In the Philippines from until turnout rose from In Venezuela from until turnout rose from In Australia and Belgium, only a small fraction of the abstainers pays the fine or is convicted by a judge to pay the required sanction MacKerras and McAllister, , ; Vanmaercke, , In the Netherlands, this dropped from 2. In Austria, it dropped from 3. In Switzerland, it dropped from 1. I have found no suitable data for the countries not mentioned here. These votes, however, have more weight than blank ballots in current compulsory voting systems, since a bill can only be accepted if a majority of all possible votes are in favor of it.
Another proposal stipulates that if the category of blank ballots wins, a rerun of the election is necessary. It is of course the government's task to point out the diverse ways of obeying the law Hill, a , 11—12; Keaney and Rogers, , 31— The argument that citizens should not be forced to choose can be applied not only to compulsory voting but to every electoral process as such.
With voluntary voting as well, abstainers tacitly consent to the result of the election, thereby indirectly contributing to and thus legitimizing the process by which politicians receive their mandate. One might argue that it is a simple fact that an individual vote does not matter, since the chance of it being decisive is negligibly small. In this reasoning, compulsory voting makes each vote even less important, because it increases turnout and further minimizes this probability.
However, the argument here refers to an intrinsic value of each vote and not an instrumental one as expressing an opinion. Opponents sometimes argue that compulsory voting gives citizens the wrong signal, because it does not treat them as adults capable of making their own choices. As there are still lots of options available, I do not agree that the government is patronizing its citizens.
I want to distance myself from an Aristotelian kind of republicanism, in which man is thought of as a political animal whose duty it is to fulfill his essence by participating in political life. Although I have stressed the importance of political participation, I do not consider it a necessary condition for each citizen to lead a good life.
Blais, A. Google Scholar. Burnham, W. Reichly ed. Christiano, T. Smelser and P. Baltes eds. Chapter Google Scholar. Dahl, R. Franklin, M. Article Google Scholar. Hicks, B. Hill, L. Hirczy, W. Should Voting Be Compulsory? Democracy and the Ethics of Voting. New York: pp. Compulsory Voting: For and Against. Compulsory Voting: A Critical Perspective. Is There a Right Not to Vote?
Thomas Tozer - - Intergenerational Justice Review 8 1. Voting and Democracy. Thomas Christiano - - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 25 3 - Ten-Herng Lai - - Res Publica 26 2 Bart Engelen - - Rationality and Society 18 4 Mandatory voting may also make elections more representative, especially in highly unequal societies like those of Latin America.
Several observers point out that when voting is voluntary, younger, poorer and less-informed voters tend to abstain in higher numbers. All this means that election results tend to reflect the interests of the older, richer and better educated.
By forcing all citizens to vote, mandatory voting can level the playing field , resulting in the election of politicians that better represent the interests of the young and socioeconomically disadvantaged.
Still whether mandatory voting turns citizens into more responsible and informed voters remains an open question. In Brazil, one study shows that mandatory voting rules, which kick in when citizens turn 18, make them on average This effect, which is particularly strong among low-income individuals, implies that mandatory voting is encouraging people to acquire information on issues that could be relevant to their voting decisions, though the study is unable to evaluate whether they ultimately become more knowledgeable.
And some analysts suggest that it may simply be forcing uninformed and apathetic citizens to the polls where they are likely to cast votes randomly, or without much thought.
If that were the case, it might mean that mandatory voting, rather than improving civic engagement and democracy, may actually be doing the opposite. Perhaps in these countries, where the quality of governance is high and inequality low, people feel more represented by their politicians and have more faith in government. They are thus more inclined to vote and more interested in developing informed opinions on the issues. Mandatory voting, it would seem, is not necessary for a healthy democracy.
But in democratic systems, like those of Latin America where government is less efficient and social cleavages high, mandatory voting may at least lead to equal representation. He received his Ph. He previously taught economics at the University of Maryland, and held short-term positions at the Kellogg School of Management and the World Bank.
His research interests are applied microeconomics, political economics, and public economics. You reap what you sow. In this article, I defend compulsory voting on the grounds that it reinforces the distinctive and valuable role that elections play in contemporary democracy. Some scholars have suggested that … Expand. Compulsory Voting in Belgium. A Few Remarks on Mandatory Voting. Democracy is not possible without the participation of citizens in politics. One of the duties required of citizens for development of democracy is the selection of representatives to parliament.
Citizens unequally participate in elections and this may systematically bias policy in favor of those who vote. Many view compulsory voting as an important tool to alleviate this problem, but we … Expand. A number of authors, including Lijphart, Hill and Engelen, have recently advocated compulsory voting. While numerous justifications can be given for such measures, it is often said that they are … Expand.
View 3 excerpts, cites background. Compulsory Voting and Dissatisfaction with Democracy. Compulsory voting is often linked to pro-democracy orientations in the public. However, there is reason to question the strength and universality of this link. Engaging research on the effects of … Expand. Though falling turnout in recent decades has been recognised as a problem for democracy, the solutions that have been proposed have mostly been drawn from the realms of the marketplace and society, … Expand.
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