{"id":93575,"date":"2016-12-28T09:45:38","date_gmt":"2016-12-28T14:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2016\/12\/28\/most-common-petition-subjects\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:12:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:12:50","slug":"most-common-petition-subjects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2016\/12\/28\/most-common-petition-subjects\/","title":{"rendered":"3. Most common petition subjects"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In addition to measuring the overall volume of petitions on \u201cWe the People,\u201d Pew Research Center also conducted a content analysis to determine which issues resonated with users of the site.[4. numoffset=”4″ In this analysis, researchers coded up to two different topics for each petition. See the methodology<\/a> for details.]\u00a0This analysis finds that a few broad issues \u2013 such as health, foreign policy, or requests pertaining to a specific person or action \u2013 are relatively common. At the same time, users chose a wide variety of topics to address.<\/p>\n\n

Many petitions focused on a single individual or proposed a specific action by the government<\/h4>\n\n
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A total of 239 petitions (5%) involved authors asking the White House to honor an individual or create a national holiday. Examples include a request<\/a> to award baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his military service and educational activism and requests<\/a> to make the Lunar New Year or the Muslim holidays<\/a> of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha national holidays.<\/p>\n\n

A slightly smaller number of petitions (235) asked the White House to investigate criminal cases. For example, one of the earliest petitions asked to investigate<\/a> allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in the case against Sholom Rubashkin, a former CEO of an Iowa meat plant convicted of bank fraud in 2009. And more than 39,000 people signed a petition to investigate<\/a> the government of Honduras for potential embezzlement of public funds.<\/p>\n\n

Other common types of petitions included requests for the dismissal or punishment of public officials (185), appeals for presidential pardons (134) and requests for changes to national symbols such as the U.S. currency or flag (75). There were also 36 petitions that called for the impeachment<\/a> or investigation<\/a> of Barack Obama for his actions related to issues such as Libya and immigration.<\/p>\n\n

Middle East, Russia\/Ukraine top list of foreign policy petitions<\/h4>\n\n
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International subjects made up a sizable portion of all the petitions created: Nearly one-quarter of involved U.S. foreign policy in some manner (24%, or 1,171 petitions), while the remaining 76% of petitions were solely focused on domestic matters.<\/p>\n\n

Three particular issues stand out in these foreign policy petitions. Taken collectively, 169 petitions focused on the Middle East. These petitions ranged from calls to freeze all aid to Israel<\/a> to a request for the president to pledge there will be no military intervention<\/a> in Syria.<\/p>\n\n

Russia and Ukraine accounted for 129 total petitions, making it the second-most common international policy area. China followed with 97 individual petitions, more than three times the number that mentioned next largest subject (Japan, mentioned in 31 petitions).<\/p>\n\n

Other topics of interest were wide-ranging<\/h4>\n\n

The remainder of the leading topics contained a wide mix of domestic and foreign subjects. Some focused on popular, high-profile issues such as education, taxes and terrorism. Others, however, were subjects that demonstrate the ability of small, yet focused, groups of engaged citizens to use the site to create a dialogue about shared interests. A selection of some of the more popular or unique topics includes:<\/p>\n\n

Military and veterans\u2019 issues<\/h5>\n\n

The second-most popular subject overall involved issues related to the armed forces (6%). Many of these petitions focused on benefits for current and former military personnel. For example, several aimed at reinstating Military Tuition Assistance programs<\/a>, which faced cuts during the 2013 budget sequestration. Others included requests to allow military personnel to carry concealed<\/a> weapons on military bases.<\/p>\n\n

Religious issues<\/h5>\n\n

Religious controversies accounted for 142 petitions (3% of the total). Several petitions aimed at revoking the tax exempt status<\/a> of religious institutions, while a 2012 petition<\/a> asked the White House to \u201cStand up for the rights of endangered Christian minorities around the world this Christmas season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Offbeat requests<\/h4>

Since there are no restrictions on the subjects that users of the site can voice their opinions about, a number of petitions were on off-beat topics that were not likely to be taken too seriously by the White House.<\/p>

Here are examples of some of the unusual requests:<\/p>