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Citizens wishing to have their voices heard by the federal government will have a new way to petition in the coming months.

The “We the People” initiative, announced by the White House last week, is a program in which any citizen can create an online petition for any issue. If they receive enough electronic signatures in a certain amount of time – 5,000 signatures in 30 days – the White House is guaranteeing that they will review and respond to the petition.

While a launch date has not yet been announced, the White House said that it will go live “soon.”

According to the White House, the main goal of this program is to emphasize a grassroots movement. They plan to do this by only allowing a petition’s unique URL to be searchable on WhiteHouse.gov after it has received 150 signatures.

Amanda Edwards, associate teaching professor of political science, said that she believes this effort is part of a larger agenda by the Obama administration.

“I think [the administration] is doing this for electoral purposes,” Edwards said. “They have an agenda and this is another way for them to reach out to the public.”

Edwards also went on to talk about how the idea of petitioning the executive branch is a new concept in American politics.

“Conceptually, you should petition the legislature for policy change, not the White House,” Edwards said. “But theoretically, the executive branch today can push for policy change based on the President’s role as the representative of a national constituency.”

Edwards also said the fact that the President is essentially the only national representative is what validates this effort to reach the grassroots.

Technology is also a key component of this program and, historically speaking, has proven useful for our country, according to Edwards.

“Technology has always fostered change in our institutions of government — the executive branch in particular,” Edwards said. “This use of online petitions by the executive branch is an example of the role of the executive branch as a result of technological advances.”

Steven Greene, associate professor of public and international affairs, said that while he thinks the White House has started this program to reach younger Americans, they also have their own electoral interests in mind.

“They presumably started this to try to get young people more involved in politics,” Greene said. “Young people were overwhelmingly in favor of Obama and the democrats in the 2008 election and [the democrats] are concerned about it slipping away.”

Greene also said that while it’s not likely that this new initiative will give much power to any one cause, it is still beneficial for the United States.

“Anything that makes it easier to participate in politics is a good thing,” Greene said. “More people being directly involved in a democracy is a good thing. To really have a widespread impact you need people to be aware and to take leadership roles while petitioning.”

Edwards said that she thinks that the younger generation – specifically college students – can benefit by this program simply because they are more familiar with technology, but that it does not mean everyone will become more politically active overnight.

“The reality is that younger people are more tech-savvy,” Edwards said. “But its success mainly depends on whether or not someone sees it as an opportunity to become active in the government.”

Alton Russell, a sophomore in biomedical engineering, said that he thinks college students will be highly involved with this program by using existing institutions like social media.

“Social networking and blogging sites will probably be the primary means by which these petitions are distributed,” Russell said. “College students are incredibly active on these sorts of sites, so they will be more likely to encounter a petition and thus more likely to participate.”

Russell said he can see himself using the program in the future.

“I’m sure I’ll see petitions floating around, and I will sign those with which I agree,” Russell said.

Russell also said that he hopes the program will put pressure on the executive branch to talk about the issues that are important to the nation, but are sometimes side-stepped.

“I am excited to see the White House’s official responses on issues that politicians often try not to bring up in public,” Russell said.

This new online petitioning process, according to Russell, is something that can be of great benefit to our nation.

“I think this political tool will help facilitate a truer democracy where the popular voice is guaranteed to be heard,” Russell said.

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