Dissenting Electorate: Those Who Refuse to Vote and the Legitimacy of Their Opposition [Paperback]

Carl Watner (Author, Editor), Wendy McElroy (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 21, 2001

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A resource to counter the attention given to the importance of voting. People interested in the voting process, U.S. history, and the democratic process will enjoy." --Public Library Quarterly

"Thought-provoking...recommended." --Counterpoise

About the Author

Writer and newsletter editor Carl Watner lives in Inman, South Carolina. Wendy McElroy is also the author of Individualist Feminism of the Nineteenth Century (2000) and Sexual Correctness (2001). She lives in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada.

Product Details

• Paperback: 143 pages
• Publisher: McFarland (January 21, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078640874X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786408740
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,213,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great contribution to political (and anti-political) theory, December 24, 2002

By 

Andrew S. Rogers (Stamford, Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dissenting Electorate: Those Who Refuse to Vote and the Legitimacy of Their Opposition (Paperback)

In a 1984 speech, Wendy McElroy -- a great individualist anarchist and co-editor of this collection -- said, "[I]t has become necessary for individualist anarchism to develop a comprehensive defense of anti-political theory in order to counter the grotesque spectacle of anarchists running for President." In this book, she and her co-editor Carl Watner have taken an important step in this direction with this great assemblage of articles arguing against taking part in political activity, and most especially against voting.

I had expected this book to be heavy in weighty and contentious theory. In fact, it's divided into a number of easily digestible essays from great writers, including Lysander Spooner, Frank Chodorov, and Robert LeFevre, among others. McElroy's own contribution is her remarkable and memorable piece, "Why I Would Not Vote Against Hitler," while Watner presents nothing less than "The Case Against Democracy."

To make the case for not voting, and for rejecting political activism, is to swim against the tide of nearly everything modern Americans are taught to value -- as well as against much of the modern "Libertarian" movement, which views libertarianism as a competitive "public policy" option instead of what it properly is: a rejection of "public policy" altogether. These provocative and well-argued essays make a solid argument that, in contributor George Smith's words, "libertarians should oppose, not this or that Senator, but the office of 'Senator' itself" (p. 53), and help to recapture the time-honored libertarian conviction that voting is, in itself, an intolerable act of aggression against others.

I very highly recommend this challenging title.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moral Culpability, September 7, 2002

By 

Karen A. Decoster (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dissenting Electorate: Those Who Refuse to Vote and the Legitimacy of Their Opposition (Paperback)

The book starts off with a great Adin Ballou essay on the superiority of moral power over political power. It sets the stage for why we shall not vote. Then, Lysnader Spooner, Frank Chodorov, and others 'splain why we shall not underwrite evil, give consent to the plunder of our fellow men, or give legitimacy to political power throught the electoral process. Wendy McElroy even tells us why voting against Hitler is illegitimate. So forget the "lesser of two evils", and instead strip the State of its legitimacy and don't vote!