Topic: Should American Citizens Be Required to Vote in National Elections?

Part 2

Argument

Directions:Closelyreadeachofthefourtextsprovidedonpages11through16andwriteasource-based argumentonthetopicbelow.Youmayusethemarginstotakenotesasyoureadandscrappapertoplanyour response.Writeyourargumentbeginningonpage1ofyouressaybooklet.

Topic: Should American citizens be required to vote in national elections?

YourTask:Carefullyreadeachofthefourtextsprovided.Then,usingevidencefromatleastthreeofthetexts, writeawell-developedargumentregardingwhetherornotAmericancitizensshouldberequiredtovote. Clearlyestablishyourclaim,distinguishyourclaimfromalternateoropposingclaims,andusespecific,relevant, andsufficientevidencefromatleastthreeofthetextstodevelopyourargument.Donotsimplysummarize eachtext.

Guidelines:

Be sure to:

•EstablishyourclaimregardingwhetherornotAmericancitizensshouldberequiredtovote

•Distinguish your claim from alternate or opposingclaims

•Usespecific,relevant,andsufficientevidencefromatleastthreeofthetextstodevelopyourargument

•Identifyeachsourcethatyoureferencebytextnumberandlinenumber(s)orgraphic(forexample:Text1, line 4 or Text 2,graphic)

•Organize your ideas in a cohesive and coherentmanner

•Maintain a formal style ofwriting

•Follow the conventions of standard writtenEnglish

Texts:

Text1–TellingAmericanstoVote,orElse Text 2 – CompulsoryVoting

Text3–DoesMandatoryVotingRestrictorExpandDemocracy? Text4–HowCompulsoryVotingSubvertsDemocracy

Text 1

Telling Americans to Vote, or Else

Jurydutyismandatory;whynotvoting?Theideaseemsvaguelyun-American.Maybe so, but it’s neither unusual nor undemocratic. And it would ease the intense partisan polarization1 that weakens our capacity for self-government and public trust in our governinginstitutions.

5Thirty-one countries have some form of mandatory voting, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. The list includes nine membersoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopmentandtwo-thirds of the Latin American nations. More than half back up the legal requirement with anenforcementmechanism,whiletherestarecontenttorelyonthemoralforceofthelaw.

10Despitetheprevalenceofmandatoryvotinginsomanydemocracies,it’seasytodismiss the practice as a form of statism2 that couldn’t work in America’s individualistic and libertarianpoliticalculture.ButconsiderAustralia,whosepoliticalcultureisclosertothat oftheUnitedStatesthanthatofanyotherEnglish-speakingcountry.Alarmedbyadecline invoterturnouttolessthan60percentin1922,Australiaadoptedmandatoryvotingin

151924,backedbysmallfines(roughlythesizeoftraffictickets)fornonvoting,risingwith repeatedactsofnonparticipation.Thelawestablishedpermissiblereasonsfornotvoting, likeillnessandforeigntravel,andallowscitizenswhofacedfinesfornotvotingtodefend themselves.…

Proponents offer three reasons in favor of mandatory voting. The first is straightforwardly

20 civic. A democracy can’t be strong if its citizenship is weak. And right now American citizenshipisattenuated—strongonrights,weakonresponsibilities.Thereislessandless thatbeingacitizenrequiresofus,especiallyaftertheabolitionofthedraft.Requiring peopletovoteinnationalelectionsonceeverytwoyearswouldreinforcetheprincipleof reciprocity at the heart ofcitizenship.

25Thesecondargumentformandatoryvotingisdemocratic.Ideally,ademocracywilltake intoaccounttheinterestsandviewsofallcitizens.Butifsomeregularlyvotewhileothers don’t,officialsarelikelytogivegreaterweighttoparticipants.Thismightnotmattermuch ifnonparticipantswereevenlydistributedthroughthepopulation.Butpoliticalscientists havelongknownthattheyaren’t.Peoplewithlowerlevelsofincomeandeducationareless

30likelytovote,asareyoungadultsandrecentfirst-generationimmigrants.

Changesinourpoliticalsystemhavemagnifiedthesedisparities.3Duringthe1950s and’60s,whenturnoutratesweremuchhigher,politicalpartiesreachedouttocitizens year-round.Atthelocalleveltheseparties,whichreformersoftencriticizedas“machines,” connected even citizens of modest means and limited education withneighborhood

35institutionsandgavethemasenseofparticipationinnationalpoliticsaswell.(Initsheyday, organizedlaborreinforcedtheseeffects.)Butintheabsenceofthesemoreorganicforms ofpoliticalmobilization,thesecond-bestoptionisatop-downmechanismofuniversal mobilization.

