Developing Ethical Abstention Contextualism

ended

The research projet ‘Developing Ethical Abstention Contextualism’ (DevEthAC) deals with the ethics of electoral abstention, i.e. the ethics of voluntary non-voting in political elections by enfranchised citizens. The project specifically addresses an existing view in electoral ethics that it calls ethical abstention contextualism, and that is to the effect that abstention is ethically permitted in some circumstances, but not in others. Looking to elaborate and bolster this particular view, DevEthAC examines how ethical abstention contextualism should evaluate the forms of electoral abstention that are most characteristic in practice, e.g. abstention by young citizens, abstention by poor citizens, abstention in non-proportional election systems, etc. DevEthAC further seeks to flesh out the ethical bottom-line responsibilities that ethical abstention contextualism should ascribe to individual citizens when different circumstances coincide in one and the same election, causing abstention to seem both pro tanto permissible and pro tanto prohibited. And DevEthAC thirdly aims to clarify what ethical abstention contextualism implies for how electoral systems should receive and register abstentions. Notably, DevEthAC aims to understand how abstention contextualism assesses electoral systems that simply count and report abstentions, and how it evaluates electoral models in which abstentions are instead rendered politically consequential, e.g. through the use of quorum rules or other institutional devices. By pursuing these three research objectives, DevEthAC strives to elaborate and strengthen a philosophical position that enjoys prominence in the electoral ethics research debate, but remains undertheorized nonetheless. Additionally, the project aims to further the general public’s ability to normatively asses current patterns of electoral abstention and its ability to gauge how democratic electoral systems might respond to those patterns.