Thesis (M. S.)--Literature, Communication, and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: DiSalvo, Carl; Committee Member: Bogost, Ian; Committee Member: Klein, Hans; Committee Member: Murray, Janet; Committee Member: Pearce, Celia

Petitioning was a staple of the Early Modern European world, theoretically available to all, from peasant to nobleman. The British Isles were no exception to that. This thesis drew a 50-year line between 1629 and 1679, and looked into how people regularly petitioned during some of the most eventful and transformative years of British history, to request what resources they thought necessary or advantageous. Within this timeframe, exceptional mass petitions coexisted with countless ordinary, singular petitions. The findings were a mix between continuities and changes owing to shifting political circumstances. The study found that several lines of argumentation endured through the decades. Familial responsibility, poverty and influence remained commonly used as everything around the petitions changed. On the other hand, the decapitation of King Charles I created a vacuum in the petitioners’ collective imagination. This thesis found that to fill that vacuum, petitioners employed and articulated a novel, depersonalized understanding of a “State”: a non-regal replacement for the Stuarts, even before Charles I lost his head. The Restoration reversed these developments, as the late King’s son very quickly concentrated upon his figure the attention and words of his petitioners. The legacy of the Wars and the Interregnum was a legacy of endurance and service for many Royalists, who often turned to petitions for satisfaction. They articulated that service again and again, pointing to a reciprocal relationship between monarch and loyal subjects. Overall, this thesis argues that petitioning was a wholly uninsulated, highly observant practice that eloquently articulated its surroundings. It expressed those surroundings through its own prism of resource negotiation in the face of authority.

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Anonymous signatures pose a significant threat to the legitimacy of the online petition as a persuasive form of political communication. While anonymous signatures address some privacy concerns for online petitioners, they often fail to identify petitioners as numerically distinct and socially relevant persons, Since anonymous signatures often fail to personally identify online petitioners, they often fail to provide sufficient reason for targeted political authorities to review and respond to their grievances. To recover the personal rhetoric of the online petition in a way that strikes a balance between the publicity and privacy concerns of petitioners, we should reformat online petitions as pseudonymous social networks of personal testimony between petitioners and targeted political authorities. To this end, the pseudonymous signatures of online petitions should incorporate social frames, co-authored complaints and demands, multimedia voice, and revisable support.

This case study has looked at the significance transition from petitions to e-petitions has have for the proportion of approved proposals in the municipal council within Östersund municipality. The study has used a deliberative approach to how conversations are conducted between institution and citizen, this has been tested using a quasi-experiment and included a comparison with an after-before scenario with petitions and possible effects within different social groups that can be affected. The results of the study show that the difference between petitions and e-petitions is small, but that the color of the political majority in the council has a decisive factor behind whether proposals are approved more or rejected. Gender turns out to have a certain factor in how decisions are approved or rejected, where women received more approval than men which is interesting as it goes against previous research. / Denna fallstudie har tittat på vilken betydelse som en övergång från petitioner till e-petitioner har fått för andelen bifallna förslag i kommunfullmäktige inom Östersund kommun. Studien har använt sig av ett deliberativ tillvägagångsätt för hur samtal förs mellan institution och medborgare, detta har prövats med hjälp av ett kvasi-experiment och en jämförelse med ett efter-före scenario för möjliga effekter inom olika sociala skikt som kan påverkas med en ändrad petition. Resultatet av studien visar att skillnaden mellan petitioner och e-petitioner är små, men att den politiska majoritetens färg i fullmäktige har en avgörande faktorn bakom om förslag bifalls eller avslås. Kön visar sig även ha en viss faktor för hur beslut bifall eller avslås där kvinnor fick fler bifall än män, vilket är intressant då den går emot den tidigare forskningen. / <p>2021-06-04</p>

