selfish and exploitative behaviour. As Lijphart puts it, It must be remembered that nonvoting is a form of free riding – and that free riding of any kind maybe rational but is also selfish and immoral. The normative objection to compulsory voting has an immediate intuitive appeal that is not persuasive when considered more carefully. (Pg. 10) This card can be used to build a classic argument for government regulation which, in this case, would take the form of compulsory voting. The idea is that public goods must be protected and regulated as the failure to do so can lead to their depletion or ruin. As other cards in the brief have outlined, there are clear costs to the so-called “free-riding” spelled out above. Thus, the argument is that the public nature of a functioning democracy is not self-sustaining and must be guarded and enhanced. Compulsory voting is
