In a first, academics based in universities across the world have written to Andy Burnham asking him to consider compulsory voting in the UK.
The letter was widely reported as part of news that former UK Labour leader Neil Kinnock has called for compulsory voting to be included in the Representation of the People Bill.
Dozens of academics from over 25 universities across four continents have called on the UK to consider compulsory voting as part of wider electoral reforms.
The letter reads:
Dear Prime Minister,
We share the commitment found in the Representation of the People Bill to expand and deepen democracy in every part of the United Kingdom.
As the original Ministerial foreword of the Bill states:
“In each generation there must be a national conversation about how to protect our democratic system and culture… leaving it in a better place than we found it.”
We agree.
As you know, turnout at elections remains far too low. The last UK general election had the second lowest turnout for a general election since the introduction of universal suffrage. The recent by-election for the Manchester Mayoralty had turnout of just 25 per cent.
Moreover, inequalities in turnout mean those who do vote do not reflect the wider population, but are richer, older, whiter, and more economically secure than the UK public at large. This has warped British politics, and risks a crisis of democratic legitimacy.
Yet there is a way to fix this. As academics from across the world, we would urge the Government to take seriously the proposals for Australian-style compulsory voting in the UK.
In countries (like Australia) where compulsory voting is used, turnout in elections is higher and more equal, governments are more responsive to the needs of all people in all places, the public is more satisfied with democracy, and trust in institutions is higher.
We believe the Representation of the People Bill represents a generational opportunity to strengthen British democracy by introducing compulsory voting to the UK.
The full list of signatories is below:
- Professor Johan Ackaert, Professor Emeritus and Honorary Dean of the Faculty of Law, Hasselt University
- Dr Jack Bailey, University of Manchester and a Co-Director of the British Election Study
- Professor Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London
- Dr Petar Bankov, Lecturer in Politics, University of Glasgow
- Dr Chris Bick, Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics
- Professor Sarah Birch, Professor of Political Science at King’s College London
- Professor David Blaazer, Professor at The University of New South Wales
- Professor Andrew Blick, Professor of Politics and Contemporary History at King’s College London
- Professor Judith Brett, Emeritus Professor at La Trobe University
- Professor Regis Dandoy, Universidad San Francisco de Quito
- Dr. Manoj Dias-Abey, Associate Professor in Labour Law and Migration at the University of Bristol
- Professor Bart Engelen, Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Tilburg University
- Dr Todd Farrell, Senior Tutor in Political Science at the University of Melbourne
- Dr Nathan Fioritti, Lecturer in Politics at Monash University.
- Professor Anthony Fowler, Sydney A. Stein Jr. Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy
- Professor Lisa Hill, Professor of politics at the University of Adelaide
- Professor Dimokritos Kavadias, Head Lecturer at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel Center for Democratic Futures
- Dr David Klemperer, IPR Researcher at the University of Bath
- Dr Pat Leslie, Senior lecturer at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
- Professor Arend Lijphart, Research Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of California, San Diego
- Professor Arturo Maldonado, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
- Professor Anthoula Malkopoulou, Associate Professor at Uppsala University
- Professor Rob Manwaring, Associate Professor at Flinders University
- Professor Cynthia McClintock, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University
- Dr Jordan McSwiney, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy at the University of Canberra
- Dr Colm Murphy, Senior Lecturer in British Politics at Queen Mary University of London
- Prof Joan O’Bryan, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the City University of New York
- Dr Pandanus Petter, Research Fellow at the Australian National University School of Politics and International Relations
- Professor Matt Qvortrup, Visting Research Fellow at the Australian National University
- Dr Michael A Scanlan, Lecturer in Politics, University of Glasgow
- Professor Jill Sheppard, Associate Professor at the Australian National University
- Dr James Silverwood, Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Leeds Beckett University
- Professor Ariadne Vromen, Head of Political and International Studies at the University of Glasgow
- Professor Stefaan Walgrave, Research Professor at the University of Antwerp
- Professor Martin P Wattenberg, Professor, Political Science, School of Social Sciences, University of California, Irvine
- Professor Ekow Yankah, Thomas M. Cooley Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan
