminars. In December 2001, EACG and the Civic Forum jointly ran a seminar, 'Participation Matters' in Leith Academy. It brought together MSPs, members of the Scottish Executive and people from all over Scotland.
Our petition is on the Scottish Parliament's website (The full text is under 'information'.)
An e-petition was particularly important in this case in order to reach the wide membership of the Scottish Civic Forum which covers all areas of the country, not just the cities but also rural Highland and island areas where communities have embraced new technologies.

I found it really easy to sign the petition, to see who else had signed, and also look at the discussion forum. Clearly a good way to gather a community of interest around a topic online, with the chance that you may make some impact through more conventional democratic processes.
Nancy's nudge reminded me that e-petitions are one of the ideas that have been piloted under the national local e-democracy project in Kingston upon Thames and Bristol. I recalled the chair of the national project, Mary Reid, telling me that the petitions were working well in Kingston, where she is a councillor. You can see how it is working here.
As I wrote earlier, I'm a little sceptical about how Bristol's £395,000 Community Campaigner will work. E-petitions seem to be a simple and effective way to support campaigning without controlling the campaigners. Still it's early days on all this stuff. Nancy's email also reminded me that that a personal message can be the best way to spread the word. Thanks.

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