Why Compulsory Voting Can Enhance Democracy

Engelen, Bart

doi:10.1057/palgrave.ap.5500167

Cited by 52 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(1 reference statement)

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“…Engelen (2007), for example, suggests that, "having to vote anyway, citizens might well want to know what the vote is about and what the alternatives are" (p. 32). Engelen (2007), for example, suggests that, "having to vote anyway, citizens might well want to know what the vote is about and what the alternatives are" (p. 32).…”

Section: And the Gender Gap In Electoral Engagement Beyond Votingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing the Gender Gap

Córdova

Rangel

2016

Comparative Political Studies

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In light of gender disparities in political involvement, extant research has examined mechanisms for incorporating ordinary women into politics. We complement this literature by exploring the effect of an overlooked institution theorized to promote political equality by maximizing voter turnout: compulsory voting. We theorize that in enforced compulsory voting systems, women are more likely to receive and seek information about electoral choices than their counterparts in voluntary voting systems. Consequently, compulsory voting helps narrow the gender gap beyond voting by creating opportunities and motivations for women to engage with the electoral process and its main actors. Our multilevel analysis based on crossnational survey data lends strong support to our hypotheses. Countries with enforced mandatory voting laws display a much smaller gender gap not only in voting, but also in several other forms of electoral engagement, including political party information, campaign attentiveness, party attachment, and campaign participation.

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Section: And the Gender Gap In Electoral Engagement Beyond Votingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing the Gender Gap

Córdova

Rangel

2016

Comparative Political Studies

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“…Compulsory voting is already practised in a number of democratic nations, including Australia and Belgium, and has proven effective in ensuring high turnouts. Its supporters argue that it is necessary for political equality and the legitimacy of the democratic system (Lijphart 1997, Engelen 2007.…”

Section: The Current Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some have proposed providing a 'none of the p pu ub bl li ic c p po ol li ic cy y r re es se ea ar rc ch h --S Se ep pt te em mb be er r--N No ov ve em mb be er r 2 20 01 10 0 1 14 48 8 © 2010 The Author. Public Policy Research © 2010 ippr While the secret ballot protects freedom of conscience, there is little point in forcing people to attend the polls unless it leads them to casting valid votes above' box on ballot papers, so that those dissatisfied with all of the parties on offer can express their true preference (Engelen 2007). Hill goes even further, suggesting that we allow 'conscientious objectors' to be excused (Hill 2002b).…”

Section: A Modest Proposalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tasting democracy

Saunders

2010

Public Policy Research

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“…5 5 This directly contradicts Engelen (2007, p. 23), though in fact most of his concerns are not about low turnout per se but rather its disproportionality. There are other solutions to these problems than ensuring universal turnout, some of which are touched on below. …”

mentioning

confidence: 92%

“…It might be better if more people voted (in an informed, reflective way), but – as proponents of compulsory turnout freely admit (e.g. Birch, 2009, p. 22; Engelen, 2007, p. 25; Lacroix, 2007, pp. 192–3) – this cannot be ensured given the constraints of the secret ballot.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Democratic Turnout ‘Problem’

Saunders

2011

Political Studies

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A number of authors, including Lijphart, Hill and Engelen, have recently advocated compulsory voting. While numerous justifications can be given for such measures, it is often said that they are necessary to realise democracy fully, for instance ensuring that everyone casts one vote (no more and no less). This argument rests on the commonly held assumption that low turnout is a problem for democracies – a claim that the present article resists. I argue that democracy as it should be understood requires only that citizens have the opportunity to exercise power. I show that the right to vote can be valuable, even if it is not actually exercised. Leaving people to decide for themselves whether or not to vote is not only more liberal but democratic in so far as it respects their choices and makes it more likely that decisions are made by the relevant constituency. Although voluntary voting makes it likely that different groups will be unequally represented, this is not necessarily a problem; where some are more affected by a given decision there may be good democratic reasons to allow them more influence. Disproportionality can be bad where it exacerbates existing social disadvantage, but here the problem is the social disadvantage, rather than that people do not vote. Moreover, while universal turnout ensures proportionality, the problem of disproportionality is conceptually distinct from low turnout. There may be other reasons to favour higher turnout, including a concern to promote social justice, but it is not necessarily better on democratic grounds.

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Why Compulsory Voting Can Enhance Democracy

Cited by 52 publications

References 14 publications

Addressing the Gender Gap

Addressing the Gender Gap

Tasting democracy

The Democratic Turnout ‘Problem’

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