Should teenagers get a vote, or should we limit voting even further?
In episode 47, we put forward the case for why age limits are redundant, but a qualifying test could force more voter engagement
Episode 47 is now live. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Google Podcasts and more. Actually, it’s been live since last Friday, sorry for the delay sending this out :)
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Thanks to everyone who’s written in. This episode caused a bit of a stir, with us putting forward an argument in favour of tests to encourage more voter engagement. As you know, we love to debate stuff, so please keep sending in your feedback and we promise we’ll read all of it and try to respond soon!
Should teenagers get a vote, or should we limit voting even further?
Famously in the UK, many reported that, had 16 year olds been included, Brexit would not have passed. Further, had retirees been excluded, it wouldn't have even been close. It raises several interesting questions...why do we allow people who will largely be uninvolved in the future knock-on effects to vote? Where does the legitimacy of getting a vote come from? Also, why do we limit anyone voting by age? Isn't the implication some lack of a certain capacity?
If we agree on that point as a good thing, then why don't we introduce MORE tests to identify people who aren't clued up enough to vote and do that? We discuss these questions and how our feelings on this may relate to other forms of government (direct vs representative democracies, democracies vs aristocracies, epistocracies and technocracies). All of this follows on neatly from our previous chats on voting, tying it all together with a little intro on Walter Lippman.
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Until next time!
Jake & Ant