Hello, my name's David Rumsman and this is past-present future, the History of Ideas podcast.

Today in our Fixing Democracy series, we welcome back the political historian David Klemperer from the Constitution Society to talk about an idea that turns out to be completely fascinating.

I had my doubts, but this conversation turned me around.

We are going to be talking about the history of, the theory behind, the

advantages of compulsory voting. Should people be forced to vote?

David, today we're talking about compulsory voting. And I think unlike our previous conversation

about proportional representation, I don't need to begin with a caveat that it's sort of

more complicated than it sounds or it depends upon the various permutations. Compulsory

voting means what it says. I don't think there's a hidden trick in it. It means that you have to vote. It goes

from being a right to the franchise to a duty and a legally enforceable one. And we'll talk a bit

about the question of enforcement because that is an issue in liberal democracies, how much

enforcement can be allowed. I'd like to start with the history. There are lots of arguments for and against

that will come to, but the history is interesting in part because it hasn't been a widespread

practice, I think I'm right in saying. It's definitely the exception, not the rule, in the history

of democratic politics, but it has been adopted in some places. So it's always interesting

to know why the places

that have gone for it have gone for it. Also, because I think I probably misunderstood the history.

I don't know much about it. But I thought, it's nothing more than I guess, but I just assumed

they probably had compulsory voting in ancient Athens.

It just sort of felt like the sort of thing they would do because it was a duty.

I think I'm writing saying they didn't.

Do you know where it started or maybe they did?

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