Geoff Brennan on the Ethics and Rationality of Voting

Abstract

Geoff Brennan made a wide range of important contributions to the literature on the ethics and rationality of voting. This article begins by situating these contributions in the broader debate over rational choice theory and the so-called paradox of voting. It then introduces Geoff’s expressive theory of voter behaviour, as developed in conjunction with Loren Lomasky, and considers its significance for the justification of democracy and the ethics of voting. The final section engages critically with Geoff’s view that citizens do not have moral duties to vote, developing a novel argument in defence of such duties that appeals to the importance of the social norms that undergird the processes of representative democracy.