Why the voting age should be lowered to 16

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7354157
AutoresTommy Peto (University of Oxford, autor de correspondencia)
Año2017
Volumen17
Número3
Páginas277-297
Fecha de publicación2017-04-26
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPolitics Philosophy & Economics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1470-594X • E-ISSN: 1741-3060
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1470594x17705651
OpenAlexW2610089876
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas16
Referencias citadas41

This article examines whether the voting age should be lowered to 16. The dominant view in the literature is that 16-year-olds in the United Kingdom are not politically mature enough to vote since they lack political knowledge, political interest and stable political preferences (Chan and Clayton, 2006). I reject this conclusion and instead argue that the voting age should be lowered to 16. First, I look at Chan and Clayton’s empirical claims and show that these features of 16- and 17-year-olds are in fact created by exclusionary social practices and therefore that these features cannot be used to justify their exclusion from the vote. Second, I evaluate preliminary evidence from Austria which suggests that 16- and 17-year-olds, when actually given the vote, are politically mature. Third, I show that, on a balance of harms, considering that some 16- and 17-year-olds are mature, we still should lower the voting age even if some 16- and 17-year-olds are not politically mature. I conclude that the voting age should be lowered to (at least) 16

Economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · Voting · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics