Dissenting Electorate - An Anthology on Non-Voting
Those Who Refuse to Vote and the Legitimacy of Their Opposition
Selected and Edited by Carl Watner with Wendy McElroy
Selected and Edited by Carl Watner with Wendy McElroy
Introduction, by Carl Watner
from the publisher
It's the same message every election year: "Get out and vote - It's your civic duty." Those who audit the sound bites of the candidates, read headlines about the debates and finally pull the lever at their local precinct are touted as moral, upstanding citizens; those who find among the candidates no agreeable representative, no platform worthy of espousal, and who then refuse to turn out on election day, on the other hand, are labeled apathetic and the legitimacy of their opposition is denied.
This book is an anthology of articles and excerpts from a variety of sources that deal with the topic of nonvoting. In presenting the minority view that important moral and political reasons abound for not voting, the book unfolds four general arguments: voting is implicitly a coercive act because it lends support to a compulsory state; voting reinforces the legitimacy of the state; and existing nonpolitical, voluntarist alternatives better serve society. Many people do not agree with the concept of nonvoting--but the serious and well thought through underpinnings of such a belief are of crucial importance to an understanding of modern American politics.
Regardless of whether you agree with the voluntaryist strategy of non-participaton in electoral politics, their exploration of it is powerful, thought-provoking, and raises issues that every libertarian interested in achieving a free society must be familiar with.
And the authors are superb - there are articles by such renowned libertarian thinkers as (in addition to Watner) Lysander Spooner, Sy Leon, Robert LeFevre, Wendy McElroy, Benjamin Ginsberg, John Pugsley, Hans Sherrer, Robert Ringer, George H. Smith, Frank Chodorov, Herbert Spencer, and more.
This is 135 pages of thought-provoking, challenging, educational and inspiring writing. What a bargain!
Table of Contents
Prologue: "Don't Vote: 20 Practical Reasons," by John and Ned Roscoe
Introduction, by Carl Watner
1. The Superiority of Moral Power Over Political Power, by Adin Ballou
2. The Non-Voter's Right to Ignore the State, by Herbert Spencer
3. Of Voting, by Lysander Spooner
4. Against Woman Suffrage, by Lysander Spooner
5. Political Methods vs. Nonviolent Resistance, by Francis Tandy
6. On Underwriting an Evil, by Frank Chodorov
7. Abstain from Beans, by Robert LeFevre
8. The Illegality, Immorality, and Violence of All Political Action, by Robert LeFevre
9. Where the Individual Vote Really Counts, by Sy Leon
10. Is Voting a Moral Act?, by Robert Ringer
11. Should Libertarians Vote or Hold Political Office?, by George H. Smith
12. Elections Enhance Government Power and Authority, by Benjamin Ginsberg
13. Voting and the Slavery Analogy, by Alan Koontz
14. Elections: An Alternative to Political Disorder, by Benjamin Ginsberg
15. The Meaning of Elections, by Benjamin Ginsberg
16. The Case Against Democracy, by Carl Watner
17. Do Voting and Residence Imply Consent?, by A. John Simmons
18. An Argument in Defense of the Invisible Hand, by John Pugsley
19. Election Day: A Means of State Control, by Robert Weissberg
20. Why I Would Not Vote Against Hitler, by Wendy McElroy
21. End of the Mandate, by Gregory Bresiger
22. The Limits of Political Action, by Richard Grant
23. Why I Refuse to Register (to Vote or Pay Taxes) by Anonymous
24. Non-Voting as an Act of Secession, by Hans Sherrer
25. Laconics: Short Takes on Non-Voting
Epilogue: Reasons to Vote
Index
ISBN 0-7864-0874-X (pb)
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The Voluntaryists are advocates of non-political, non-violent strategies to achieve a free society. We reject electoral politics, in theory and in practice, as incompatible with libertarian principles. Governments must cloak their actions in an aura of moral legitimacy in order to sustain their power, and political methods invariably strengthen that legitimacy. Voluntaryists seek instead to delegitimize the State through education, and we advocate withdrawal of the cooperation and tacit consent on which State power ultimately depends.
