主題：Is Demeny Voting Undemocratic? （代理子女投票制違反民主原則嗎？）
講者：何宗興︱國立中正大學哲學系教授
時間：2024/12/02（一） 15:30 – 17:30
地點：台灣大學水源校區哲學系館三樓 302 室（台北市思源街 18 號）
Abstract:
Demeny voting, proposed by the economist Paul Demeny, is the idea that parents (or guardians) cast the votes on behalf of their children. It is motivated by the worry that, as the world is ageing fast, democracy will ignore the interests of young and future generations to satisfy those of the elderly, who may dominate the elections. However, Demeny voting is criticised for being undemocratic because it betrays the fundamental principle of democracy, namely, ‘one person, one vote’.
But I will argue that Demeny voting, in fact, realises the ‘one person, one vote’ principle by enfranchising children. My argument is based on a reinterpretation of the two principles of citizenship, construed by the political theorist Robert Dahl:
Categorical Principle: every person subject to a government and its laws has an unqualified right to be a citizen;
Contingent Principle: only persons who are qualified to govern, but all such persons, should be citizens.
In nearly all democratic countries, only those who can meet both principles can have citizenship. Since children are unqualified to govern, it seems justified that children are refused citizenship. However, I argue that Categorical Principle is more fundamental to democracy and the two principles are better considered as two different enfranchisement rights: Categorical Principle is concerned with the right to have a vote, and Contingent Principle with the right to cast a vote. Plausibly, children have the right to have a vote, despite lacking the right to cast a vote. However, it is empty to have a vote that cannot be casted. Demeny voting, therefore, is justifiable as a means to realise the children’s right to have a vote.