Mandatory voting would tend to even out disparities stemming from income, education

40andage,enhancingoursystem’sinclusiveness.Itistrue,assomeobject,thatanenforcement mechanismwouldimposegreaterburdensonthosewithfewerresources.Butthismakesit allthemorelikelythatthesecitizenswouldrespondbygoingtothepolls,andtheywould stand to gain far more than the cost of a trafficticket.

1partisan polarization — one-sidedness

2statism — central governmental control of economic and social policy

3disparities — inequalities

The third argument for mandatory voting goes to the heart of our current ills. Our low

45turnout rate pushes American politics toward increased polarization. The reason is that hard-corepartisansaremorelikelytodominatelower-turnoutelections,whilethosewho arelessferventaboutspecificissuesandlessattachedtopoliticalorganizationstendnot toparticipateatlevelsproportionaltotheirshareoftheelectorate.…

The United States is not Australia, of course, and there’s no guarantee that the similarity

50ofourpoliticalcultureswouldproduceequivalentpoliticalresults.Forexample,reformsof generalelectionswouldleaveuntouchedthedistortionsgeneratedbypartyprimaries inwhichsmallnumbersofvoterscanshapethechoicesfortheentireelectorate.And the United States Constitution gives the states enormous power over voting procedures. Mandatingvotingnationwidewouldgocountertoourtraditions(andperhapsour

55Constitution) and would encounter strong state opposition. Instead, a half-dozen states frompartsofthecountrywithdifferentcivictraditionsshouldexperimentwiththepractice, andobservers—journalists,socialscientists,citizens’groupsandelectedofficials—would monitor theconsequences.

We don’t know what the outcome would be. But one thing is clear: If we do nothing and

60allowapoliticsofpassiontodefinetheboundsoftheelectorate,asithasformuchofthe lastfourdecades,theprospectforalesspolarized,moreeffectivepoliticalsystemthat enjoys the trust and confidence of the people is notbright.

—William A. Galstonexcerpted from “Telling Americans to Vote, or Else” November 5, 2011

Text 2 Compulsory Voting

Alldemocraticgovernmentsconsiderparticipatinginnationalelectionsarightof citizenshipandacitizen’scivicresponsibility.Someconsiderthatparticipationinelections isalsoacitizen’sduty.Insomecountries,wherevotingisconsideredaduty,votingat electionshasbeenmadecompulsoryandhasbeenregulatedinthenationalconstitutions

5or electoral laws. Some countries impose sanctions1 onnon-voters.

Compulsory voting is not a new concept. Belgium (1892), Argentina (1914) and Australia(1924)wereamongthefirstcountriestointroducecompulsoryvotinglaws. CountriessuchasVenezuelaandtheNetherlandspractisedcompulsoryvotingatonetime but have since abolishedit.

10Advocatesofcompulsoryvotingarguethatdecisionsmadebydemocraticallyelected governments are more legitimate when higher proportions of the population participate. Theyarguefurtherthatvoting,voluntarilyorotherwise,hasaneducativeeffectupon the citizens. Political parties can save money as a result of compulsory voting, since theydonothavetospendresourcesconvincingtheelectoratethatitshouldturnouttovote.

15 Lastly, if democracy is government by the people, presumably this includes all people, so that it is every citizen’s responsibility to elect his or her representatives.

The leading argument against compulsory voting is that it is not consistent with the freedom associated with democracy. Voting is not an intrinsic2 obligation and theenforcementofsuchalawwouldbeaninfringementofthecitizen’sfreedomassociated

20 with democratic elections. It may discourage the political education of the electorate becausepeopleforcedtoparticipatewillreactagainsttheperceivedsourceofoppression. Isagovernmentreallymorelegitimateifhighvoterturnoutisachievedagainstthewillof thevoters?Manycountrieswithlimitedfinancialresourcesmaynotbeabletojustifythe expenseofmaintainingandenforcingcompulsoryvotinglaws.Ithasbeenprovedthat

25 forcing the population to vote results in an increased number of invalid and blank votes compared to countries that have no compulsory voting laws.

