What can people get from petitions?

Petitions are used for different reasons. What people get from it depends on the outcome. There are lots of petitions that did not even reach the right parties to whom the petition is addressed to. Some petitions just remain under the step of accumulating the signatures and do not move forward after that. Perhaps, it’s because the purpose for the petition had dwindled over time, or perhaps there are not enough signatures for the petition to even be credible.

Petitions are more of just a representation of people’s opinion. The more signatures it gathers, that means the more people agrees to the purpose of the petition. May it be for the benefit of everyone or just for the heck of it, the petition only shows their opinions and sometimes, that’s all that it turns out to be.

It is not guaranteed that when your petition gathered enough signatures, your voices would be heard. Yes, your voice may be heard but then it doesn’t guarantee that the right parties would actually take the action for it. Sometimes, petitions go beyond what is practical and people would just create petitions because they think their lives would be much better of the right parties would do something or change something for them. For example, one can create a petition asking the government to put up an amphitheatre in their little town because it will provide them with a place for concerts and other luxurious entertainment. Of course, for a petition like this, many would sign their names hoping that with a group effort, the government would have no choice but to build an amphitheatre. This is not the case at all. Your public opinion on a matter will not make any impact if the purpose is far-fetched or simply a waste of money.

If the purpose of your petition is truly something that is important and should be acted upon as soon as possible, then the pressure of having a majority of the population acting in harmony to push the right parties to do something will surely make a big difference. For example, if there is a problem of burglary cases everyday in your small town, you could Start a Petition asking the local government to act upon the situation and start thinking of a formula that would prevent these burglars from causing even more damage and taking more lives and money. For this case, the more people that sign it would make a big impact because it means the problem has already caused such an impact to the community and that a solution should be provided as soon as possible.

What people can get from a petition varies and it’s totally dependent on many factors including the purpose of the petition, the interest of the population and of course, the reaction of the parties that the petition is addressed to. The success of a petition lies on the signatures as well as the decisions of the people concerned.