What is a petition? Communication with those in power. Be it the president of the country or the director of the company. From Latin petito - "request". Accordingly, the petition is also a request (appeal, petition, demand), but collective. As a rule, individual appeals of citizens are not considered an expression of the opinion of a significant part of society; another thing, when thousands of signatures are under the document, it is completely impossible to ignore it.
Then when the heat
As a rule, it is known that a petition is a protest. Against an unfair law, some difficulties and problems that need to be resolved quickly, and other similar circumstances.
Petitions-offers, petitions-thanks in society are very rare.
Without a piece of paper I am a bug, and with a piece of paper - a man
This method of appeal to the authorities has been known since ancient times and is diverse in nature.
The first petitions were oral. The deputy or deputy presented information to the ruler. However, over time, the petitions began to approach writing. Firstly, the deputy could forget something, reduce or add on himself, and the receiver could say that he had not heard this petition.
However, the oral form has been preserved in the form of demonstrations, rallies and demonstrations. True, they are no longer legally petitions.
The birth of a petition
And yet, despite the protest, it is known that a petition is an attempt to peacefully get out of a conflict or difficult situation. The most active group of people creates a text and seeks supporters of their point of view so that they also sign this petition. If the topic is sharp and topical, the number of signatures is growing like a snowball. With the development of Internet technology, even faster than a snowball.
To ensure publicity and even their own safety, "petitioners", as a rule, widely distribute the content of the petition. All possible media are involved for this.
Petitions and power
Honestly, frankly, the power of the petition does not like. Especially one that is authoritarian and oppressive. And even reacts to attempts to file it extremely harshly. So, a deep tragic trace in the history of our country was left on January 9, 1905, when the residents of St. Petersburg gathered in the square in front of the Winter Palace and tried to pass the petition (old Russian analogue of the word “petition”) to Tsar Nicholas II. The case ended with the shooting and dispersal of the demonstration. This action was called Bloody Sunday.
In democratic societies, whole procedures have been developed for collecting signatures on petitions and receiving them from submitters. Petitions to the government are considered: in Germany - a special commission, in France there are standing committees, in England mass petitions are considered directly by the civil services.
Street noted that in many democracies such a method of communicating with the authorities is even encouraged as a democratic way to achieve social harmony and fair legislation.
Pony horses too
Above, we talked about documents affecting issues that are almost nationwide, but even the requirements of the company’s employees, duly executed to its head, are also a petition.
Such is the petition of the football team, published in the press before the 1994 World Cup. A group of football players who played mainly abroad wrote a Letter of Fourteen with an expression of distrust to head coach Pavel Sadyrin. They demanded that Anatoly Byshovets be returned to this post, as well as raising fees and paying all who have debts. The response was the refusal to speak for the national team. As a result, both sides lost. Strong football players missed the championship, and the Russian team played poorly on it.
The lesson is that a petition is a good way to try, for the common good, to resolve the contradictions that arise between the upper and lower classes.