I must make a confession: Never in my life have I registered to vote, much less voted, in a political election. Since the time I was a young adult, I had an intuitive feeling that there was something wrong and improper about political voting. In the early 1980s, this book's co-editor, Wendy McElroy, observed that I was not alone. She said there were literally millions upon millions of non-voters. Among them were some who had written about and published their reasons for "refusing to vote." This book is a collection of those writings.
Although there are religious groups, such as the Quakers and Amish, who from the very earliest days of the United States eschewed politics, this chronological collection of essays begins with one written by Adin Ballou, a leading abolitionist and pacifist of the mid-19th century. The attitude of the non-voting abolitionists was that if the American government upheld slavery, then the abolitionists, by not voting, would refuse to sanction and participate in an unjust political system.
With the exception of the second article, which is written by the well-known English philosopher Herbert Spencer, all the remainder of the pieces in this anthology were written by Americans. They were selected because they illustrate a variety of reasons for not voting.
The primary purpose of this book is to prove that there is more to non-voting than one's gut reaction not to participate. There are very important moral and political reasons for not voting.
The secondary purpose is to offer an intellectual defense of the non-voter. Non-voters have always been, and actually still are, the majority in most political elections in this country. Their right to remain unrepresented and unsullied by politics ought to be recognized. The fact is that non-voters have won every presidential election ever held in this country.
Political voting is something sui generis (something peculiar, something unique) because the institution to which it applies - the state - is different from any other organization in society. Membership (i.e., citizenship) in the state "organization" is compulsory. The state establishes a monopoly of defense services (police, courts, and law) in a given geographic area. Furthermore, it collects its revenues via compulsory levies, euphemistically known as taxation. All those who refuse to acknowledge its jurisdiction or pay its assessments are thrown in jail, have their property confiscated, or both. There is no way to opt out!
Most modern states provide for political elections in which their citizens choose from a slate of predetermined candidates or policies. Majority rule usually determines the outcome. Regardless of the number of people voting, the candidate with the greatest number of votes wins. Even if you don't vote, you are bound by the outcome of the political election. It is still your president, your representative, your tax - even if you haven't voted or voted against the person who won the election.
The main thrust of this book may be summarized in the following points:
1. Voting does not override individual rights or establish the truth. Majorities cannot vote away the rights of minorities.
2. Voting is implicitly a coercive act because it lends support to a compulsory state.
3. Voting reinforces the legitimacy of the state because participation of voters makes it appear that they approve of the state.
4. There are nonpolitical methods that rely on the spirit of voluntarysim that better serve society.
"Well," one might ask, "if the non-voters are right in not voting, what should we do? Isn't non-voting really a do-nothing tactic?" It might be, except that there are plenty of things we can do if we focus upon ourselves, rather than society as a whole. We are only responsible for ourselves (and our children until they become adults). We can never reform another person. In fact, the only thing within the power of any non-voter "is to present society with one improved unit." As Albert Jay Nock put it, "[A]ges of experience testify that the only way society can be improved is by the individualist method ...; that is the method of each 'one' doing his very best" to cultivate his own garden. This is the quiet or patient way of changing society because it concentrates upon bettering the character of men and women as individuals. As the individual units change, the improvement in society will take care of itself. In other words, if one takes care of the means, the end will take care of itself.
Why I'll Never Vote Again
Pulling the Legitimacy Plug - Choosing Not to Vote
Pulling the Legitimacy Plug (Pt. 2) - Choosing Not to Vote
A Recovering Voter
The Wizards of Ozmandias - Why I Do Not Vote
The Anti-Electorate Manifesto
Why I Will Not Vote for Myself
The Moral Outrage of Voting
Tomorrow, the world
Making the World Democratic
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Introduction
Additional essays related to non-voting and The Dissenting Electorate:
by Rob Moody
by Joe Blow
by Joe Blow
by Joseph S. Bommarito
by Butler Shaffer
by Wally Conger
by Brian Drake
by John Lopez
by Ronald N. Neff
by Joseph Sobran
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