Why the voting age should be lowered to 16. (August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Peto, Tommy
• Is Part Of: Politics, philosophy & economics. Volume 17:Number 3(2018)
• Page Start: 277
• Page End: 297
• Publication Date: 2018-08
• Subjects: suffrage -- voting age -- youth enfranchisement -- votes at 16 -- lowering the voting age -- voting rights -- children's rights -- youth politics -- youth political engagement -- children in democracy; Social sciences and ethics -- Periodicals; Philosophy and social sciences -- Periodicals; 320.05
• DOI: 10.1177/1470594X17705651
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1470-594X

Abstract

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.