A presente dissertação examina a atuação do senhoriato do Vale do Paraíba no contexto de elaboração e promulgação da Lei do Ventre Livre, entre os anos de 1865 a 1871. O corpus documental consiste em pareceres do Conselho de Estado, discursos parlamentares, publicações coevas na imprensa e em formato de livros, atas de reuniões de fazendeiros, representações contra o ventre livre e inventários de alguns dos subscritores das representações. Além da análise do discurso, os textos foram interpretados a partir da história social, política e demográfica (especificamente os inventários). O primeiro capítulo trata dos processos históricos que permitiram a gênese propositiva da liberdade do ventre no Império do Brasil. Os capítulos dois e três analisam, respectivamente, o início do movimento peticionário entre os fazendeiros do Vale do Paraíba e a sua expansão geográfica. Em ambos os casos, buscou-se compreender criticamente a estratégia argumentativa dos peticionantes que, apesar de residentes em localidades distintas, formularam uma plataforma uníssona. No último capítulo, foi analisada a disputa política travada no Parlamento em 1871 e as expectativas futuras concebidas a partir da emancipação do ventre escravo. / This work studies the agency of the Parahyba Valley\'s slaveholders in the context of the elaboration and promulgation of the Free Womb Law, from 1865 to 1871. The documentary corpus consists of rulings from the State Council, parliamentary speeches, publications on the press and on book format, minutes of farmers\' meetings, petitions against the emancipation of the womb, and inventories from some of the petitioners. Apart from the analysis of the discourse, the texts were interpreted from a Social, Political and Demographic History (specifically the inventories). The first chapter approaches the historical processes that enabled the propositional genesis of liberty from the womb in the Empire of Brazil. The second and third chapters analyze, respectively, the beginning of the petitionary movement among the Parahyba Valley\'s slaveholders and its geographic expansion. In both cases, it was sought to critically comprehend the argumentative strategies of the petitioners who, despite residing on distinct localities, formulated a unison platform. In the last chapter, it was examined the political dispute waged at the Parliament in 1871, and the future expectations conceived from the emancipation of the slave womb.

A presente dissertação examina a atuação do senhoriato do Vale do Paraíba no contexto de elaboração e promulgação da Lei do Ventre Livre, entre os anos de 1865 a 1871. O corpus documental consiste em pareceres do Conselho de Estado, discursos parlamentares, publicações coevas na imprensa e em formato de livros, atas de reuniões de fazendeiros, representações contra o ventre livre e inventários de alguns dos subscritores das representações. Além da análise do discurso, os textos foram interpretados a partir da história social, política e demográfica (especificamente os inventários). O primeiro capítulo trata dos processos históricos que permitiram a gênese propositiva da liberdade do ventre no Império do Brasil. Os capítulos dois e três analisam, respectivamente, o início do movimento peticionário entre os fazendeiros do Vale do Paraíba e a sua expansão geográfica. Em ambos os casos, buscou-se compreender criticamente a estratégia argumentativa dos peticionantes que, apesar de residentes em localidades distintas, formularam uma plataforma uníssona. No último capítulo, foi analisada a disputa política travada no Parlamento em 1871 e as expectativas futuras concebidas a partir da emancipação do ventre escravo. / This work studies the agency of the Parahyba Valley\'s slaveholders in the context of the elaboration and promulgation of the Free Womb Law, from 1865 to 1871. The documentary corpus consists of rulings from the State Council, parliamentary speeches, publications on the press and on book format, minutes of farmers\' meetings, petitions against the emancipation of the womb, and inventories from some of the petitioners. Apart from the analysis of the discourse, the texts were interpreted from a Social, Political and Demographic History (specifically the inventories). The first chapter approaches the historical processes that enabled the propositional genesis of liberty from the womb in the Empire of Brazil. The second and third chapters analyze, respectively, the beginning of the petitionary movement among the Parahyba Valley\'s slaveholders and its geographic expansion. In both cases, it was sought to critically comprehend the argumentative strategies of the petitioners who, despite residing on distinct localities, formulated a unison platform. In the last chapter, it was examined the political dispute waged at the Parliament in 1871, and the future expectations conceived from the emancipation of the slave womb.

