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Compulsory Voting: A Critical Perspective

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  • Lever, Annabelle

Abstract

Compulsory voting is sometimes thought to be justified in democracies because it promotes high levels of voting and mitigates inequalities of turnout amongst social groups. Proponents of compulsory voting also argue that it helps to prevent the free-riding of non-voters on voters. This article casts a sceptical eye on both arguments. Democratic citizens do not have a duty to promote their self-interest, and their duties to others do not generally require them to vote, or to attend the polls. So, while people are sometimes morally obliged to vote, and to vote one way rather than another, legal compulsion to vote or to turn out is generally unjustified and inconsistent with democratic government.

Suggested Citation

  • Lever, Annabelle, 2010. "Compulsory Voting: A Critical Perspective," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(4), pages 897-915, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:40:y:2010:i:04:p:897-915_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Arandjelović, Ognjen, 2023. "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Votes of People with Short Life Expectancy From Being a Long-Term Burden to Their Country," SocArXiv qkg4f, Center for Open Science.
    2. Gersbach, Hans & Mamageishvili, Akaki & Tejada, Oriol, 2019. "The Effect of Handicaps on Turnout for Large Electorates: An Application to Assessment Voting," CEPR Discussion Papers 13921, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Gersbach, Hans & Mamageishvili, Akaki & Tejada, Oriol, 2021. "The effect of handicaps on turnout for large electorates with an application to assessment voting," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    4. Karel Kouba & Stanislav Mysicka, 2019. "Should and Does Compulsory Voting Reduce Inequality?," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(1), pages 21582440188, March.
    5. Claudia Landwehr & Armin Schäfer, 2023. "The promise of representative democracy: deliberative responsiveness," Working Papers 2309, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    6. Ognjen Arandjelović, 2023. "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Votes of People with Short Life Expectancy from Being a Long-Term Burden to Their Country," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-8, March.

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