Primer: Mandatory Voting
This week, the NU Political Union will grapple with the following question: In a democracy, should voting be mandatory? Adult citizens in 22 countries, including Brazil and Australia, are legally obligated to vote. However, the law does not mandate voting in the U.S. and most other democracies. So with the U.S. midterm elections taking place on Tuesday, Nov. 8—the day after this debate—it seems an apt time to consider whether mandatory voting is a good idea.
Notably, this debate revolves around fundamental, normative disagreements over how the democratic process should look and function. Proponents of mandatory voting will contend that, among other benefits, it supplies higher political legitimacy to elected governments, stimulates political interest among the public, and increases civic responsibility. On the other hand, though, opponents will argue that voting is a civic right, not a civic duty, and that compulsory voting essentially, in a sense, violates the right of citizens to choose not to vote. A rational case exists, it might be said, for both sides of the debate, reflected by the varying decisions by countries to have or not have mandatory voting.
To prepare you to weigh this highly subjective, disputable matter, we have, as always, in this primer, compiled a few outside sources that you may find helpful.
First, reviewing this web page, which details basic arguments for and against mandatory voting, from the State Library of New South Wales, in Australia, is a good starting point [4 minutes].
Next, maybe look at this article from Brookings [5 minutes], in favor of mandatory voting in the U.S., and this piece from the Cato Institute [5 minutes], opposing the idea. They, put together, provide a solid glance at this debate in a U.S.-specific context.
Then, for an international angle, consider reading this opinion piece in Teen Vogue, which lauds the Australian mandatory voting policy [6 minutes], and this article from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which provides a more complex take [8 minutes].
And finally, if you have extra time before the debate, perhaps skim through Chapter 2, The Consequences of Compulsory Voting, in the online-available book Beyond Turnout: How Compulsory Voting Shapes Citizens and Political Parties. Section 2.1—Compulsory Voting, Turnout, and the Composition of Voting Populations—may especially be of interest [15 minutes].