Why Should American Citizens Be Required To Vote?

Democracy is an accomplishment that many people had worked hard to achieve that goes unrecognized in the United States by many citizens. Democracy is about freedom (Text 4, line 10) and people have the freedom to do what they choose when it comes to their participation in the government. Citizens have the freedom to decide how they want to participate in the government even if that means not voting at all. American citizens should not be required to vote because democracy thrives on participation of its people and if citizens are being forced to vote then their opinions are not going to be an accurate representation of the honest beliefs and opinions of American citizens as a whole. "Democracy is about freedom" (Text 4, line 11) and citizens
"A democracy can't be strong if its citizenship is weak'' (Text 1, line 20) and "requiring people to vote in national elections once every two years would reinforce the principle of reciprocity at the heart of citizenship" (Text 1, lines 23-24). While a democracy cannot be strong if they have weak citizenship, a body of citizens who are just voting to spare themselves the punishment are not contributing to a strong democracy just as much as if they were not voting at all. It is argued that voting should be mandatory because "a democracy will take into account the interests and views of all citizens" (Text 1, lines 25-26). If not all citizens are voting, a democracy is not truly being representative of the views of all citizens. Those who do not vote have a reason for not voting and "coercing everyone to the polling booth makes little or no difference to the final outcome" (Text 4, lines 34-35). Mandatory voting does not actually lead to all citizens being heard and represented in the government and therefore is not a righteous reason to force people to vote. American citizens have the freedom to choose if they want to vote or not because the foundation of democracy is "freedom" (Text 4, line
While the government could potentially benefit as it is argued from the "interests and views of all citizens" (Text 1, line 25), there is no benefit if people are just casting their vote in order to free from punishment (Text 3, line 32). American citizens should not be required to vote because democracy is dependent on participation from its citizens and if the participation is not honest then it is not an accurate representation of the ideas of the passionate citizens of the United