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Petitions & Panels at Number 10 – Do recent initiatives in the Prime Minister’s office amount to something more than Public Relations?

Many newspapers and even parts of the BBC seem to have decided for themselves that 10 Downing Street’s recent experiments with public participation are nothing but a set of PR gimmicks designed to enliven Tony Blair’s forthcoming departure. But insofar as they represent the application of established forms of civic public participation, albeit in a new central government context, they deserve a little more serious examination

Petitions aren’t new, but the electronic version seems to have captured public imagination. This week there are 3,381 petitions available for signature on the 10 Downing Street website; over 2 million people have signed one or more petitions. At a time when many public sector organisations struggle to engage with people, this is an impressive show of willingness to participate.

 

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