Political Participation in a Flailing Democracy: Is Compulsory Voting the Answer?

• In Event: Participation, Voting and Civil Rights in the United States

Abstract

America has suffered in recent years from a severe lack of political participation. This lack of participation is no more apparent than in its voter turnout rates, which point to an apathetic electorate who is not concerned with having their voice heard, and is perhaps discouraged with the state of democracy. A potential reform often floated to raise these numbers and restore a culture of excited and passionate voters is compulsory voting. But while compulsory voting may increase turnout rates, there is little work on its effects on engagement beyond simply turning up to vote. This paper explores the holistic efficacy of a compulsory voting system as a potential reform in the United States to raise engagement. To do this I take a comparative look at Australia and Brazil through three measures of engagement - turnout rate, invalid ballots, and political education. Australia and Brazil have very different implementations of compulsory voting, and have factors that are analogous to those of the United States, making them interesting comparisons to analyze engagement. It is likely that compulsory voting in the United States would increase voter turnout, but would likely do very little to increase any other substantive engagement, and would also potentially be seen as coercive, further undermining America’s flailing democracy.

Author

• Fergus Brady, Clark University