Compulsory Voting: Newfangled, but Urgent Topic
The debate on compulsory voting is fashionable. It is clear that every mandatory act violates autonomy and this is one of the biggest arguments against it; Another argument more elitist is that it is better that those who lack education or informed judgment do not participate in elections. Another, more pragmatic, is that it would be too expensive to implement mandatory voting. But for others, without massive participation there is no real democracy.
To analyze systems and political institutions in order to improve them, it is essential to work with clear concepts, eliminating propaganda burdens. In this case it is essential to define that the concept of 'democracy', in the simplest strict sense, should be understood as a system based on free elections, with open participation of all citizens and with decisions taken by most of them. So, elections in which the winner does not achieve the positive support of a real majority, does not constitute a true democracy.
It is essential to deal with reality and not with illusions, and the reality is that although democracy is spoken of as an ideal system, there are few parts of the world in which it operates. In Colombia the reasons for its failure are diverse: some institutional, others ethical, but one of the main ones has to do with the lack of participatory tradition.
When the system of voluntary participation does not work, there are three realistic options: the traditional one, which is to ignore the problem and 'move on'; the most drastic, abandon the democratic system; or, the one that seems more reasonable to some, adopt the vote. It is not about reinventing the wheel, the system already works in some states, although it is admitted that it is not a panacea.
If a compulsory voting system is adopted, it must be admitted that failure to comply with that 'obligation' would have to have negative consequences, but they should not be drastic, for example, fines based on economic strata with public service options for those who do not. can pay (pick up trash in public places). So, implementing compulsory voting would not have to be expensive, it could even generate public resources and anyway, the worst that could happen would be to have cleaner public spaces.
To summaruze, it is true that compulsory voting violates the concept of freedom, but democracy and pluralism always do so, the other two pillars of the liberal political regime. Therefore, the greatest challenge of the liberal constitutions is to balance the tension between these three desirable, but opposite concepts. Something is lost from each one, but for those who believe in that regime, although it is not perfect, it is the best one that has been found. In this case, it is believed that it is worth the loss of a little of the autonomy that compulsory voting implies if the result is a real and efficient democracy.
