HOW PARLIAMENTARIANS CAN ENGAGE THE PUBLIC THROUGH PETITION SYSTEM REFORMS
HOW PARLIAMENTARIANS CAN ENGAGE THE PUBLIC THROUGH PETITION SYSTEM REFORMS
Chris Angus is
a Research Officer at the New South Wales Parliamentary Research Service at the Parliament of New South Wales, Australia.
Australia, as with many developed nations, is facing a widespread loss of public confidence and trust in its political institutions. With the 2019 Australian Election Study reporting ongoing falls in public satisfaction with democracy and trust in government, it is clear that, as stated in a recent journal article, “citizens are judging their politics not through the lens of complacency but more through the lens of righteous indignation.” 1 These attitudes have profoundly negative consequences for the democratic system – without an engaged and active civic culture, our future challenges will be much harder to overcome. Many Parliaments around the world are introducing reforms designed to re-engage with their communities. One key reform is the modernisation of parliamentary petition systems. A number of Parliaments - including the Parliament of New South Wales - are updating their petition systems to give petitioners meaningful opportunities to present their concerns to their elected representatives. However, we cannot simply modernise petition systems and expect the public to regain confidence in political institutions.
38 | The Parliamentarian | 2020: Issue One | 100th anniversary issue 1920-2020
Members of Parliament play an essential role in promoting these revamped systems and persuading their communities that their activism can bring meaningful change. While not all Parliamentarians have the capacity to facilitate the petition process, Members who wish to be involved must appreciate that the skills and support they can offer petitioners - time, effort, resources, experience - can play as important a role as the petition system itself. My 2018 journal article, Parliamentarians’ Actions within Petition Systems: Their Impact on Public Perceptions of Fairness, outlined the positive actions taken by New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members when they worked with petitioners. While many of these actions may be considered ‘common sense’, in this time of declining political trust, these behaviours may facilitate re-engaging the community with politicians and political institutions. It is important that petitioners feel supported by Parliamentarians who advocate their causes. Members demonstrated this in a variety of ways, including public recognition during parliamentary debates,
“Many Parliaments around the world are introducing reforms designed to re-engage with their communities. One key reform is the modernisation of parliamentary petition systems. A number of Parliaments including the Parliament of New South Wales - are updating their petition systems to give petitioners meaningful opportunities to present their concerns to their elected representatives.“
References: 1 Gerry Stoker, Jinjing Li, Max Halupka, Mark Evans, “Complacent young citizens or cross-generational solidarity? An analysis of Australian attitudes to democratic politics”, Australian Journal of Political Science 52, no. 2 (2017): 218-235.
Many Commonwealth Parliaments around the world are introducing reforms designed to re-engage with their communities and one key reform is the modernisation of parliamentary petition systems.
