Cho, Hyun / Should Voting be Mandatory / Thurs34

          

 

          500 B.C., Ancient Greece had invented unprecedented political system, which is later named “democracy”. This newly devised unique system provided Greek citizens with opportunity to take part in city’s decision making, which includes various political and economic agenda. The policy had lots of things in common with that of more evolved form in today, except for the limitation on political participation of minor classes, such as women, slaves, and foreigners. The right to participate in political process was equally given to every healthy and grown up males, who can go to war for his city.

          

However, this tradition didn’t last long. As the ancient dynasties and empires rise, the opportunities offered to common citizens, were taken and distributed to only few royal members and nobles. The trend was dominant and considered as a matter of course until the famous French Revolution. The forgotten right of the past was gradually recovered, but it still required long time to be passed, in order to shape the genuine form of political right, which is common today. Because of this struggling history to gain the right to vote, many people claim that government should force its nation to vote on national elections. I agree that major elections are important for our own sake, but at the same time, I believe government should not mandatorily order its nation to join in decision making for following reasons.

          

First of all, it is against the spirit of democracy, for government to take away people’s freedom to decide if they would vote or not. Franchise, the political right, came from one of the most basic principles, as liberty. Liberty states that every man has right to decide his action by his own will. In this sense, forcing people to vote, without considering their own ideas, can be interpreted as invasion of liberty. Government always should not forget that its authority and legitimacy are came from each individual nation’s agreement to offer his or her power to the government.

 

Second, government intervention on politic can induce unfavorable result, such as dictatorship or public corruption. Political interference performed by law enforcement authority often poses serious danger to democratic society, unless it has justifiable and legitimate principle for the exception. For example, during early Korean history of politic, many national elections were manipulated and distorted in the name of national development. Dictators and party leaders transformed voting method in favorable condition for them, and even manipulated the election result. The result of it was devastating. People were deprived of constitutional rights until the despotic government ends. Many historians agree that dictatorship in early modern Korean history prevented growth of Korea’s democracy.

 

Some might question what if people’s indifference on politic cause government to be unsuccessful? Indeed, the trend, that people are getting unconcerned about their political matters, has been controversial in many countries. The problem is very serious, since inappropriate and risky party might win the election and endanger future of our nation. For this reason, experts recommend people to be more educated on importance of politic, not only during their schools, but also after graduation. Education and information offered to people will help nations to get interest on political issues, and consequently lead them to carefully choose better and more prepared candidate. Since they make their decisions by accurate information and consideration, not randomly, it is likely that more appropriate candidate to be elected. This will undoubtedly lead the country to bright and positive futre.