Which Elections? A Dilemma for Proponents of the Duty to Vote

Andre leo Rusavuk

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    Abstract

    Proponents of the duty to vote (DTV) argue that in normal circumstances, citizens
    have the moral duty to vote in political elections. Discussions about DTV analyze
    what the duty is, who has this duty, when they have it, and why they have it. Miss-
    ing are answers to the Specification Question: to which elections does DTV apply?
    A dilemma arises for some supporters of DTV—in this paper, I focus on Julia
    Maskivker’s work—because either answer is problematic. First, I argue that it is
    implausible that DTV applies to all elections because this makes the duty too costly
    for the voter. Second, I argue that there are no good reasons why under normal cir-
    cumstances DTV applies only to some elections. I consider objections but conclude
    that the dilemma is successful and therefore the case for DTV is incomplete.
    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages19
    JournalRes Publica
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 30 Oct 2023

    Keywords

    • Duty to vote
    • Political samaritanism
    • Voting ethics

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