this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
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Politics

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Is there any evidence that petitions are effective when they're not legally binding and are coming from the opposition?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 days ago (2 children)

If anything they're the opposite. The petitions themselves are not binding, and if they're not directly to institutions then they're probably not even noticed.

...but they do convince signers that they've 'done something', the catharsis of which makes them less likely to do something that actually matters.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Yeah, that's my thought. People sign a petition and go 'welp, I've done my part!' when they've literally done nothing constructive whatsoever.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

This reminds me of a scathing bit in I think "Bowling for Columbine" that covered a group of well-meaning women and their ineffective political activism. They made a bit of ruckus in some senator's office, then had tea and cake afterwards patting each other on the back.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

It’s a pretty good way to get a list of people to deport.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That's what im wondering. What would signing this actually do?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

I signed a bunch of these petitions back in 2016. It didn't accomplish anything.