Have e-petitions increased engagement? Understanding the role that the 2015 UK Parliamentary e-petitions system plays in UK democracy today

有一种假设认为，电子请愿增加了政治参与，导致更多的人向议会提出问题，因为电子请愿是在线的，因此进入门槛低。本研究项目旨在提供证据来调查这一假设，并探讨电子请愿系统在多大程度上平等地获得政策和决策。此外，它的目的是通过详细探讨他们的个人资料，并澄清他们在参与这一进程时的期望和动机，确定谁在参与电子请愿系统。最后，它旨在确定哪些类型的请愿成功地影响政策。因此，我的研究问题是：RQ 1。2015年英国议会的电子请愿系统是否成功地接触到了与政治进程脱节的英国公民，或者它只被已经参与并影响议会的个人或利益集团使用？RQ 2.什么类型的人可能（a）创建，（B）签署，（c）分享英国议会电子请愿书？RQ 3.我们能识别和分类哪些电子请愿书最有可能影响威斯敏斯特的政策吗？研究当前英国议会电子请愿系统的重要性英国民主参与的性质已经发生了变化。大选投票率自2001年下降以来一直在上升，但尚未恢复到2000年之前的70%。年轻一代似乎不太可能投票，但更有可能参与直接民主和激进主义，正如抗议活动的增长和工党的“科尔宾效应”所证明的那样，工党16-26奥尔兹的成员人数大幅增加。第14届Hansard Society的政治参与审计估计，23%的英国公众在去年创建或签署了电子请愿书，使其成为投票后最受欢迎的政治参与行为（Hansard Society，2017，p42）。然而，尽管有如此巨大的参与，但对议会电子请愿书的研究有限。重要的是要了解（1）签署人的动机，以了解今天在英国的民主参与;和（2）电子请愿书可以带来的变化，立法或其他方面的影响。英国议会电子请愿书（英语：Parliamentary electronic petition）是一种正式的书面请求，就特定的原因向议会或政府提出上诉。目前的系统是在2015年引入的，这是一个合作的请愿-政府系统（Leston-Banderia，2016），使公众能够直接向议会或政府提交电子请愿书并提出政策建议，而不是通过他们的议员。此前英国试行的电子请愿系统受到了严厉批评（Hansard Society，2012），因为（1）民众请愿不会影响政府议程，（2）公众被引导相信他们可以影响政策，（3）议会没有资源或时间来讨论电子请愿提出的问题。新电子请愿系统的基石是议会请愿委员会，该委员会负责牵头审核和处理请愿书：一名委员会成员在议会辩论中介绍成功的请愿书，委员会就感兴趣的请愿主题收集证据。委员会的成立是为了改善与请愿者的接触，使他们感到他们的关切得到了倾听，即使他们没有达到他们希望的确切结果（步行者，HC Dec，24 Feb 2015，c.250WH）。该系统的另一个主要特点是，每周留出议会时间，对电子请愿书提出的议题进行辩论，相关部长出席辩论并提供政府回应。这些辩论使在线议事录的阅读量增加了300%，议会电视观看量增加了900%（请愿委员会，2016年）。该系统的最后一个关键特征是它直接与公众接触。

There is an assumption that e-petitions increase political participation and lead to a greater number of individuals raising issues with Parliament because e-petitions are online and therefore have a low barrier to entry. This research project aims to provide evidence to investigate this assumption, and explore the extent to which the e-petitions system has equalised access to policy and decision-making. Furthermore, it aims to identify who is engaging with the e-petition system by exploring their profiles in detail and clarifying their expectations and motivations when engaging with the process. Lastly, it aims to identify what types of petitions succeed in influencing policy. As such, my research questions are: RQ1. Has the 2015 UK Parliament's e petitions system succeeded in reaching UK citizens who are disengaged with the political process, or is it only being used by individuals or interest groups who are already engaged and influential in Parliament? RQ2. What types of people are likely to (a) create, (b) sign, and (c) share UK Parliamentary e-petitions? RQ3. Can we identify and classify which e-petitions are most likely to influence policy in Westminster? Importance of researching the current UK parliamentary e-petitions system The nature of democratic engagement in the UK has changed. Turnout in general elections has been rising since its drop off in 2001, but has yet to return to 70%, which was the norm before 2000. Younger generations appear to be less likely to vote, but more likely to engage in direct democracy and activism, as demonstrated by the growth in protests and the 'Corbyn effect' in the Labour party, which has seen a huge swell in membership of 16-26 year olds. The 14th Hansard Society's Audit of Political Engagement estimates that 23% of the British public have created or signed an e-petition in the last year, making this the most popular act of political engagement after voting (Hansard Society, 2017, p42). Yet despite this huge engagement, there has been limited research in parliamentary e-petitions. It is important to understand (1) the motivations of signatories in order to understand democratic engagement in the UK today; and (2) the impact that e-petitions can have in bringing about change, legislative or otherwise. Previous and current UK parliamentary e-petition systems Parliamentary e-petitions are a formal written request appealing to parliament or government with respect to a particular cause. The current system was introduced in 2015, a collaborative Parliament-Government system (Leston-Banderia, 2016) which enables the public to submit e-petitions and suggest policy directly to Parliament or Government, rather than via their MP. Previously piloted UK e-petitions systems were heavily criticised (Hansard Society, 2012), as (1) popular petitions did not affect the agenda of government, (2) the public were being led to believe that they could impact policy, and (3) there were no resources in place or time set aside in Parliament to discuss issues raised by e-petitions. A cornerstone of the new e-petitions system is the Parliamentary Petitions Committee, which takes the lead on moderating and processing petitions: a committee member introduces successful petitions in parliamentary debates and the committee takes evidence on petition subjects of interest. The Committee was introduced to improve engagement with petitioners, so that they felt that their concerns had been heard, even if they did not achieve the exact outcome they hoped (Walker, HC Dec, 24 Feb 2015, c.250WH). Another key feature of the system is that parliamentary time is set aside every week to debate topics raised by e-petitions, and the relevant minister attends the debate and provides a government response. These debates have increased reading of the online Hansard by 300% and Parliamentary TV viewing by 900% (Petitions Committee, 2016). The final key feature of the system is that it directly engages with the public.