Popular Petitioning and Mass Democracy in the United States: a History

这个项目旨在调查在美国被忽视的民众请愿的历史。在漫长的19世纪，积极分子组织了大规模的请愿运动，以支持各种各样的事业，如反奴隶制、选举权和移民限制。然而，在20世纪，请愿逐渐减少。该项目利用这些丰富的行动主义档案来评估请愿作为民主工具的作用、影响和演变。预期的结果是对一项重要发展的新视角：大众民主的出现。此外，该项目应提供一个关键的历史框架，以评估现代关于数字请愿的主张及其弥合公民与政府之间鸿沟的力量。

This project aims to investigate the neglected history of popular petitioning in the United States. Across the long nineteenth century, activists organised mass petition campaigns in support of causes as diverse as antislavery, suffrage and immigration restriction. In the twentieth century, however, petitioning dwindled. The project draws on this rich archive of activism to assess the role, impact and evolution of petitioning as a democratic tool. The expected outcome is a new perspective on a vital development: the emergence of mass democracy. Furthermore, the project should provide a critical historical framework for assessing modern-day claims about the digital petition and its power to bridge the gulf between citizens and government.