When do e-petitions influence political decision-making? An analysis of the e-petitions system of the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies
This article is one of the first attempts to systematically analyze the factors explaining the extent to which institutional e-petitions influence decisions taken by a government. The analysis reviews all the e-petitions that have obtained the 4,500 signatures required to give rise to a public debate in the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies. We tested six hypotheses to explain variations in the influence of e-petitions on the government: 1) compatibility with the government’s agenda, 2) the government’s jurisdiction to deal with the e-petitions in question, 3) the consensual (or not) nature of the e-petition, 4) the number of signatures in its favor, 5) its media visibility, and 6) the status of its initiator. As expected, we observed that an e-petition is likely to influence the decision of the government if it fulfills the following three conditions: 1) it must be compatible with the government’s agenda, 2) the government should be the competent body to address the issue of the e-petition, and 3) the government should agree with the petitioners’ demands. Other factors, such as popular or media support for an e-petition, its subject, or the costs of its implementation, appear to be less relevant.
- Luxembourg
- e-democracy
- e-petition
- appropriation
- legislative studies
- Chamber of Deputies
- Parliament
- democratic innovations