Every Citizen of the United States has the right to petition the Government for change. If you believe your rights or the rights of others are being infringed upon, you can and should do something about it. Petitioning the government or involved private industries may take care of the problem.

But Wait!

When approaching Government for change, is a Petition the Right Way to Go?

If you are contemplating petitioning the Government for change, you need to make sure your introducing a new regulation or the enforcement of an existing regulation that will in fact solve the problem.  Can the agency you are targeting acutely satisfy your complaint or does the resolution need some other type of action like introducing a new law, or filing a suit against those who caused the problem?

Don’t go off half cocked - research the problem

Here are some questions you need to ask yourself and find answer for:

• Who or what does the condition hurt? Just a few people the whole community or the environment? As an example: what if you found out that an insurance agent was misleading seniors into buying unnecessary supplemental Medicate policies? Is it a case of a dishonesty agent? Is he simply following his companies policy? Or is this a widespread practice in the industry?

• Perhaps just bringing the problem to light will automatically lead to a  resolve. If not then you should seek government intervention. If your effort in exposing a dishonest insurance agent by complaining to the company or calling newspapers for publicity aimed at the companies customers does not work then maybe a lawsuit aimed at the agent may be enough to stop the practice. If the Insurance company has a policy of encouraging its agents to instill fear into senior citizens and if others  in the industry condones the practice, then you should petition government so they may intervene to protect its seniors.

The answers you seek may be found from a number of places including: newspapers, government officials, the people involved, and experts in the field, just to name a few.

Make no mistake, if the problem influences a large number of people who are not in a position to protect themselves without some form of governmental intervention, then the petition process can be a very effective tool. If the problem only affects a few people, then you’re probably better off dealing with it through a private action, like a lawsuit against those responsible.  

Research law concerning the problem?

When researching legal issues some questions that should be addressed are:

• Are there any existing laws or regulations that relate to the issue and if so, how is the problem presently being addressed?

• Are there any existing laws or regulations that require or prohibits the harmful behavior that concerns you?

• Is there an existing agency that is responsible for enforcing the law, and, if so, what can the agency do?

You don’t need to hire an attorney to help you with your legal research. Most often,

You can find all the information you need in the local library, where librarians are used to helping laypeople. You could also learn what the law says and whether there are relevant regulations by inquiring of a nonprofit organization that is versed in that field, or perhaps there is a legislative committee responsible for the area of information you are researching whose staff may assist you. Find out which agency administers the problem and call their legal office for specific information about the law in question and any relevant regulations.

Research the responsible governing agency

Ok, so you’ve researched the problem, you know what the law is, now you need to find out more about the government agency that has jurisdiction over the problem. The questions you need answers for are:

• Does the agency have the ability to solve your problem, either by enforcing existing regulations, by adopting new regulations, or by some other means?

• Has the agency had to handle similar problems in the past and if so, how did they handle them? Is the agency already working on the current problem? Is the agencies involvement making the situation better, or worse?

• Does the agency protect the publics interest or does it support and protect the industry it should be regulating?

• Who is responsible for making agency decisions? Who is responsible for the particular area you are pursuing? Are final decisions made by a single person, or a committee? Will the person in charge be sympatric with a request for change in rulemaking? Find out which elected official holds the agency accountable.

If you need more research you might try approaching the agency’s officials themselves and anyone who may have had experience dealing with the agency.

Research the solution

Match the actions you want to take to the results you seek. The answers you are looking for are:

• Is this the only time this problem has arisen? If it is, what are current agency sanctions against the wrongdoers that will solve the problem. Is it appear to be a widespread or continuing problem? If it is, you may need to seek a change in the law or new regulations.

• Are there appropriate enforcement mechanisms already in place? If not, you may need to encourage the agency to adopt them.

• Is there something the agency should be doing to better monitor future industry causing the problem?

• Is there a responsible agency for providing the services you are looking for?

You are most likely to get action on a problem if you propose a solution that is well

thought out and not too expansive to fit the problem. By taking a little time and being diligent in your research, most any problem can be resolved.

Happy Trails

Donald Yates, Former Director of Business and Leadership Development for Imperial Research, is now retired but continues to assist young people in engaging life through self discovery, Life course planning, intuitiveness and fulfillment. Learn how you can build a powerful organization of your own. See How To,

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