{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T09:53:33Z","timestamp":1777456413902,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,11]],"date-time":"2015-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1439251200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Big Data &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,12,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This study aims to reveal patterns of e-petition co-signing behavior that are indicative of the political mobilization of online \u201ccommunities\u201d. We discuss the case of We the People, a US national experiment in the use of social media technology to enable users to propose and solicit support for policy suggestions to the White House. We apply Baumgartner and Jones's work on agenda setting and punctuated equilibrium, which suggests that policy issues may lie dormant for periods of time until some event triggers attention from the media, interest groups, and elected representatives. In the case study presented, we focus on 21 petitions initiated during the week after the Sandy Hook shooting (14\u201321 December 2012) in opposition to gun control or in support of policy proposals that are alternatives to gun control, which we view as mobilized efforts to maintain stability and equilibrium in a policy system threatening to change. Using market basket analysis and social network analysis we found a core group of petitions in the \u201csupport law-abiding gun owners\u201d theme that were highly connected and four \u201ccommunities\u201d of e-petitioners mobilizing in opposition to change in gun control policies and in favor of alternative proposals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/2053951715598170","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,11]],"date-time":"2015-08-11T21:20:03Z","timestamp":1439328003000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":41,"title":["Examining political mobilization of online communities through e-petitioning behavior in\n                    <i>We the People<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"2","author":[{"given":"Catherine L","family":"Dumas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Informatics Department, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"LaManna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Computer Science Department, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Teresa M","family":"Harrison","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Communication Department, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"SS","family":"Ravi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Computer Science Department, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christopher","family":"Kotfila","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Informatics Department, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Norman","family":"Gervais","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Informatics Department, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Loni","family":"Hagen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Informatics Department, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Feng","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Computer Science Department, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11186-014-9216-5"},{"key":"bibr2-2053951715598170","volume-title":"Agendas and Instability in American Politics","author":"Baumgartner F","year":"1993"},{"key":"bibr3-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226039534.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr6-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Bennett M (2013)\n                      The Promise: The Families of Sandy Hook and the Long Road to Gun Safety\n                      . Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution. Available at: http:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/research\/essays\/2013\/sandy-hook-promise-gun-safety (accessed 22 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr4-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0143814X98000038"},{"key":"bibr5-2053951715598170","volume-title":"An Introduction to the Policy Process: Theories, Concepts, and Models of Public Policy Making","author":"Birkland TA","year":"2011","edition":"3"},{"key":"bibr7-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1088\/1742-5468\/2008\/10\/P10008"},{"key":"bibr8-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Blondel VD (2011) The Louvain method for community detection in large networks. Available at: http:\/\/perso.uclouvain.be\/vincent.blondel\/research\/louvain.html (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr9-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Bloomberg News (2012) Obama's post-Sandy Hook promise of \u2018meaningful action\u2019 stirs gun control debate.\n                      Newsday\n                      , 15 December, p. 12. Available at: http:\/\/www.newsday.com\/news\/nation\/obama-s-post-sandy-hook-promise-of-meaningful-action-stirs-gun-control-debate-1.4336553 (accessed 25 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr11-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/0022250X.1972.9989806"},{"key":"bibr12-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socnet.2007.04.002"},{"key":"bibr13-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Bruce M (2012) Petition calls on White House to address gun control.\n                      ABC News\n                      , 14 December, p. 12. Available at: http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/blogs\/politics\/2012\/12\/petition-calls-for-white-house-to-address-gun-control\/ (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr14-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Change.org (2014) Incredible! Change.org hits 50 million users. Available at: http:\/\/blog.change.org\/post\/67669159483\/incredible-change-org-hits-50-million-users (accessed 7 May 2015)."},{"key":"bibr15-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Cooper M (2012) Debate on gun control is revived, amid a trend toward fewer restrictions.