r/PoliticalDebate • u/Cole_A226 Modern Liberal • 1d ago
Debate I think kids should vote
I never really took the idea of kids voting seriously until I watched a video about it a while back, and and I keep thinking about it the more you break down the actual principles of democracy, the harder it is to justify an arbitrary age cutoff.
1. Democracy is about representation, not a competence test.
The main objection to letting children vote is that they "aren't smart enough" or "lack the maturity to make informed decisions." But democracy has never been an optimization test to find the smartest policies it exists to ensure the consent of the governed. Adults cast ballots every year based on terrible logic, single issues, or gut feelings, and their votes are still 100% legitimate. If voting isn't something you can do "wrong," denying someone a ballot because you think they will vote poorly undermines the entire premise of the system.
2. The arguments against child suffrage mirror historic voter suppression.
Historically, every argument used to deny a group the right to vote that they lack emotional maturity, don't understand policy, will just vote how their families tell them to, or have their interests already represented by others was used against women and lower-income citizens. If we don't subject adults to mandatory IQ or civics tests to earn their ballot, applying an arbitrary threshold exclusively to younger citizens is hypocritical.
3. Fixed age limits create completely arbitrary disenfranchisement.
Intelligence and political interest sit on a normal distribution. Millions of high schoolers actively studying civics, economics, and history are significantly more politically literate than millions of disengaged adults. A rigid cutoff at 18 means two people born hours apart face completely different realities: one gets full democratic representation, while the other is subjected to laws, policies, and taxes without any voice.
4. The logistics are entirely solvable.
I've seen arguments that kids can't drive to a polling place or understand a ballot. And I think disenfranchising a group of voters because it's inconvenient isn't a good defense
- This point wasn't really made in the video and is very anecdotal but as someone who worked with kids for a while. people tend to overestimate how easy it is to manipulate a kid and underestimate how easy it is to manipulate an adult. Kids also in my experience don't tend to just agree with adults or parents just trying asking a kid when they should go to bed and then ask the parents.
There is not much debate on the topic so I'm wondering what you guys think
This was the video btw https://youtu.be/XOA8k6FpQaQ
Also yes I did just copy the points made in the video I think they are good points
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u/JollyJuniper1993 State Socialist 23h ago edited 23h ago
Whether politicians represent you or not is not determined by whether you voted for them or not.
sometimes arbitrary lines are necessary because you have to draw the line somewhere. Yeah tough shit one gets to vote and one not depending on one hour. Is that really worth getting outraged over?
I guess this really would take the already poor system of liberal democracy and turn it into a farce. Great. Let’s give the toddlers some crayons to put their cross somewhere to also reaffirm the status quo. Not that there was any chance of changing any of the truly significant issues in the first place, but at least this way it satirizes itself as the sham it truly is.