The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizens the right to petition their government. Petitioning government is part of our DNA. We benefited from British institutions of direct democracy that can be traced back to the Magna Carta. In the New England colonies direct democracy was the foundation for government, citizens could petition their government in town meetings and annual election ballots. 

At the national level, petitioning Congress peaked in the 19th century but has declined since then. In the 19th century disenfranchised citizens, including women before suffrage, free blacks, and indigenous peoples were able to petition the federal government to address issues and enact reforms that Congress was unwilling to initiate. 

The decline in direct democracy over the past century is due to several factors. The Progressive movement at the turn of the 20th century relied on a strong central government to enact reforms such as antitrust legislation. Both World Wars and the Great Depression were accompanied by an expanded role for the federal government.  

One of the most important reasons for the decline of direct democracy in recent years is that Congress simply ignores these petitions. A good example is the failure of citizens to use the petition process to balance the budget. This petition........

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