Public electronic petitions and civil participation

Petitions are a cornerstone of the German parliamentary system. The right to ap-proach Parliament with complaints or requests is granted by the Constitution to everybody. In 2005 the Petitions Committee of the Bundestag has initiated the pilot project »Public Petitions«. These public petitions are published in the internet, can be discussed in electronic forums and underwritten by other interested citizens.
TAB has been called to assist the Petitions Committee in its decision about the con-tinuation of public petitions by performing an independent scientific evaluation of the existing pilot project, developing a »catalogue of requirements« for a new peti-tions system and clarifying the preconditions for the realisation of such a system.