Another consequence of compulsory voting is the possible high number of “random votes”.Voterswhoarevotingagainsttheirfreewillmaycheckoffacandidateatrandom, particularlythetopcandidateontheballotpaper.Thevoterdoesnotcarewhomtheyvotefor

30aslongasthegovernmentissatisfiedthattheyhavefulfilledtheircivicduty.Whateffectdoes thisimmeasurablecategoryofrandomvoteshaveonthelegitimacyofthedemocratically elected government?…

1sanctions — penalties

2intrinsic — essential

—Maria Gratschewexcerpted from “Compulsory Voting”

Voter Turnout Since 1945: A Global ReportInternational Institute for Democracy andElectoral Assistance (International IDEA), 2002

Text 3

Does Mandatory Voting Restrict or Expand Democracy?

Doesmandatoryvotingrestrictorexpanddemocracy?Formanypeoplewhohavenever heardabouttheidea,mandatoryvotingsoundsverystrict:requiringpeopletogotothepolls onElectionDay.IntheUnitedStates,itseemsstrangetopresentanactionmanyconsider arightasarequiredduty.Nevertheless,inmanyforeigncountries,mandatoryvoting

5(sometimesreferredtoascompulsoryvoting)isanobviousdemocraticoption.

Thesysteminfactispresentinmorethan30democraciesaroundtheworld.However, allpoliciesarenotthesame.Mandatoryvotingcanbeusedtoelectallpoliticalrepresentatives oritcanberestrictedtospecificelections.Forexample,inFrance,mandatoryvotingisonly used for Senatorialelections.

10ThetwomostnotableexamplesofcompulsoryvotingoccurinBelgiumandAustralia. Belgiumhastheoldesttraditionof[a]compulsoryvotingsystem.Thesystemwasintroduced in1892formenand1949forwomen.Today,allBelgiancitizensage18oroverhavetovote ineveryelectoralevent.Ifanindividualfailstovoteinatleastfourelections,heorshelose[s] the right to vote for the next 10 years and as a result face a general social stigmaand

15specificproblemslikenearimpossibilityinhavingajobinthepublicsector.InAustralia, compulsoryvotingwasadoptedasawayofintegratingthelargepopulationofimmigrants thatthecountrywelcomesandisendorsedthroughnon-votersfacingpotentialfines.

Many people compare voting to taxes. In fact, one of mandatory voting’s biggest advocates,formerAmericanPoliticalScienceAssociationpresidentArendLijphart,usesthis

20comparisoninhiswritingslikePatternsofDemocracy.Accordingtohim,justastaxesare awaytofeedthenationaleconomy,votingcanbeseenasawaytofeedtheciviceconomy. Moreover,whencompelledtovote,citizensbegintobemoreinvolvedinpoliticallifeand inturnareencouragedtotakeamoreactiveroleinotherareasofcivicsociety.Andnoother changecomesclosetohavingassweepinganimpactonratesofvoterparticipation.

25GivenLijphart’sarguments,wouldcompulsoryvotingmakesenseintheUnitedStates? Notnecessarily—formanyAmericanstherighttovotealsoimpliestherightnottovote. In fact, some people might even interpret mandatory voting as a violation of [the] First Amendment’s prohibition of compelled speech. Moreover, mandatory voting opposition arguesthataforcedelectoratewouldnotnecessarilybethemostpoliticallyintelligent

30electorate.

Some apolitical citizens might choose candidates arbitrarily or for the wrong reasons becausetheydonotwanttobefinedorpunishedfornotdoingtheirhypotheticalduty. Finally,votersinfactgainacertainkind[of]influencefromtheirabilitynottovote—elected officials can’t take their vote forgranted.

35Whetheryouareanadvocatefororagainstmandatoryvoting,theconceptisathought provokingideathatshouldnotbeoverlookedjustbecauseitseemssoforeigntotheUnited States.Butitshouldneverbeusedtoavoidtacklingtherootofpoliticaldisengagement.

Democraciesdon’tjustneedactivecitizens;theyneededucatedandactivecitizens, whichiswhyatFairVoteweadvocateforstronglearningdemocracyprogramsforstudents.

40Americansalsoneedfaithinthepowerofelectedofficialstorepresentthemeffectivelyand themotivationthatcomesfromelectionshavingrealchoicesfromacrossthespectrum. Such changes can’t happen overnight, the way passage of compulsory voting could take place.Buttheyareessentialbuildingblocksofasuccessfuldemocracy.

