Professor Richard Huzzey richard.w.huzzey@durham.ac.uk
Professor
Professor Richard Huzzey richard.w.huzzey@durham.ac.uk
Professor
Henry Miller
Richard Huzzey
Editor
Maartje Janse
Editor
Henry Miller
Editor
Joris Oddens
Editor
Brodie Waddell
Editor
Petitioning was a ubiquitous practice in 20th-century North America and Europe, but has often appeared invisible to historians and social scientists, or is only cited incidentally in classic studies. This neglect stems from the trend, evident across many polities, away from petitioning national legislatures, where petitions were frequently recorded as part of formal institutional ‘petitions systems’, to petitioners appealing to other authorities, which were often unrecorded. Petitioning also mutated and was partly subsumed into related forms, such as referendums triggered by signatures, or mass letter writing to political leaders and representatives. Even so, petitions were evident in a diverse range of different contexts – within protest movements, within authoritarian and autocratic regimes, and during wartime – testifying to their ubiquity and significance across many polities. The proliferation of international institutions such as the League of Nations and the United Nations provided a further avenue for petitioners, particularly stateless peoples, refugees, and peoples seeking national self-determination or independence from colonial rule. High-profile attempts to bring together civil society and citizens across borders behind global petitions, such as Jubilee 2000, provide another example of the importance of petitioning for the modern repertoire of campaigning within democratic societies.
Huzzey, R., & Miller, H. The Evolution of Petitioning in Europe and North America, 1850-2000. In R. Huzzey, M. Janse, H. Miller, J. Oddens, & B. Waddell (Eds.), Petitions and Petitioning in Europe and North America: From the Late Medieval Period to the Present (194-215). British Academy. https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197267721.003.0013
Deposit Date | Nov 20, 2023 |
---|---|
Publisher | British Academy |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Pages | 194-215 |
Book Title | Petitions and Petitioning in Europe and North America: From the Late Medieval Period to the Present |
Chapter Number | 10 |
ISBN | 9780197267721 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197267721.003.0013 |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1944736 |
Publisher URL | https://global.oup.com/academic/product/petitions-and-petitioning-in-europe-and-north-america-9780197267721 |
Contract Date | Nov 20, 2023 |
This file is under embargo due to copyright reasons.
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