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Increasing Formal Public Participation in Elections, Politics, and Democracy� (선거, 정치, 민주주의에의 공적대중참여 증진)

Without public participation, a country cannot be a democracy. Lack of participation also leads to dissatisfaction with government, and can lead to voter apathy, or even create instability. Many of the so-called “populist” movements we see in mature democracies around the world today, are driven by citizens who feel they no longer have any way to participate effectively and influence government. Possibly, they have a point. In Europe, we have all heard about the EU’s famous “democracy deficit”. And in the US there is a widening between the elite leadership of the two main parties, and the middle and lower classes. Feeling voiceless in the formal system, many voters have adopted alternative means of influencing politics, often through protest and demonstrations.

These alternative methods, however destabilizing, should be allowed in a free society, but they are not normal. They are clear indications that formal system of participation is broken. Achieving stable and democratic government requires formal channels for public participation that reassure voters that their voices are heard.

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Types of Formal Democratic Participation (공적 민주주의 참여의 유형)�

Voting (선거)
Advocacy (애드보커시)
Political parties and candidates (정당과 후보자)
Voter education and observation (유권자 교육 및 모니터링)

There are at least four formal channels through with citizens should be able to participate in the democratic process. The first, voting in elections, is the most common form of democratic participation, and increasing participation in voting is the primary focus of this presentation. Voting, if it is meaningful, allows citizens to indicate their preference for individuals and policies, and to remove policies and politicians they don’t agree with. Voting is the foundation of democratic accountability.

Although most people think of voting when we talk about democratic participation, there are also other ways in which citizens can make their voices heard. For example, they can join advocacy groups that promote their preferred policies. They can join political parties to influence party platforms or manifestoes, campaign for their favorite candidate, or even to stand as candidates themselves. And finally, citizens can in the democratic process by joining non-partisan NGOs dedicated to making the process more meaningful through voter education, or more transparent through election observation.

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Voting (투표)�

Making it easier (투표의 용이화)
Encouragement (투표 격려)
Making it more meaningful (투표의 의미 강화)

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Making it easier – I (투표의 용이화- I)�

Make registration easier (등록의 용이화)
Make voting easier (투표방식의 용이화)
Allow people to vote online (온라인 투표)
Hire better pollworkers (개표자 투입)
Get people excited about politics between elections

(선거기간 동안의 정치 관심도 증진)

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Making it easier – II (투표의 용이화– II)�

Make election day a national holiday (선거일을 공휴일로 지정)
Eliminate voter ID laws (투표자 신분확인 법 폐지)
Make voting compulsory (투표의 의무화)

According to The Brookings Institution, these three reforms will increase turnout.

Make election day a national holiday
Eliminate voter ID laws
Make voting compulsory

What most of these recommendations have in common is that they seek to make voting easier, under the assumption that people don’t vote because it is to onerous or difficult in some way, and some studies have shown that making registration or voting easier does increase turnout, although not a lot.

Other scholars are skeptical of this approach, with MIT’s Adam Berinsky stating, “The balance of evidence is clear: lowering the direct costs of voting does little if anything to increase turnout.”, and David Becker of the Pew Elections Project notings that “it’s never been easier for the majority of US voters to get election information and cast their ballots… [but] turnout declined last year to levels not seen since World War II.” Feb. 8 2016

So, the evidence is unclear, at least in the US, but I tend to think that beyond a certain level of inconvenience, (distant or crowded stations, etc.) ease of voting is not the most important factor in turnout.

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Encouragement (투표격려)�

Get Out the Vote (GOTV) (투표참여독려활동)
Civic education (시민교육)

The second method is encouragement. Researchers believe that traditional get out the vote campaigns slightly increase turnout (a few percent), but require significant resources, and must be repeated for each election. The most effective means of GOTV is not TV or print media, it is through personal, face to face contact. Unsurprisingly, this expensive form of GOTV is most used by political parties and candidates, who need to turnout their supporters to win the election, but studies have shown that personal contact is also effective than traditional media for non-partisan GOTV campaigns. There is also research that indicates personal contact through SMS or social media is also more effective than passive media.

More promising, and less costly, than traditional GOTV might be what I call a “civic education” approach. There is significant variation in participation rates across countries, and between ethnic groups inside countries, suggesting a cultural element in turnout. Based on my survey work across Asia, people often cite “civic duty” as the reason they will vote, and to me that suggests that institutionalizing a civic education program in schools that defines voting as a civic duty and cultural norm is more likely to have a permanent impact on turnout than pre-election GOTV campaigns. I look forward to insights from our Korean colleagues on how they institutionalized civic education here.

Aker, Jenny C., Paul Collier, and Pedro C. Vicente. “Is Information Power? Using Mobile Phones and Free Newspapers during an Election in Mozambique.” Working Paper, May 2013.

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Making Elections Meaningful – Voter Apathy (투표의 의미 강화 – 유권자 무관심)�

Choice (선택)
Salience (침묵)
Credibility (신뢰)

The last approach I want to talk about for increasing turnout is making elections meaningful. One of the most common reasons given for not voting is “my vote doesn’t matter”. That can mean a number of things:

No real choice: voters feel the candidates or parties are all the same, or I don’t know enough about their differences to make an informed decision.
Credibility and integrity of the process: Voters think the election will not be fair, or their vote will not be counted accurately, so it makes no difference if they vote.
Lack of salience: That means they feel that the position being competed has no impact on their life, or that their vote will have no impact on policy.

According to recent research conducted at Princeton University in the US, individuals who perceived a difference between the policy positions and ideological positions of the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates were about 10% more likely to vote than those who were not aware of these differences. They argue that helping parties and candidates become more programmatic, and then helping disseminate this information through voter guides and forums, will help provide voters with the information they need to make an informed decision, and thus increase turnout. This approach will also affect salience. Other means of increasing salience, which are effective but politically difficult to achieve, are governmental decentralization, and election system reforms that promote accountability.

Simple and transparent election processes will enhance the credibility of election processes.

Notes:

Bidwell, Kelly, Katherine Casey, and Rachel Glennerster. “Debates: The Impact of Voter Knowledge Initiatives in Sierra Leone.” Working Paper, August 2015.

Jan E. Leighley & Jonathan Nagler, Who Votes Now? (Princeton University Press, 2013)

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Other Forms of Democratic Participation�

Advocacy (애드보커시)
Political parties and candidates (정당 및 후보자)
Voter education and observation (유권자 교육 및 모니터링)

Voting, of course, is not the only means of participation in a democracy, and election commissions and other stakeholders can increase voter participation, turnout, and satisfaction, by encouraging and facilitating these other forms of participation.

For example, voters that feel elections lack meaning, or that the parties are not addressing their priority issues, can join advocacy groups to advance those issues with the parties and the public.

Citizens can also participate by joining political parties, either to influence the party’s platform or manifesto through internal advocacy, or to stand as candidates themselves.

And finally, citizens concerned about the integrity of the election process can join non-partisan NGOs dedicated to making the process more meaningful through voter education, or more transparent through election observation.

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Thank you! (감사합니다.)