Felon Disenfranchisement and the Argument from Democratic Self-Determination

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• 作者：William Bülow
• 关键词：Felon disenfranchisement ; Democratic self ; determination ; Offender reintegration ; Civil disqualification
• 刊名：Philosophia
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：September 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：44
• 期：3
• 页码：759-774
• 全文大小：358 KB
• 刊物主题：Philosophy; Epistemology; Ethics; Philosophy of Language; Philosophy of Mind; Philosophy of Science;
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1574-9274
• 卷排序：44

文摘

This paper discusses an argument in defense of felon disenfranchisement originally proposed by Andrew Altman, which states that as a matter of democratic self-determination, members of a legitimate democratic community have a collective right to decide whether to disenfranchise felons. Although this argument—which is here referred to as the argument from democratic self-determination—is held to justify policies that are significantly broader in scope than many critics of existing disenfranchisement practices would allow for, it has received little attention from philosophers and political theorists. One exception is Claudio López-Guerra, who recently raised several objections to the argument. In this paper, I argue that the argument from democratic self-determination can avoid López-Guerra’s objections. In responding to these, I explicate how and when it can be permissible for a legitimate democratic community to disenfranchise felons. I propose that this is the case only if the disenfranchisement of felons is not intended as a punishment, but as a way to express the view about citizenship one endorses as a democratic collective. I also discuss the implications of the argument in terms of offender reintegration.