Sufrage for sixteen-year- olds within the EU [should the EU lower the voting age to sixteen in future elections?] Rosanna Zwolsman 6VP2 | C&M/E&M, Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam | [2015-2016] 2 Sufrage for sixteen-year-olds within the EU [should the EU lower the voting age to sixteen in future elections?] Rosanna Zwolsman 6VP2 September 2015-January 2016 3 4 Index I. Introduction ............................................................................................................7 II. The History of democracy and voting in Europe and the United States ....................9 III. Countries that granted sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds the right to vote .........19 IV. Pros and Cons of lowering the voting age in future European elections and national elections. ..................................................................................................................25 V.Teen Sufrage in European elections ......................................................................31 VI.Opinions ..............................................................................................................35 VII.Interview .............................................................................................................47 VIII.Conclusion .........................................................................................................53 Evaluation ................................................................................................................55 IX.Sources ................................................................................................................57 X. Logbook ...............................................................................................................65 5 6 I. Introduction I never really thought of teen sufrage before the summer of 2014. 18-year-olds were allowed to vote and 17 or 16-year-olds were not, it made sense to me. I was sixteen at the time and was always interested in my parents’ voting, but to say that I was politically engaged would be an overstatement. My perception changed when I met two girls from Glasgow on a German course in 2014. One of them was old enough to vote in the Scottish referendum, the other one was a few days too young. However, they were both very engaged in the subject and would not stop talking about it. Their enthusiasm was one of the reasons I first wanted to dedicate this project to the referendum, but I soon realised that I was more interested in the fact that teenagers were given the right to vote in this historic decision, than the actual referendum. This and the decision by the Scottish Parliament to let teenagers vote in future Scottish elections, made me reconsider my subject and I decided to change it. Furthermore, the idea that I could investigate which legal steps have to be taken before something as important as the voting age can be amended, very much appealed to me. I am slightly familiar with the European Union and its bodies but I would like to know exactly what is within the power of these bodies. The more I read about the subject, the more interested I became. At the same time it was very interesting to see how a growing number of articles and essays appeared on the internet. The whole idea of teenage voting seemed very appealing to me, I could hardly find any arguments against it. This made me curious, if it is such a marvellous idea why do not all countries decide to let their sixteen- and seventeen-year- olds play a more important part in their democracy? My ultimate goal is to answer the question: should the EU lower the voting age to sixteen in future elections? To do so, I have to read about the history of voting in Europe starting with the classical antiquity and answer multiple sub-questions considering the subject. I have formulated the following questions: 7 What steps have been taken to expand the electorate, throughout history? For this I will try to make a timeline about what kind of changes were made throughout history, in order to expand the right to vote. What countries allow minors to vote and under what conditions? I will make a list of countries and areas, that already allow them to vote and try to find out how successful this has been so far. I will also look at failed attempts to lower the voting age. What are the arguments in favour of and against this proposal? I will investigate the pros and cons and try to provide as many evidence as possible. Is it possible to make teenage sufrage compulsory within the entire EU? I will look at the political structure of the European body and the process of passing a bill. What are the opinions on this subject? To be able to answer the last question, I will have to do a small investigation among fellow students and others in addition to that I will interview an expert on the subject. Once I have answered the sub-questions, I will answer my main question: Should the EU lower the voting age to sixteen in future elections? 8 II. The History of democracy and voting in Europe and the United States What steps have been taken to expand the electorate, throughout history? Antiquity Ancient Athens A democracy is a system of government in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people. This system has been around for a few millennia. In popular belief, the first forms of democracy originate from ancient Greece. However, you could argue that the forms of communication between tribal village elders and other villagers in order to make important decisions, prior to the fifth century, was in a way a very primitive democratic system. The Athenian political system is well known, although other city-states had diferent political systems. The Athenian system was the most developed, and most importantly most sources are written about the Athenian system. I will therefore focus on Athens. In 507 BC Cleisthenes, an Athenian leader, introduced a new political system that he called demokratia meaning ‘rule by the people’. This system consisted of three separate bodies: • The boule a council of 50 representatives from each of the ten tribes. These 500 men in total were chosen by lot. Nevertheless membership was restricted to the top three out of four property classes and the members had to be over thirteen. The ten tribes each consisted of members from the city, from the coastal area and from the rural inland. Over the time this topological division broke down, due to the fact membership of a certain tribe was hereditary. • The diskarteria or popular courts, consisted of more than 500 jurors that were chosen by lot from a pool of all male citizens over 30. The jury had almost unlimited power. there was no police in Athens, so it was the diskarteria that brought cases to court and delivered sentences by voting. • The ekklesia, or assembly, was the governing institution of Athens. Every member of the demos, the 40,000 adult male citizens, was allowed to attend the meetings. They held 40 meetings a year in which they made decisions on law and foreign policy, wrote and revised laws, and held the procedure of ostracism. This procedure could be used to expel any citizen 9 from Athens for ten years. Only free male citizens who were over eighteen could vote in the ekklesia, women, slaves and metoikoi, foreigners living in Athens, were excluded from voting. In earliest times, voting was done by raising hands. However, this proved to be difcult during some meetings of the ekklesia for over 6,000 hands had to be counted, in cases, where at least 6,000 votes were needed to make something valid, voting was occasionally done by ballot. It was not until later, they realised voting by ballot could be used to let citizens vote anonymously. Voting was then done by writing a name on an ostraka, a piece of pottery. In conclusion: free male citizens of over eighteen were the only ones eligible to vote. Ancient Rome After the last king of Rome,Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown in 509 BCE, Rome became a republic. It is important to know that the residents of ancient Rome were divided into two diferent groups, the patricians and the plebeians. The patricians were members of a group of wealthy families that formed the elite class. The plebeians were regular citizens. Romans were born into one of the groups, moving up or down the social ladder was impossible, marriage between both groups was illegal. Much as the Athenian democratic system, the Roman Republic consisted of diferent bodies: • The two consuls originally replaced the king, it was their task to lead to Roman armies during war time. They served for a one-year term and had the right to veto each other. However, in times of military emergency, Rome could decide to make one of the consuls dictator. This dictator was allowed to hold supreme command for six months. • The senate advised the consuls, only the patrician men were allowed to participate in the senate. Being a senator was a lifelong membership. Most senators also had fathers and grandfathers who too were or used to be member of the senate. The consuls usually did, whatever the senate advised them to do. • The tribunes of the plebs, were supposed to speak on behalf of the plebeians, in the senate. They had the right to veto against decisions the senate made that influenced the plebeians. The tribunes of the plebs were chosen by the assembly. There were more tribunes such as the military tribunes who had certain military powers. 10 • The assembly, every grown-up man1, who was in possession of Roman citizenship had the right to attend the assembly. They voted on important decisions when the consuls asked them to. They also elected the consuls, and prefects, it was their job to run the city. However, the assembly was set up in a certain way, so the rich citizens would get more votes. It was hard to obtain Roman citizenship, or civitas. It was achieved by birth when both parents were Roman citizens or when the mother was a peregrinus (foreigner) with connubium (the right to marry a Roman citizen). Citizenship could also be granted by people. In the third century BCE, plebeians gained equal voting rights with patricians, however the value of this right to vote was related to wealth, because the assemblies were organised by property.