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- Title
Representation for Those Who Cannot Vote.
- Authors
Fishkin, Joseph
- Abstract
Many people cannot vote. Others do not. The question of how to think about the democratic representation of all these people has been relatively neglected in democratic theory and legal practice. This Commentary on Professor Rachel Moran's Frankel Lecture explores the interaction between actual representation—that is, voting people into office to represent you—and virtual representation, in which people are represented by officials they did not play a role in electing. Because there will always be virtual representation, it is useful to improve the overall quality of virtual representation, especially where voting is polarized along axes such as race. It is also important to reform our system in ways that enfranchise some of the potential voters who currently cannot vote. This Commentary makes a maximalist case for expanding the franchise, including lowering the voting age so that more teenagers can vote. Among other benefits, this will allow for relatively more actual—and correspondingly, less virtual—representation.
- Subjects
VOTING; SUFFRAGE; VOTING age; POLITICAL participation; RACE
- Publication
Houston Law Review, 2024, Vol 61, Issue 4, p1
- ISSN
0018-6694
- Publication type
Article