Abstract
This study aims to reveal patterns of e-petition co-signing behavior that are indicative of the mobilization of online “communities” engaging in collective action to express policy preferences on We the People (WtP), the first web-enabled US government petitioning system initiated by Obama. This Internet-based tool allowed users to petition the Obama Administration1 and solicit support for policy suggestions. Using petition data from WtP, this case study examines a set of 125 petitions that were created by individuals that are associated with a white supremacist group called The White Genocide Project2 . Using data mining techniques, namely market basket analysis and social network analysis, I found evidence of the mobilization of “communities” of individuals who systematically and strategically used the WtP platform to broadcast their message by creating and co-signing petitions every month for almost four years.
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