Democracy's Duty: the History of Political Debates
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Anthoula Malkopoulou DEMOCRACY’S DUTY: THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL DEBATES ON COMPULSORY VOTING PhD Dissertation Department of Social Sciences & Philosophy Political Science University of Jyväskylä 2011 1 Abstract One of the most controversial solutions proposed to counter voter apathy is compulsory voting. Early variations of the idea and practice have existed since ancient times, but a more systematic consideration began in the second half of the nineteenth century. A long series of legislative proposals in the French Third Republic (1870-1940) and a constitutional reform in Belgium (1893) opened the path for thought-provoking parliamentary debates. In the 1920s, other countries followed suit and, in particular, Greece, where the different historical context gave the discussions a new perspective. In general, the discourse on the legal obligation to vote has been transformed with new rationales and adapted to pragmatic concerns up to the present day. This thesis focuses on the multiple rhetorical justifications used for or against compulsory voting since the advent of modern representative democracy. Attention is given to the content of arguments, the intentions of speakers (including their political objectives and moral assumptions), the interaction with other institutions and the overall effects of the discourse on political life. Thus, my methodology brings a particular style of comparative history of political concepts to the study of electoral institutions. As a result, the normative question of electoral obligation becomes intertwined with a parliamentary conflict over the nature of voting, which has direct political consequences. Compulsory voting has most often been supported by conservative and republican political groups in order, it seems, to create electoral advantages for themselves. In this, they have emphasised ideas such as patriotism, political stability and representativeness, as well as the educative role of democracy and the importance of responsible citizenship. The contemporary debate takes up some of these ideas and adapts them to the new conflict between liberty and equality that lies at the core of the democratic paradox. 2 Personal addresses Author Anthoula Malkopoulou Researcher in Political Science Dept. Social Sciences and Philosophy University of Jyväskylä Supervisor Kari Palonen Professor of Political Science Dept. Social Sciences and Philosophy University of Jyväskylä Reviewers Hubertus Buchstein Professor of Political Theory and History of Ideas Institute of Political Science University of Greifswald Tuula Vaarakallio Senior Researcher in Political Science Centre of Excellence in Political Thought and Conceptual Change Academy of Finland, Helsinki Opponent Marnix Beyen Associate Professor of Political History Department of History University of Antwerp 3 Acknowledgements Although at first place it seems rather odd to write a thesis on compulsory voting in a country that has hardly ever discussed it, Finland and in particular the Politics Department of the University of Jyväskylä proved to be an ideal place in this respect. Both in material and educational terms, I was fortunate to receive generous support throughout my PhD, first by CIMO and then by the KONE Foundation. The meetings of Prof. Kari Palonen’s PhD team, events organised by the Centre of Excellence in Political Thought and Conceptual Change, POLITU-sponsored seminars and the annual Conference of Conceptual History provided precious intellectual feedback. In addition to providing me with an ideal professional setting and many networking chances, I am indebted to Kari Palonen both morally and mentally, for being a role- model of a mentor and thesis supervisor. His empowering attitude, sophisticated manners, unending unfathomable patience and humanity, high scholarly standards, detailed and meaningful comments to my drafts and timely responses have made this thesis writing a profound life-learning experience for me. This dissertation is based on material collected from approximately 20 libraries in 5 countries and countless discussions in numerous conferences. I would like to thank my co-supervisor, Prof. Christos Lyrintzis, the members of the examination board Hubertus Buchstein, Marnix Beyen, Tuula Vaarakallio, Pasi Ihalainen and Pekka Korhonen, as well as others who engaged with my topic, Quentin Skinner, Jose Maria Rosales, Tapani Turkka, Wim Weymans, Jean-Benoit Pilet, Dimitris Christopoulos, Pantelis Bassakos, all the members of our extended PhD team and many more. Special thanks go also to Anitta Kananen for being helpful, patient and quick at dealing with all my minuscule and excessive bureaucratic demands through the years. Finally, my most profound and heartfelt thanks go to my parents Orestis and Maria, my brother Panaghiotis and my sister-in-law Vaso for having supported me emotionally, spiritually, socially and technically during the whole study period and especially the last and most intense stages of the writing process. 4 Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................... 2 Personal addresses ......................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 4 Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................. 9 An old-new controversy: Why compulsory voting? .................................................. 9 Concepts and interpretations .................................................................................... 10 Comparative conceptual history of electoral reforms .............................................. 13 Chapters/Topoi ......................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2: The prehistory of compulsory voting ......................................................... 21 Ancient Greek ideas and practice ............................................................................. 21 Obligation to vote in small early-modern communities ........................................... 25 ‘Noblesse oblige’ ..................................................................................................... 29 Voting function vs. voting right ............................................................................... 30 Universal suffrage vs. massive abstention ............................................................... 34 Early nineteenth-century politics of abstention ........................................................ 36 Chapter 3: Parliamentary proposals in France, 1848–1893 ......................................... 40 Obligation as a limitation of universal suffrage (1848-50) ...................................... 40 P.J.Proudhon: abstention as veto-power (1863) ....................................................... 44 “Un suffrage universel honnêtement pratiqué” (1871-77) ....................................... 52 Voting as a demonstration of party loyalty .......................................................... 58 Compulsory voting for senatorial electors (1875) ................................................ 61 Voting as protection of national sovereignty (1877) ............................................ 63 A tool for republican citizenship education (1880-85) ............................................ 65 Bardoux: Voting as a duty of judgment and reflection ........................................ 66 Grandjean: Voting as the moral anchor of society ............................................... 68 Laroche-Joubert: Obligation with voluntary voter registration ............................ 69 Adolph Pieyre: Voting as a matter of high public interest ................................... 71 Paul Laffitte: Obligation as an expression of republican organicism (1888) ........... 72 5 Letellier: the Parliament as a ‘mirror of the country’ (1889) ................................... 78 Chapter 4: French parliamentary patriotism and compulsory voting, 1893-1940 ...... 82 The international context .......................................................................................... 82 Anti-voting polemics at the turn of the century .................................................... 82 Boulangist ambiguity ............................................................................................ 87 Guillemet: Boosting civic-mindedness and patriotism ......................................... 89 Benoist: Voting as an organic non-universal duty................................................ 91 Felix Moreau: Voting as an expression of patriotic citizenship ........................... 93 Union Libéral Republicaine: Voting as protecting the disenfranchised ............ 100 Catholics: Voting as a sacred duty ..................................................................... 102 Duthoit: Do it like the Belgians .......................................................................... 103 Law proposals in the 1900s: Voting as a link to the community ........................... 105 Voting as expression of social solidarity ............................................................ 106 Voluntary obligation and proportional representation........................................ 109 A solution to inter-war parliamentary instability ................................................... 111 The Barthélemy