2. What is Suffrage?
Suffrage is the political right and
obligation of the citizens to vote in
public elections of candidates for
public office.
3. There are several concepts
about suffrage, W.J. Shepard
said that there are five basic
theories….
… AND WHAT ARE
THOSE THEORIES ????
4. Theories of Suffrage
Suffrage as an Attribute of Citizenship.
Only citizens of the city-state had the right
to exercise suffrage.
Suffrage as a Vested Privilege. Only the
rich who owned property, especially the
landed gentry, had the vested right and
privilege to vote for their public officials.
Suffrage as an Abstract or Natural
Right. It is an innate right that man
exercises when he becomes an adult
regardless of his qualifications or
disqualifications.
5. The Ethical Theory. The exercise of
suffrage under this theory makes man
an asset to his community for its main
objective is to improve not only his
personality, but also mold him in the
matrix of responsible citizenship.
Suffrage as a Government
Function. This theory presupposes
that suffrage is a function of
government. It is government that
prescribe certain qualifications of an
individual qualified to vote.
6. Qualifications for Suffrage
Citizenship.
- it is required that a voter must be a
citizen of his/her state.
Residence
- it is also necessary that the voter
must have a legal residence in a
certain electoral area or in the place
where he/she proposes to vote within
the state.
7. Age
- it is also required that the voter must
be majority age which is the age of
maturity.
Literacy
- he/she must be literate enough to be
informed of the issues and
qualifications of candidates so that he
can better discharge his
responsibilities as a voter.
8. Compulsory Suffrage
One of the weaknesses of the democracy is
the lack of interest of a large number of
eligible voters to in the electoral process.
One important reason is:
* many voters do not go to the polls on
election day because the political
candidates have nothing new to offer
except empty promises.
* they lack the appeal to encourage and
stimulate the non-voters to vote.
9. The Advantage of system
compulsory
- Compulsory voting broadens the
electorate thus the vote would be a
more accurate reflection of the
representative will of the people.
- Includes more citizens to take concern
with issues, the programs of
competing political parties and the
qualifications of the candidates.
10. - Tends to minimize graph and corruption.
Voters may no longer be bribed by the
political candidates to go to the polls in as
much as they are under legal compulsion to
do so.
- enables the minority party to be on an
equal footing with the party in power. Under
this system, the opposition party will not
suffer the difficulty of getting its supporters
to vote.
- every voters is given equal importance.
Equality of suffrage becomes a reality as
every qualified voters is compelled to go to
the polls to decide for him/her self shall
11. References :
Nebres, Abriel M. Political science
made simple. p. 55
Ayson, Florentino G. Fundamentals
of political science. p. 156-163
