Lauren Martin - Who Speaks and Who Listens? The ‘Democratic Ecology’ of Parliamentary E-Petitions
About My PhD
Against a backdrop of changing political participation and the rise of democratic innovations to promote engagement with political institutions, my PhD research seeks to appraise the role of parliamentary e-petitions in addressing democratic dissatisfaction. By engaging with a range of stakeholders in the petitioning process, I hope to understand the following: how citizens are using parliamentary e-petitions and in what ways; how parliamentary e-petitions influence the policymaking process; and how parliamentary e-petitions are featured in both individuals’ and organisations’ campaigning activities. In doing so, I will contribute to knowledge on contemporary political participation and how this participation is transmitted into channels of policy making.
Why I'm interested in this topic
During my undergraduate studies, I was really interested in parliamentary studies and thinking about how Parliament can be a more accessible and welcoming institution for the public. E-petitions are one of the tools that being used in an attempt to ‘open’ Parliament to the public
Why my work is new
Research on parliamentary e-petitions hasn’t really focused on the campaigning dimension yet, so I hope to provide some insight into how parliamentary e-petitions are being used as a campaigning tool and the ‘added value’ that they bring to organisations’ and individuals’ activities
What impact my research could have
I hope to provide new insights into how citizens are engaging with political processes via ‘everyday’ engagement and how this engagement is (or isn’t) transmitted to formal channels of influence.
My research is being conducted with the support of the House of Commons Petitions Committee. I will provide them with my findings and recommendations about how e-petitions can be used to enhance the democratic contribution of citizens and organisations
What's interesting about my work
Why people choose to create an e-petition in the first place and what they expect to get from the system. If we can understand what citizens want from it, then maybe it can be improved to better achieve those outcomes