Do petitions do anything?

An article on the New York Times today looks at Change.org and whether online petition campaigns are truly effective.

The answer is a qualified yes.

“No president is going to do an about-face on a major policy because of 20,000 signatures,” he wrote. “But coupling that petition with other tactics like protests, rallies, phone calls, face-to-face lobbying, a well-organized media plan and community outreach creates an environment in which the goals of the signatories can become reality.”

Read the rest at Online Petitions Take Citizen Participation to New Levels. But Do They Work?