Should Democracy Be Compulsory?

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Hi, my dear navel gazers! Here's our gazillionth installment of impossibly simplistic and hilariously polarized situations, inspired by the [Poll #1879633]

I'm sure you've learned by now why the options are so terribly extreme.

Comments

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

On the one hand, CENSUS, YAY!

On the other, FREEDOOOM!

There was a similar poll some time ago, about the possibility of having "None Of The Above" as an option, and calling new elections with totally new names on the ballot, in case that option won. I like it.

[papasha-mueller.livejournal.com]

What the hell.

In ancient democratic Greece 3/4 population did not have vote anyway.
Women didn't vote. Slaves didn't.
God only knows the way of democracy would those be allowed to.

Btw, slaves produced 9/10 of wealth. Women made 9/10 of population.

Ask me another.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

If voting isn't compulsory then neither should taxes and following the law be compulsory. It's called civic responsibility.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Interesting. In your opinion, should women be allowed to vote, Y/N?

If yes - why yes? If no - why not?

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

My grandma used to always write "YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF DONKEYS" on her ballots. Interestingly, here in Oz, as long as you don't put anything in the box other than your preference numbers you can write whatever the hell you want on your ballot and it's still valid. I like putting little pictures and haikus on them to keep the counters entertained.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Question for you too. Is voting a right or a duty? Or which should it be? And why?

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Hey, that's a fun waste of paper! Did a donkey get elected sometime?

[koken23.livejournal.com]

I'm a dual citizen of Argentina and Australia. Every single election I've ever seen or voted in had compulsory voting.

...honestly, it's not a perfect system. You get a LOT of apathetic voters who just don't give a shit and turn in what are called "donkey votes", ballots that they've deliberately done incorrectly so they can't be counted.

On the other hand, politicians on both sides of the aisle know they have to appeal to a much wider pool of voters, so you get considerably fewer single-issue politicians or voting cycles - rather than being divided on a single hot button issue with a narrow appeal, like abortion or gun control or whatever, you're much likely to see politicians focus on everyday things like the affordability of food or housing. You get much less money spent overall, since no one has to expend vast effort on convincing people to vote in the first place. You get shorter election seasons, and I'm pretty sure the Americans here are sick of those!

It's not perfect, but I rather like it.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

What if I want to vote for a Beer party but there's no Beer party around here? What if I'm too lazy to make a Beer party myself? Should I be compelled to vote anyway, vote for someone/anyone, or just write a haiku on the ballot?

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking that fostering a social environment where people are well educated on average and make well informed decisions, is the much more preferable option than simply compelling them to cast a ballot in order to check their name in some list somewhere, and say they've fulfilled their "social obligation", and thus wash their hands. I mean, in the ideal case the former scenario would tend to work much more "naturally" than the latter. If ideal scenarios ever existed in reality, of course.

While "You're all a bunch of donkeys" sounds like great fun, I doubt it's a symptom of a well informed, politically active and socially involved population. It rather looks like a bored population who are wondering what useless stuff to fill their time ballots with.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Pfft - this stupid game claims I run a Police State - or at least it did until I nationalized the failing newspapers to only publish government-friendly stories.

Voting should be encouraged as part of wanting an informed citizenry and if it takes a little carrot-stick action to encourage, well then, I guess I lean that way.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Mine is a Civil Rights Lovefest.
Civil rights: superb.
Economy: all-consuming.
Political freedoms: widely abused.

Sheesh...

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Oh, and my population is over 11 billion. :-O

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Women made 9/10 of population.

That would explain a few things.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

It's both and for the same reason; one is part of a community, whether they want to be or not.

[papasha-mueller.livejournal.com]

I actually meant the physical production.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

Government can't run without taxes, and I'd prefer not to have anarchy in the streets.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

"The fact is, if not everyone votes, the outcome isn't truly representative. Some groups, like elderly gun nuts, vote more often than others. That's why we always end up with such terrible politicians."

I'm starting to wonder if some of politicians are non-violent psychopaths, considering new research showing how much frequent this occurs in the population.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

Short answer, no.

If you don't care enough to make the effort to vote than you don't care enough for your vote to matter.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Well, he is my brother...

[papasha-mueller.livejournal.com]

"You give her vote and next moment she threatens you with the abuse team" (c)
Me just kinda be facetious, sonny.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

"Some" civil rights is good enough, right?

[harry-beast.livejournal.com]

Voting is only one duty of a citizen in a free and democratic society. If the government is going to enforce participation in society, it shouldn't stop at voting. Or start at voting, in my view.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

So men produced 1/10 of the population? How are you measuring this? :P

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

That's what Ron Paul is for in the U.S.