Clicktivism on Government E-petition: A legitimate emotional outlet?

Abstract

Clicktivism, an emerging form of activism in the digital era, is a concept that can be applied to government-hosted e-petitions. However, an integrative approach combining these two has been scarce. Addressing this gap, this study aims to investigate the dynamics that occur in the process of clicktivism on government-hosted e-petitions, focusing on their themes and intentions. To address our research question, we collected data from South Korea's 'National Petition of the Blue House' and applied multinomial logistic and simple linear regression models to e-petitions that met the criteria for eliciting an official government response. The findings indicate that among the e-petitions meeting the official criteria, those related to political or minority issues received a higher number of supports compared to others. Furthermore, citizens were more inclined to endorse e-petitions seeking punitive actions against specific individuals or organizations, rather than those proposing specific policy or legislative changes. These results suggest that participation through clicktivism is often driven by emotional appeals in petitions. This provides a preliminary framework for understanding citizen engagement behaviors with government-hosted e-petitions and the dynamics that occur in the policy process.