\n                      New York Times\n                      , 15 December. Available at: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/12\/16\/us\/politics\/connecticut-shooting-revives-gun-control-debate.html (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr16-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Dumas C, LaManna D, Harrison TM, et\u00a0al. (2015) E-petitioning as collective political action in We the People.\n                      iConference 2015 Proceedings\n                      , 24\u201327 March, Newport Beach, CA."},{"key":"bibr17-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511761942"},{"key":"bibr18-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0378-8733(78)90021-7"},{"key":"bibr19-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Giles J (2012) Computational social science: Making the links.\n                      Nature\n                      , 23 August, p. 488. Available at: http:\/\/www.nature.com\/news\/computational-social-science-making-the-links-1.11243 (accessed 11 November 2014).","DOI":"10.1038\/488448a"},{"key":"bibr20-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Glynn D (2013) How a gun control petition went from Tumblr to Washington DC. Available at: http:\/\/storyboard.tumblr.com\/post\/40840539064\/how-a-gun-control-petition-went-from-tumblr-to (accessed 16 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr21-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Gordon T (2012) Gun control petition after Newtown shooting sparks Twitter debate.\n                      Atlanta Blackstar\n                      , 15 December. Available at: http:\/\/atlantablackstar.com\/2012\/12\/15\/gun-control-petition-after-newtown-shooting-sparks-twitter-debate\/ (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr22-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hale SA, Margetts H and Yasseri T (2013) Petition growth and success rates on the UK No. 10 Downing Street website. In:\n                      Proceedings of the 5th annual ACM web science conference\n                      , 2\u20134 May, ACM, pp. 132\u2013138.","DOI":"10.1145\/2464464.2464518"},{"key":"bibr23-2053951715598170","first-page":"1","volume-title":"Proceedings of ACM SIGMOD, 16\u201318 May, Dallas, TX","author":"Han J","year":"2000"},{"key":"bibr24-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Jennings N (2012) White House petition on gun control gaining traction. 14 December. Available at: http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/post-politics\/wp\/2012\/12\/14\/white-house-petition-for-gun-control-gaining-traction\/ (accessed 24 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr25-2053951715598170","volume-title":"The Politics of Attention: How Government Prioritizes Problems","author":"Jones BD","year":"2005"},{"key":"bibr26-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1541-0072.2011.00431.x"},{"key":"bibr27-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2202\/1944-2866.1084"},{"key":"bibr28-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2202\/1944-2866.1098"},{"key":"bibr29-2053951715598170","volume-title":"Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies","author":"Kingdon JW","year":"1995","edition":"2"},{"key":"bibr30-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1167742"},{"key":"bibr31-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.29379\/jedem.v1i1.3"},{"key":"bibr32-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Marks J (2012) Gun control petition is most popular ever posted to White House site.\n                      Nextgov\n                      , 16 December. Available at: http:\/\/www.nextgov.com\/emerging-tech\/2012\/12\/gun-control-petition-most-popular-ever-posted-white-house-site\/60197\/ (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr33-2053951715598170","unstructured":"McDonough K (2012) Gun control petition breaks record.\n                      Salon\n                      , 17 December. Available at: http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2012\/12\/17\/gun_control_petition_breaks_record\/ (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr34-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Mechaber E (2014) Here's how cell phone unlocking became legal.\n                      The Whitehouse Blog\n                      , 15 August. Available at: http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/blog\/2014\/08\/15\/heres-how-cell-phone-unlocking-became-legal."},{"key":"bibr35-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Melber A (2012) After shooting, gun control petition breaks White House record.\n                      The Nation\n                      , 17 December. Available at: http:\/\/www.thenation.com\/blog\/171811\/after-shooting-gun-control-petition-breaks-white-house-record (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr36-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Morozov E (2009) The brave new world of slacktivism.\n                      Foreign Policy\n                      19(05). Available at: http:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2009\/05\/19\/the-brave-new-world-of-slacktivism\/ (accessed 12 May 2015)."},{"issue":"3","key":"bibr37-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.3233\/IP-2011-0235","volume":"16","author":"Muhlberger P","year":"2011","journal-title":"Information Polity: The International Journal of Government & Democracy in the Information Age"},{"key":"bibr38-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Nakamura D (2012) Gun control petition is most popular ever on White House site.\n                      Washington Post\n                      , 17 December. Available at: http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/post-politics\/wp\/2012\/12\/17\/gun-control-petition-is-most-popular-ever-on-white-house-site\/ (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr39-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780199206650.