Tournament: Grapevine | Round: 3 | Opponent: AD | Judge: Harris
Tournament: Greenhill | Round: 2 | Opponent: Peninsula AT | Judge: Jane Boyd
I affirm: Resolved: In a Democracy, voting ought to be compulsory.
?
The value for today’s round is empowerment. This is because the chief function of a democracy is to empower individuals, not protect their autonomy. The aff only has to defend why compulsory voting best achieves the function of a democracy. This means that each individual has the institutional means by which they can participate effectively in the decisions that affect them. This allows for democracies to make just distributions of resources as opposed to misrepresenting the desires of its constituents.
Young 1990 Iris Marion. Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, affiliated with the Center for Gender Studies and the Human Rights program @ UChicago. Justice and the Politics of Difference, published by Princeton University Press in 1990. pp. 251-6
The writers I have referred to call for decentralization and local autonomy as a means
AND
standpoints from which to criticize the given, and inspiration for imagining alternatives.
?
The standard for today’s round is increasing democratic participation. It is the best metric for the round because it is key for the development and exercise of human capacities. This avoids the tyranny of the majority and allows for a fair allocation of resources in a just manner.
Young 1990 Iris Marion. Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, affiliated with the Center for Gender Studies and the Human Rights program @ UChicago. Justice and the Politics of Difference, published by Princeton University Press in 1990. pp. 92-93
As an element of justice that minimizes domination, democracy has both instrumental and intrinsic
AND
it maximizes the social knowledge and perspectives that contribute to reasoning about policy.
?
Furthermore, participatory democracy allows for political representation and  assures procedural fairness, allows for voices of both the oppressed as well as the privileged to be heard which empowers them.
Young 1990 Iris Marion. Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, affiliated with the Center for Gender Studies and the Human Rights program @ UChicago. Justice and the Politics of Difference, published by Princeton University Press in 1990 pp. 184- 8
Specific representation for oppressed groups in the decisionmaking procedures of a democratic public promotes justice
AND
, and might make it more difficult for other groups to be represented.
The aff, then, must prove why compulsory voting increases participatory democracy.
Contention 1: Compulsory voting increases voting turnout.
Subpoint a: Voting turnout is low now.
VOTER TURNOUT IS AND WILL REMAIN LOW====
Sean Matsler, Attorney, 2003, and#34;Compulsory Voting in America,and#34; Southern California Law Review, 76 S. Cal. L. Rev. 953, May, p. 954
Voter turnout has been inching downward at an inconsistent clip since 1960, when 62
AND
suggest a turnout of even 60, or three in five eligible voters.
LOW VOTER TURNOUT IS A SERIOUS AND GROWING PROBLEM
Arend Lijphart, University of California @ San Diego, 1997, and#34;Unequal Participation: Democracy’s Unresolved Dilemma,and#34; The American Political Science Review, Vol. 91 (1), March, p. 1
Low voter turnout is a serious democratic problem for five reasons: (1)
AND
voting. Its advantages far outweigh the normative and practical objections to it..
Subpoint B: Compuslory voting solves for low voter turnouts.
AUSTRALIA DEMONSTRATES THAT COMPULSORY VOTING INCREASES TURNOUT
Scott Bennett, Parliament of Australia, 2005, Compulsory voting in Australian national elections, Parliamentary Library-Research Brief, October, No. 6, http:parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/06SH6/upload_binary/06sh63.pdf;fileType=application2Fpdf~23search=22library/prspub/06SH622~, p. 1
Academic analysis shows that compulsory voting is likely to produce a high turnout of voters
AND
in recent elections such countries have actually experienced a marked decline in turnout.
COMPULSORY VOTING LAWS INCREASE VOTER TURNOUT
Alberto Chong 26 Mauricio Olivera, Inter-American Development Bank 26 George Mason University, 2006, and#34;On Compulsory Voting and Income Inequality in a Cross-Section of Countries,and#34; Inter-American Development Bank Working Paper 23533, May, http:www.iadb.org/res/publications/pubfiles/pubWP-533.pdf~, p. 10-1
While universal franchise was adopted in many democracies by the end of the nineteenth century
AND
enforcement, the number falls to 83 percent and 73 percent, respectively.
COMPULSORY VOTING LAWS INCREASE TURNOUT
Harvard Law Review, 2007, and#34;The Case for Compulsory Voting in the United States,and#34; 121 Harv. L. Rev. 591, p. 592
One solution to the problem of low voter turnout is to require all eligible voters
AND
voter turnout than many of the countries that have already adopted compulsory voting.
COMPULSORY VOTING IMPROVES SYSTEM BY INCREASING TURNOUT
Harvard Law Review, 2007, and#34;The Case for Compulsory Voting in the United States,and#34; 121 Harv. L. Rev. 591, p. 596
The most obvious benefit of compulsory voting is that it would lead to higher voter
AND
actually change electoral and policy outcomes in ways that better reflect aggregate preferences.