American Neglections -
Americans know that not enough people vote and that those that do are whiter, more educated, richer and older than those that don't. Those that I've spoken with acknowledge this as a problem and shake their heads - but when it comes to solutions they seem to be at a complete loss. Even this article, from the excellent Atlantic Monthly online edition, describes the problem without offering much in the way of suggestions.
So let me attempt some humble suggestions:
- Don't have elections on a weekday - 21% of non-voters said that they couldn't vote because they couldn't take time out of work/school etc. You'll notice that there are things called weekends where a lot more people have time - or have a public holiday - anything but Tuesday. It is important enough.
- Link the collection of social security benefits to proof of voting. Is this an extra burden on the poor and unfortunate? Well these are exactly those that need to vote in this country. Give tax discounts - anything that gives an incentive.
- Have staggered terms for politicians. You get to stay for that percentage of a regular term as the percentage of people that vote in your constituency. Or link the politician's pay to the percentage of people that vote. That oughta bring out the vote quick enough. At least make it a statistic that is included when people discuss the record of the politician - it is a critical part of a representative's legitimacy.
- Make it compulsory - voting is a responsibility not a right. People seem genuinely shocked by this suggestion - it violates some bizarre definition of freedom (taxes are compulsory, so are Red lights - these don't seem to violate this notion of freedom). It raises participation pretty damn quickly. Just try it for a few elections as some countries did - with permanent increases in participation.
There is a good list of countries that practice compulsory voting at the
International Idea Voter turnout project. They have lots of detailed pro and against arguments as well as a range of suggestions and international comparisons for techniques to increase voter turn-out.
Posted by james at December 23, 2002 01:46 PM