[EL] Accountability for Not Voting?

[Christopher S. Elmendorf]

Whatever one makes of the ethics, this strategy is likely to work.  See Gerber et al., Social Pressure and Turnout: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment, 102 Am. Pol. Sci. Rev. 33 (2008).

As for the ethics, I'm not at all troubled.  There's a big difference between shaming people into performing a rudimentary act of citizenship—casting a secret ballot--and refusing to engage in normal social or commercial exchanges with people because of their political views.  One is consistent with respect for ideological diversity; the other is not.  One is consistent with the separation of commercial and political spheres (in a Walzerian sense), the other is not.

Best,

Chris

Christopher S. Elmendorf
Professor of Law
UC Davis School of Law
400 Mrak Hall Drive
Davis, CA 95616
530.752.5756

From: Jonathan Adler <jha5 at case.edu<mailto:jha5 at case.edu>>
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2012 13:09:15 -0400
To: <law-election at uci.edu<mailto:law-election at uci.edu>>
Subject: [EL] Accountability for Not Voting?

Given all this discussion of holding people “accountable” for political speech, are there any thoughts on the propriety of the latest mailing by the Greater Wisconsin Committee, listing people’s names and whether or not they’ve voted?

Details here: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/purple-wisconsin/156550775.html#!page=1&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst



------
Jonathan H. Adler
Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law
Director, Center for Business Law & Regulation
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
11075 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106
ph) 216-368-2535
fax) 216-368-2086
cell) 202-255-3012
jha5 at case.edu<mailto:jha5 at case.edu>
http://www.jhadler.net<http://www.jhadler.net/>
SSRN: http://ssrn.com/author=183995

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