special report
We The People
We the People was launched on Whitehouse.gov for petitioning the Obama administration. Online petitions that meet a threshold of signatures are reviewed by officials. Popular petitions have included federal legalization of marijuana, UFO investigations and secession from the United States.
White House Defends Obamacare on We the People
May 17 The petition response came the same day the House voted to repeal the 2-year-old healthcare law.
White House Responds to 19-Month-Old Palestine Petition
April 30 The administration also sided with petitioners opposing controversial cybersecurity legislation.
White House Petition Site Draws Venezuelan Crowds
April 30 Viral We the People petition seems to have been most popular abroad.
Merge the Dakotas and Ban Butterscotch Candies?
April 3 More fun with We the People petitions, courtesy of Comedy Central's Daniel Tosh.
Newtown, Aurora Victims Seek National Compassion Fund on White House Petition Site
March 28 The proposal would deliver tax-deductible donations to victims’ families with no overhead.
Measuring Government Social Media Part II: We the People
March 15 About half of petition signers say they learned something from a White House response.
Who's Going to Blink First on Cyber — Obama, or the House?
March 14 A public plea for Obama to stop CISP, has crossed the 100,000-signature threshold required for an official response.
How Obama's Tech Tools are Changing the Debate
March 5 Critics deride the White House's fondness for platforms like Google Plus and web petitions, but they're proving potent tools for surfacing issues the media would otherwise ignore.
Unlocking Cellphones Should be Legal, White House Says
March 4 The administration statement comes in response to a We the People petition.
Sequestration Could Hurt Research on New Data Analysis Tools
February 25 White House wants to make results of studies more available to the public.
White House Will Respond to Petition to Re-legalize Unlocking Cellphones
February 21 Petitioners are also sounding off about the Pentagon’s decision to give medals to drone pilots.
We the People (of the World)
February 19 Azerbaijanis make a strong showing on the White House’s increasingly international petition site.
White House Touts Citizen Responses to State of the Union
February 13 The Obama administration is collecting sentence-by-sentence responses to the speech using a new digital tool.
First White House Petition Crosses Raised Response Threshold
February 7 Officials now require 100,000 signatures for an official response.
When the people speak, is anyone listening?
February 5 Secession petitions point out strengths and weaknesses of White House website.
White House plans to release We the People 2.0
February 5 The updated version will allow petitioners to collect signatures outside the White House domain.
White House drops first names from We the People petitions
January 28 The move to initials follows a surge in signatures on the site.
Beam me up to 100,000 signatures
January 25 Trekkies seek Kennedy Center Honors for Kirk, Spock and co.
We the People petitioners typically wait three months for a reply
January 23 The White House’s response time to appeals from citizens varies widely.
New tactics emerge on We the People
January 16 Some White House petitioners may not be interested in an official response.
