Petitioning, Citizenship, and Democratic Literacy

'Petitioning, Citizenship, and Democratic Literacy' builds on a previous AHRC project (2020-23) 'Petitioning and People Power in Twentieth-Century Britain', which examined the role of petitioning in Britain's modern democracy. Our research revealed why, apart from voting, petitioning was the only form of political participation that engaged a majority of British citizens. The project team examined the use of petitions by a diverse range of campaigns, from the Edwardian suffragettes to the Jubilee 2000 debt relief movement at the turn of the millennium. Many different organisations chose to use petitions, including political parties, trade unions, NGOs, faith groups, social movements, as well as ordinary citizens. A key theme of our research was the accessibility and use of petitions by groups that were often marginalised within formal politics, including women, racialised minorities, and children and young people. Within the original project, impact was delivered through policy-focused activity, including through a report launched at the Palace of Westminster and organising an event at the Senedd that brought together officials from the e-petitions committees of the UK, Scottish, and Welsh Parliaments and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

By contrast with the original project's emphasis on impact through policy engagement with political institutions, this Follow on Funding project aims to build on the underpinning research to promote democratic literacy among young people through creative engagement with historical material. We believe this initiative is timely, given the current context in which there is widespread concern with plummeting levels of democratic engagement with public institutions and the question of lowering the voting age to 16 is very much on the political agenda.

The aims of the project will be delivered through collaborative between the researchers, a major regional UK theatre based in Newcastle, and two secondary schools from the north-east. The project will run for one term and involve thirteen weekly sessions with one school and three intensive workshops with the other. In both cases, the pupils would work with experienced facilitators from Live Theatre to creatively engage with themes relating to democracy and citizenship, drawing on relevant historical examples from the original project. The project would complement and connect with the Citizenship and History curriculum at both schools.

The ambition of the project is to develop impact in partnership with the schools and Live Theatre to promote democratic literacy in two senses: 1) increasing understanding of the history and practice of Britain's modern democracy through engaging with the subject of petitioning; 2) developing skills necessary for exercising democratic citizenship, including oracy, advocacy, organisation, and filtering information. The pupils will get the chance to put these into practice at a concluding showcase event held at Live Theatre. The production of related teaching materials will ensure that key findings and tools from the project will be available to teachers and schools more generally as learning resources. Beyond its immediate impact with the pupils and schools involved, the project aims to show the potential benefits and wider application of using history to promote democratic literacy more broadly.