Power to the People

摘要

Ensuring U.S. visas for iraqi inter preters. Nixing fees for Bank of America debit-card holders. Banning "pink slime" in school lunches. These are just a few of the petition campaigns launched on Change.org, the digital platform that invites people to make social change one signature at a time. Now, however, even policymakers are reporting for duty. Thanks to a new initiative, leaders like Republican Congressman Paul Ryan and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren are making their own Change.org landing pages, where they can respond directly to relevant petitions. The idea, says founder Ben Rattray, a member of the 2012 Time 100, is to create "a fundamental shift in the way elected officials engage their constituents."