A Citizen's Duty. Voter inequality and the case for compulsory turnout
Article
This report focuses on a very significant but relatively neglected challenge to our democracy: inequality in voter turnout.
Many people are aware that voting turnout has declined dramatically in recent elections - indeed turnout in the last two elections was lower than in any peace time elections in modern times. And this of course has provoked a great deal of public debate and some soul searching among the political class.
Yet much of the discussion assumes that what we have witnessed is an overall decline in turnout across social groups. Politicians, commentators and policymakers, outside the small world of electoral specialists, have yet to appreciate the really significant aspect of this development: that while voting has held up relatively well across some (mainly better off) groups, it has fallen steeply among other (largely worse off or more vulnerable) groups.
In other words, we have seen not just a fall in voter turnout, but a rise in turnout inequality.
Related items
Planes, trains and automobiles: How green transport can drive manufacturing growth in the UK
Transport is essential to our lives. Unfortunately, it is currently also the largest source of UK domestic carbon emissions.Regional economies: The role of industrial strategy as a pathway to greener growth
Regions like the North should have a key role to play in the development of a green industrial strategy.Achieving the 2030 child poverty target: The distance left to travel
On 27 March, the Scottish government will announce whether Scotland’s 2023 child poverty target – no more than 18 per cent of children in poverty – was achieved.