Citizenship and Voting Rights: Should Resident Aliens Vote?

Author: BECKMAN, LUDVIG¹

Source: Citizenship Studies, Volume 10, Number 2, May 2006 , pp. 153-165(13)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Key:

- Free Content

- New Content

- Subscribed Content

- Free Trial Content

Abstract:

The disenfranchisement of non-citizens in democratic governments is close to universal. In this article this state of affairs is critically examined from the vantage point of the meaning of the democratic criterion of inclusion. The major difficulty for any such endeavour is the apparent vagueness and ambiguity of that criterion. Two distinct interpretations are distinguished, the principle of membership and the all affected principle. The argument is made that only the all affected principle provides a coherent account of who should be included in the demos. More importantly, the observation is made that on any reasonable interpretation of the “all affected” the right to vote in national elections for resident aliens follows. Thus, the current practice of exclusion is found to be fundamentally at odds with the basic understanding of the democratic idea.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/13621020600633093

Affiliations: 1: Stockholm University, Department of Political Science, Stockholm, Sweden

The full text electronic article is available for purchase. You will be able to download the full text electronic article after payment.

$38.49 plus tax Refund Policy