What if Everyone Voted? Power, Freedom, and the Future of American Democracy

Content

As part of our Democracy in Troubled Times series, this panel explores one of the most provocative questions in contemporary democratic theory and practice: should liberal democracies transform voting from a voluntary act into a mandated civic duty? Using Jason Brennan’s arguments against compulsory voting and Miles Rapoport and E.J. Dionne’s case for universal voting as key points of departure, panelists will assess the moral, empirical, and institutional stakes of universal voting in the United States.    

The discussion will consider whether mandatory participation enhances democratic legitimacy, mitigates voter suppression, and improves representation, or instead constitutes an unjustifiable form of state coercion that may amplify misinformation, unequal voice, and distrust.  

How have countries like Australia and others implemented compulsory voting, and what might those models mean for a deeply polarized and unequal United States?

Panelists:

• Jason Brennan, Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy, Georgetown University
• Evelyn Mantilla, Former Connecticut legislator and Connecticut Coordinator for 100% Democracy
• Miles Rapoport, Former Connecticut Secretary of State and Executive Director, 100% Democracy

Moderator: Jesse Rhodes, Professor of Political Science, UMass Amherst

Panelists will draw on comparative experience in countries with compulsory voting, as well as the distinctive features of the U.S. electoral system—federalism, partisan polarization, racialized exclusion, and administrative decentralization—to ask not only whether universal voting is ethically defensible, but also whether and how it could realistically be adopted here.

The event will include ample time for audience questions and debate about what a more fully participatory democracy should look like—and what we owe one another as democratic citizens.    

Sponsored by the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and co-sponsored by the Provost's Advancing Community, Democracy, and Dialogue Program