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr40-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Petray TL (2011) Protest 2.0: online interactions and Aboriginal activists. Media.\n                      Culture & Society\n                      33(6): 923-940.","DOI":"10.1177\/0163443711411009"},{"key":"bibr42-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Phillips M (2012) We the People: Three million signatures later. 4 September. Available at: http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/blog\/2012\/09\/04\/we-people-3-million-signatures-later (accessed 30 October 2013)."},{"key":"bibr43-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Phillips M (2013) Why we're raising the signature threshold for We the People. 15 January. Available at: http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/blog\/2013\/01\/15\/why-we-re-raising-signature-threshold-we-people (accessed 2 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr44-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/1461670X.2013.793509"},{"key":"bibr45-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Reed B (2012) A message from President Obama about your petition on reducing gun violence. Available at: https:\/\/petitions.whitehouse.gov\/response\/message-president-obama-about-your-petition-reducing-gun-violence (accessed 2 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr46-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14742830500051945"},{"key":"bibr47-2053951715598170","first-page":"46","volume-title":"Electronic Participation, Lecture Notes in Computer Science","volume":"5694","author":"Saebo O","year":"2009"},{"key":"bibr48-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2202\/1944-2866.1010"},{"key":"bibr49-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Stern J (2012) Mass Newtown shooting sparks mass social media action.\n                      ABC News\n                      , 17 December. Available at: http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Technology\/newtown-shooting-sparks-mass-social-media-discussion-gun\/story?id=1799896 (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr50-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Stirland SL (2012) After shooting in Newtown, an immediate outcry online: \u2018Today is the Day\u2019.\n                      Tech President\n                      , 14 December. Available at: http:\/\/techpresident.com\/news\/23273\/after-newtown-shooting-online-outcry-today-is-the-day (accessed 11 November 2012)."},{"key":"bibr51-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0163443711422461"},{"key":"bibr52-2053951715598170","volume-title":"Introduction to Data Mining","author":"Tan P","year":"2006"},{"key":"bibr53-2053951715598170","volume-title":"Theories of the Policy Process","author":"True JL","year":"2007","edition":"2"},{"key":"bibr54-2053951715598170","unstructured":"USA Today (2012) Poll ranks top news stories of 2012. 20 December. Available at: http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/2012\/12\/20\/year-top-news\/1783303\/ (accessed 25 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr55-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Washington Post (2012) Remarks from the NRA press conference on Sandy Hook school shooting, delivered on 21 December 2012 (Transcript). 21 December. Available at: http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/remarks-from-the-nra-press-conference-on-sandy-hook-school-shooting-delivered-on-dec-21-2012-transcript\/2012\/12\/21\/bd1841fe-4b88-11e2-a6a6-aabac85e8036_story.html (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr56-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511815478"},{"key":"bibr57-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Watson T (2012) Crowdsourcing action: Connecticut massacre spurs largest White House petition \u2013 But is it a movement?\n                      Forbes\n                      , 16 December. Available at: http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/tomwatson\/2012\/12\/16\/crowdsourcing-action-connecticut-massacre-spurs-largest-white-house-petition-but-is-it-a-movement\/ (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr58-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Whitehouse.gov (2012) We the people. API. Available at: https:\/\/petitions.whitehouse.gov\/developers (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr59-2053951715598170","unstructured":"Wing N (2012) Gun control petitions flood White House website in wake of Newtown school shooting.\n                      Huffington Post\n                      , 14 December. Available at: http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2012\/12\/14\/gun-control-petitions_n_2303506.html (accessed 11 November 2014)."},{"key":"bibr60-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1541-0072.2011.00436.x"},{"key":"bibr62-2053951715598170","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wolfe M, Jones BD and Baumgartner FR (2013) A failure to communicate: Agenda setting in media and policy studies.\n                      Political Communication\n                      30(2): 175\u2013192.","DOI":"10.1080\/10584609.2012.737419"}],"container-title":["Big Data &amp; Society"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/2053951715598170","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/2053951715598170","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/2053951715598170","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T13:01:51Z","timestamp":1777381311000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/2053951715598170"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,11]]},"references-count":59,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,12,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/2053951715598170"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/2053951715598170","relation":{},"ISSN":["2053-9517","2053-9517"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2053-9517","type":"print"},{"value":"2053-9517","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,11]]},"article-number":"2053951715598170"}}