—Wael Abdel Hamid adapted from “Does Mandatory

Voting Restrict or Expand Democracy?” October 18, 2010

Text 4

How Compulsory Voting Subverts Democracy

…Democracyisanachievementthathascomeaboutthroughdetermination,hard work,struggle,evenbloodshed.Onthesegroundsalone,itdeservestobehonoured. Butdemocracycanonlybehonouredifweappreciatethegiftwe’refortunateenoughto possessinthefirstplace.Sadly,aconsiderablenumberofpeopledonotappreciateit,and

5havenevergiventhematteramoment’sthought.I’darguethatthemassiveindifference towardspoliticsthatnowpervadesthegeneralpopulacewillonlybeovercomebyremoving thecompulsiontovote.Politicianswouldthenbeforcedtoarguetheircaseswithmore conviction,andtoeducatetheirconstituentsaboutthehistoricalstrugglethatwasnecessary to achieve what most of us now take forgranted.

10Peoplehavetobepersuadedoftheimportanceofvotingtothedemocraticprocess. Yetcompellingpeopletodososubvertsourdemocraticrights.Democracyisaboutfreedom; itistheantithesisofcompulsion.Compulsoryvotingraisesaquestionweshouldn’teven be asking: whether voting is a civil right or a civicduty.

The right not to vote in an election is as fundamental as the right to vote. Both the

15UniversalDeclarationofHumanRightsandtheUN’sInternationalCovenantonCiviland PoliticalRightsrefertopeople’srightsto“freelychosenrepresentatives”.Thisrightis something we each possess and can each choose to use, but it should never become a dictate.…

It’s certainly true that in countries where voting is voluntary, like the USA and UK, voter

20apathyishighestamongthepooranduneducated.It’salsohardtodisputethefactthat, becausethesepeople—inWesterncountriesatleast—donotvote,they’reignored,and because they’re ignored, they don’t bother to vote. But the argument falls down with theclaimthat,byforcingthesepeopletovote,politicianswillbecompelledtopayattention tothem,andtakestepstoimprovetheirsituation.It’smuchmorelikelypoliticianswillfight

25forthewelfareofthepooranduneducatediftheyhavetogooutandseektheirvote.…

Thosewhobelievecountrieswithcompulsoryvotingaremoredemocraticarguethatit legitimisesdemocracy,thattheelectionresultsincountriesliketheUSA,wherevotingisn’t compulsory and voter turnout is low, do not accurately reflect the country’s political opinion.ButIbelievethatnothavinganopinionisanopinion,thatbeingindifferentto

30theoutcomeofanelectionanddislikingalloftheoptionsputbeforeonearebothopinions. Ifpeopledon’tturnouttovote,they’redefinitelystatingtheiropinions,manyofwhichare both strongly held and well thought through.…

Perhaps the clinching argument as to whether or not compulsory voting is more democraticisthat,accordingtotheexperts,coercing1everyonetothepollingboothinfact

35makes little or no difference to the final outcome. The experts (academics, pollsters and civilservants)haveallcalculatedthatinthelastfourAustralianfederalelectionstheresults wouldhavebeenthesameevenhadthevotingbeenvoluntary.…

Althoughfallingvotingfiguresaroundtheworldmaybeaworry,compellingpeopleto voteisnottheanswer.Toomanypeoplefeelthey’repowerlessinthefaceofboth

40 the political system and the huge, undemocratic power of the modern corporation. Theyalsofeelthatonepoliticianislittledifferentfromanother,andthatnoneofthem isgoingtodealinameaningfulwaywithanyofthebigissues.Soittakesapolitician whocangalvanise2thepublictogetthemvoting.Inthe2008USPresidentialelection,

1coercing — forcing

2galvanise — excite into action

people sensed a new political star in Obama, someone who would make a difference,

45and voter turnout was the highest for forty years.…

Numbersareunimportant.Qualityratherthanquantityshouldbethefocusofahealthy democracy.Votingshouldbecarriedoutbythosewhocare,bythosewhowanttovote.It isn’ttoohardtoarguethatthosewhowanttovotedeservetobeheardmorethanthosewho donot.Isittrulyworthlisteningtosomeonewhohasnothingtosayorwhodoesn’twantto

50say anything?…

—Peter Barryexcerpted from “How Compulsory Voting Subverts Democracy”

September 1, 2013