The White House has stated that it will respond to any & all online petitions that attract at least 25,000 signatures.

One petition exceeded the threshold: to have the US government build a Death Star.

This foolish application of democracy would allow (or require) public officials to pursue costly but unnecessary policy measures. It could also be a pretext for cherry-picking to undertake those that had scant support among the citizenry but were desired by politicians or bureaucrats.