Steven Clift, who knows more than anyone I know about how countries around the world are experimenting with reinventing government in the electronic age, has a fascinating new post on his blog about a new service in England: the Prime Minister's office is inviting the public to petition him directly online. Right now, the top petition, with more than 1.4 million signatures, is urging Tony Blair to scrap a proposed vehicle tax. Clift adds:

The service, commissioned by that office and implemented/hosted by mySociety.Org (see the Guardian’s in-depth profile on founder Tom Steinberg from January) is generating some major heat. Meaning, it is working. It is allowing millions of British citizens to express themselves directly to government in a way that the government can actually respond - both technically and politically.

The media hype is certainly causing political handwringing and I am not surprised the many (definitely not all) of the top petitions are oppositional in nature. Tony Blair has given a great e-gift to his citizens and perhaps an even greater gift ;-) to the next Prime Minister. Who knows, if the petition significantly alters the road pricing scheme, it might remove a key loss-generating issue from the next election? … Hmmm, how about … “You raised your voice. We listened. You helped us develop better ideas and we compromised. Not all of the more hardened protesters against road improvements agree with the final outcome, but in the end e-petitioning shows that we are willing to accept criticism and form a new relationship with citizens.” Or something like that.

The rest of Clift's post includes a bunch of useful links to other press coverage. All I can say is wow and a big congrats to Tom Steinberg and his crew at MySociety; they've been blazing the trail for years.

Technorati Tags: MySociety.org, Steven Clift, Tom Steinberg, Tony Blair

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