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Comment by w1ntermute | Hacker News Reader

Have any of these petitions actually resulted in significant policy changes? Seems to me that the system is just a way to pacify would-be protesters by giving them an outlet for their discontent that has a low barrier to entry.

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Who knows what's going on behind the scenes, but as you say the barrier to entry is low, and yet the vast majority of petitions still don't reach the 100,000 threshhold, so that gives the Whitehouse some insight into peoples' priorities, at least among netizens.

Also, I have heard that Congress has a rule of thumb - if more than three of their constituents take the time to write and mail an actual letter about the same topic, and they're not looney's but serious-minded people, that signals it's a real issue amongst their constituents and something that needs to be on their radar.

I suspect this petition system works similarly.

...the vast majority of petitions still don't reach the 100,000 threshhold...

That's right, only the important petitions get that many signatures:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/deport-justin-bieb...

[currently at 233,220]

Calling, works, and is far more effective than clicking a button, says Alexis Ohanian, in this fireside chat at the NationBuilder HQ.

Uploaded a couple of days ago: http://youtu.be/ybXKBJ0xDNU?t=10m35s

No doubt, because the barrier to entry is much higher. Someone who bothers calling has to be really interested in the issue. Focusing on phone calls is effectively a high pass filter for importance to the constituency.

I always thought of the Whitehouse petition system as some form of employee suggestion box. Gets emptied once every quarter and you are lucky if there is actually some intern shifting through it who doesn't just drop everything in the trash.

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