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Giving children the vote – one way of stimulating democratic participation

According to Philippe Schmitter, Professor of Political Science at the European University Institute in Florence, our democracy is in a bad way. If the system wants to stay legitimate, it will have to reform itself. A Council of Europe think-tank is studying the question, and coming up with some bright new ideas – such as giving children (even very young children) the vote, and combining elections and lotteries. As Philippe Schmitter says, behind every problem lies a challenge to be met …

Interview (10.05.2004)

Question: Your paper is entitled “Is our democracy democratic?” What’s your own answer to that question?

Philippe Schmitter: Judged by the old criteria, our democracies are certainly less democratic than they used to be. People vote less often, no longer join parties and have stopped voting consistently for the same party. And they’re losing their faith in politicians and parties. In fact, both have lost a lot of their prestige, although parliaments - as institutions - have been relatively successful in hanging onto theirs. Corruption connected with the funding of parties is one of the reasons for this crisis of confidence. Generally, our institutions are also being weakened by the progress of globalisation and European integration.

Question: How do you account for the fact that voter turn-out is dropping almost everywhere in Europe ?

Philippe Schmitter: The major political parties are protected by the electoral system - including proportional representation – and people have the feeling that they’re all pretty much the same. The ideologies are far less convincing than they used to be, and they’re coming together in the middle. People are voting against policies, not for them. That is alarming. Another factor is the demographic trend in Europe: the electorate is ageing. The over-50s still go to vote, but the youngest citizens are disillusioned with politics - and with the choices they get offered. They’re very active in associations, but are tending more and more to stay away from elections, Finally, there are a lot of foreign nationals in our communities, and they are not entitled to vote or stand for election.

Question: What can we do about all these dangers ?

Philippe Schmitter: If democracy wants to remain legitimate, it will have to change and reform itself. With the Council of Europe, we are looking at various possibilities. To make up for the poor turnout among the young, we suggest giving children the vote and letting parents vote for them until they’re old enough themselves. This is the concept of universal citizenship which is currently being considered in Germany. Electronic voting might also be organised, alongside the conventional types. Election lotteries are another idea, with prizes for first-time voters, and also the most regular. To stop corruption, we want public funding for parties, but we’re giving citizens the right to decide which parties get funded. We’re also suggesting a “certified blank vote” for people who do not want to vote for individual party representatives. Finally, we recommend that foreigners be given the vote, and that foreigners’ councils be established at local level. Of course, these are all general ideas, and they need to be discussed and adapted at national level, but behind every problem lies a challenge to be met …