Electronic petitioning as online collective action: Examining the e-petitioning behavior of an extremist group in we the people

This study aims to reveal patterns of e-petition co-signing behavior that are indicative of the mobilization of online “communities” engaging in collective action to express policy preferences on We the People (WtP), the first web-enabled US government petitioning system initiated by Obama. This Int...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Information polity 2021-01, Vol.26 (4), p.477-499
Main Author: Dumas, Catherine L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Collective action
Data mining
Electronic government
Extremism
Genocide
Network analysis
Petitions
Public policy
Social networks
White supremacy
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This study aims to reveal patterns of e-petition co-signing behavior that are indicative of the mobilization of online “communities” engaging in collective action to express policy preferences on We the People (WtP), the first web-enabled US government petitioning system initiated by Obama. This Internet-based tool allowed users to petition the Obama Administration and solicit support for policy suggestions. Using petition data from WtP, this case study examines a set of 125 petitions that were created by individuals that are associated with a white supremacist group called The White Genocide Project (The White Genocide Project has recently changed their name to Fight White Genocide). Using data mining techniques, namely market basket analysis and social network analysis, I found evidence of the mobilization of “communities” of an extremist group of white supremacists who systematically and strategically used the WtP platform to broadcast their message by creating and co-signing petitions every month for almost four years.
ISSN:1570-1255
1875-8754
DOI:10.3233/IP-210330