Public Petitions

• Public Petitions

  A further method used by pressure groups to try and influence the government is Public, or Electronic, Petitions.

  In both the UK and Scottish Parliament, Petitions are a peaceful but direct way to ensure the government recognises an issue or policy idea. In the UK parliament, after 10,000 signatures, petitions get a response from the government, and after 100,000 signatures, petitions are considered for debate in parliament. In the Scottish Parliament, only one signature is needed to take a petition forward. Regardless, there is something to be said for required government recognition provided in the submission of petitions.
• Public Petitions - EXAMPLES & ANALYSIS

  In the UK Parliament, a petition advocating for the legalisation of assisted dying for terminally ill adults surpassed 200,000 signatures, prompting a parliamentary debate in April 2024. This public pressure contributed to the introduction of the ‘End of Life’ Bill in October 2024.

  This shows how petitions can be taken forward into real government change in the passing of new legislation and the establishment of new bills, influencing the decisions that pressure groups want to see through this method of protest.
• Public Petitions - REBUTTAL

  However, government action does not need to be taken on the petitions that are submitted to them.

  They can be sent to the government and they have to be read but the government does not have to listen to it or take action. This means that whatever cause the people are trying to changed will not be fixed.
• Public Petitions - REBUTTAL (EXAMPLE & ANALYSIS)

  For example, the Scottish Parliament received a petition in November 2022 calling on all Scottish Schools to ban school uniform. This only received 17 signatures so was closed without action from the government.

  This shows how petitions can be limited in their influence, since the government are not required to take forward their ideas or issues into anything more than an act of protest.
• Public Petitions - EVALUATION

  Although, it could be argued that even though petitions do not have to be acted upon, they make the government aware of the issues and ideas expressed by members of the public, holding influence in itself. Therefore, petitions are a successful method of influencing the government, providing knowledge and ideas for change to the government with them often being taken further into the introduction and passing of new legislation.