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Should the Voting Age be Lowered to Sixteen? Normative and Empirical Considerations

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  • Tak Wing Chan
  • Matthew Clayton

Abstract

This article is an examination of the issue of whether the age of electoral majority should be lowered to sixteen. We consider and reject several arguments raised by both sides of the voting age debate. The key issue, we claim, is the political maturity of young people. Drawing on empirical data collected in nationally representative surveys, we argue that the weight of such evidence suggests that young people are, to a significant degree, politically less mature than older people, and that the voting age should not be lowered to sixteen.

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  • Tak Wing Chan & Matthew Clayton, 2006. "Should the Voting Age be Lowered to Sixteen? Normative and Empirical Considerations," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 54(3), pages 533-558, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:polstu:v:54:y:2006:i:3:p:533-558
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2006.00620.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Green, Donald P. & Shachar, Ron, 2000. "Habit Formation and Political Behaviour: Evidence of Consuetude in Voter Turnout," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(4), pages 561-573, October.
    2. James Tilley, 2002. "Political generations and partisanship in the UK, 1964–1997," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 165(1), pages 121-135, February.
    3. Heath, Anthony & Evans, Geoffrey & Martin, Jean, 1994. "The Measurement of Core Beliefs and Values: The Development of Balanced Socialist/Laissez Faire and Libertarian/Authoritarian Scales," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(1), pages 115-132, January.
    4. Elizabeth Frazer & Kenneth Macdonald, 2003. "Sex Differences in Political Knowledge in Britain," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 51(1), pages 67-83, March.
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    1. Daniel Hart & Robert Atkins, 2011. "American Sixteen- and Seventeen-Year-Olds Are Ready to Vote," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 633(1), pages 201-222, January.
    2. Tommy Peto, 2018. "Why the voting age should be lowered to 16," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 17(3), pages 277-297, August.
    3. Kwabena Asomanin Anaman & Gbensuglo Alidu Bukari, 2019. "Political Economy Analysis of Voter Participation and Choices in National Elections in Ghana¡¯s Fourth Republican Era," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(3), pages 174-198, December.
    4. Preclik Christopher-David, 2024. "From Gerontocratic Rule to Political Adultism: The Experiential Bias in Germany’s Aging Electoral Democracy and the Limitations of a Vote 16 Policy," Statistics, Politics and Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 137-167.
    5. Timothy Fowler, 2014. "The status of child citizens," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 13(1), pages 93-113, February.
    6. Asatryan, Zareh, 2022. "Representing the future in aging societies: Policy implications of the voting age reform in Germany," ZEW Expert Briefs 22-04, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Öhrvall, Richard & Oskarsson, Sven, 2018. "Practice Makes Voters? Effects of Student Mock Elections on Turnout," Working Paper Series 1258, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    8. Rosenqvist, Olof, 2016. "Rising to the occasion? Youth political knowledge and the voting age," Working Paper Series 2016:6, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

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