E-petitions and mobilisation dynamics: The importance of local anchoring

An environmental case study in France and Belgium

Authors

  • Legris Martine Lille University CNRS CERAPS
  • Régis Matuszewicz Reims University - CERAPS

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v16i1.823

Keywords:

e-democracy, e-petition, environmental movements, digital mobilisation

Abstract

E-petitioning is a useful object of study for observing the potential emergence of a new relationship to politics and new forms of political participation. Access to a database, such as that found on the website lapetition.be, allows us to focus on the reality of the signatories’ behaviour rather than on their declarations. We explore the crucial role of local anchoring in the effectiveness of e-petitions as a tool for mobilization within the context of environmental issues. Our research presents a comprehensive case study conducted in France and Belgium, analyzing the dynamics and outcomes of e-petitions focused on environmental concerns. We examine the impact of local engagement, considering geographical, social, and cultural factors that influence the success and effectiveness of online mobilization efforts.

Our results highlight the benefits of localized engagement in mobilizing citizens and fostering collective action by examining specific case studies in France and Belgium. We also delve into the mechanisms and processes through which e-petitions can trigger mobilization, ranging from social network effects to emotional resonance and issue salience. Last, we analyze how e-petitions can effectively serve as a catalyst for change in environmental policy and promote sustainable practices.

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Author Biographies

Legris Martine, Lille University CNRS CERAPS

Dr Martine Legris (f) is researcher at the Lille University, France (Center for European research on Administration, Politics and Society). She holds a Phd from the University of Paris Dauphine in Sociology and is contemporary historian of the University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne. Dr Martine Legris is an internationally well-known scholar in sociology. She is published in SHS and active across the fields of participatory democracy, participatory sciences industrial democracy and critical research.

She has a long experience in coordinating research projects at a national and international level. Sge coordinated several research projects on participatory democracy and participatory action research. She is now contributing to a research project on energy transitions and citizens’ initiative. She is also part of the European SHIFT project.

She is member of the scientific board of the scientific group CNRS “National research group on Democracy and participation”(http://www.participation-et-democratie.fr/en) in Paris. The group focuses on citizen’s contribution, beyond their usual involvement in the institutional political life, to choices about society – climate change, social equality, redistribution and solidarity, public engagement with science, civil rights etc. She is reviewer in several reviews.

Régis Matuszewicz , Reims University - CERAPS

Régis Matuszewicz is a lecturer in political science at the University of Reims, France and a member of the Center for European research on Administration, Politics and Society (CERAPS UMR 8026) in Lille. Dr Régis Matuszewicz has been involved with several national and international research projects. His main research interests are territory and democracy. He is developing the following thematics: political and trade union electoral implantation, new forms of political participation, democratic transition in Central and Eastern Europe, and geopolitics of energy. His expertise also includes discourse analysis. He has published a study of French parliamentary debates on the health pass and the Covid pass (2023). He intends to focus on this approach within the framework of four-years national research contract (October 2021- September 2025) on reindustrialisation.

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Published

26.09.2024

How to Cite

Martine, L., & Matuszewicz , R. (2024). E-petitions and mobilisation dynamics: The importance of local anchoring: An environmental case study in France and Belgium. JeDEM - EJournal of EDemocracy and Open Government, 16(1), 28–60. https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v16i1.823

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2024): Ongoing Papers

Section

Research Papers

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Legris Martine, Matuszewicz

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.


JeDEM is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal (ISSN: 2075-9517). All journal content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 DEED Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International