The Law

voters. In the broadest system, this right is only recognized for nine million. Under the French Second Republic (1848), the number of eligible voters rose from roughly 250,000 to about 9 million. Three out of four people are therefore excluded and, what is more, they are excluded by this fourth person. On what principle is this exclusion based? On the principle of Incapacity. Universal suffrage therefore means: the universal suffrage of those who are capable. These questions of fact remain: who are the capable? Are age, sex, and judicial convictions the only signs by which Incapacity can be recognized?

If we look closely, we quickly see the reason why the right to vote rests on the presumption of capacity. In this regard, the broadest system differs from the most restricted only by the assessment of the signs by which this capacity can be recognized, which does not constitute a difference in principle, but of degree.

This reason is that the voter does not vote only for himself, but for everyone.

If, as the republicans of the Greek and Roman hue Bastiat refers here to "classical republicanism," a political philosophy inspired by antiquity that emphasized collective duty and the state over individual rights. claim, the right to vote was granted to us at birth, it would be unjust for adults to prevent women and children from voting. Why are they prevented? Because they are presumed incapable. And why is Incapacity a ground for exclusion? Because the voter does not bear the responsibility of his vote alone;