Dissertation: "Beyond Familiar Territory" researches various visual and conceptual strategies that facilitate connection between urban-based audiences and peripheral areas of ground where the extraction of mineral resources occurs. The Dissertation is a comparative analysis of selected works by Robert Smithson, Alfredo Jaar, and the Bark Petitions of the Yirrkala people in North East Arnhem Land. The focus is on how these artists have endeavoured to challenge urban audiences, disrupt the perceived hierarchy between centre and periphery, and bridge gaps between urban sites of mineral consumption and overlooked sites of mineral extraction. ¶"Beyond Familiar Territory" takes the form of this Dissertation (33%), and an exhibition of works at the Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG) from 6 February to 21 March, 1999, which, together with the Studio report, documents the outcome of the Studio Practice Component (67%). ¶ Report: "Beyond Familiar Territory" researches various visual and conceptual strategies that facilitate connection between urban-based audiences and peripheral areas of ground where the extraction of mineral resources occurs. To decentre the self-importance and perceived inclusiveness of urban centres by bridging gaps or facilitating insight between a centre of mineral extraction and production and a centre of mineral consumption. The Dissertation entails a comparative analysis of strategies used by Robert Smithson, Alfredo Jaar, and the Yirrkala Bark Petition painters, and analyses how these artists have perceived their relationships as mediators or facilitators between mining sites (and associated activities) and urban centres of consumption. ¶ "Beyond Familiar Territory" takes the form of an exhibition of works at the Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG) from 6 February to 21 March, 1999, which comprises the outcome of the Studio Practice Component (67%), together with a Dissertation (33%), and the Report which documents the nature of the course of study.

This essay sets out to compare political participation in two e-petition systems: The Malmö initiative in Malmö, Sweden, and Better Reykjavik in Reykjavik, Iceland. The main question of the essay concerns the aggregative and deliberative qualities of the Malmö initiative and Better Reykjavik, as well as the relationship between aggregation and deliberation. This main question is divided into four subqueries that lead the empirical analysis. These are: (1) Which similarities and differences in terms of design are there between the Malmö initiative and Better Reykjavik? (2) To what extent have these systems mobilized an aggregative political participation? (3) What similarities and differences are there concerning aspects of deliberation? and (4) What is the correlation between aggregation and deliberation like in the two e-petition systems? The method in use is a comparative cross-sectional study with a 'most similar research design'. The empirical material of the essay includes every petition published since the start of the systems in 2008, which makes it a total survey. The petitions are analyzed by way of quantitative content analysis. In addition, the essay includes a qualitative content analysis of the design of the e-petition systems. The empirical study shows that Better Reykjavik has engaged much greater political participation in both aggregative and deliberative matters than the Malmö initiative has. Most of the differences found concerning aggregation and deliberation can be explained with differences in the design of the e-petition systems. First, Better Reykjavik offers more opportunities for aggregative participation and deliberation than Malmö. Second, the likelihood of actually getting the petition read by local politicians is far greater in Reykjavik than in Malmö. Concerning the relationship between aggregation and deliberation, this study finds no signs of contradiction between the two. As this is not a zero-sum game, e-petition systems are considered to hold good potential for meeting Robert Goodins desire to unite aggregative and deliberative ideals under the slogan "First talk, then vote".

This thesis aims to provide a summary overview of instruments of Czech law preventing insolvency petitions of being misused by the creditors and to asses, whether the current legislation provides sufficient protection for borrowers against fraudulent insolvency petitions and on the contrary, whether it does not disproportionately restrict the rights of creditors eligible to enforce their claims towards the borrower in bankruptcy. After the first chapter which defines the basic terms and concepts of the insolvency law, which are used further in the thesis, follows a chapter defining the term "fraudulent insolvency petition" itself and the common motivations of the creditors thereto. The third chapter analyses the particular instruments of private law suitable to provide protection against fraudulent insolvency petitions. The main part of this thesis is contained in the first part of this chapter, which describes the particular instruments of the Insolvency Act providing for protection of borrowers against fraudulent insolvency petitions. The following part of this chapter describes other instruments of private law that might be alternatively used against the fraudulent insolvency petitions. The fourth chapter then describes the criminal law consequences of the fraudulent insolvency petitions. In the...