Exploring Children's Suffrage:

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on
Ageless Voting John Wall
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/exploring-childrens-suffrage-interdisciplinary-perspect
ives-on-ageless-voting-john-wall/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Interdisciplinary and Global Perspectives on Intersex

1st ed. 2022 Edition Megan Walker

https://ebookmass.com/product/interdisciplinary-and-global-
perspectives-on-intersex-1st-ed-2022-edition-megan-walker/

The EMERGENCE OF BANGLADESH interdisciplinary

perspectives. Habibul Khondker

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-emergence-of-bangladesh-
interdisciplinary-perspectives-habibul-khondker/

Ethical Discourse in Finance: Interdisciplinary and

Diverse Perspectives Marizah Minhat

https://ebookmass.com/product/ethical-discourse-in-finance-
interdisciplinary-and-diverse-perspectives-marizah-minhat/

Genes, brain, and emotions: interdisciplinary and

translational perspectives First Edition Homberg

https://ebookmass.com/product/genes-brain-and-emotions-
interdisciplinary-and-translational-perspectives-first-edition-
homberg/
Gender on Wall Street 1st ed. Edition Laura Mattia

https://ebookmass.com/product/gender-on-wall-street-1st-ed-
edition-laura-mattia/

The Children on the Hill Jennifer Mcmahon

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-children-on-the-hill-jennifer-
mcmahon-2/

The Children on the Hill Jennifer Mcmahon

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-children-on-the-hill-jennifer-
mcmahon/

Children Thirteenth Edition. Edition John W. Santrock

https://ebookmass.com/product/children-thirteenth-edition-
edition-john-w-santrock/

Organization Theories in the Making : Exploring the

Leading-Edge Perspectives Linda. Rouleau

https://ebookmass.com/product/organization-theories-in-the-
making-exploring-the-leading-edge-perspectives-linda-rouleau/
STUDIES IN CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

Exploring
Children’s
Suffrage
Interdisciplinary
Perspectives on
Ageless Voting
Edited by
John Wall
Studies in Childhood and Youth

Series Editors
Afua Twum-Danso Imoh
University of Bristol
Bristol, UK

Nigel Patrick Thomas

University of Central Lancashire
Preston, UK

Spyros Spyrou
European University Cyprus
Nicosia, Cyprus

Anandini Dar
School of Education Studies
Ambedkar University Delhi
New Delhi, India
This well-established series embraces global and multi-disciplinary schol-
arship on childhood and youth as social, historical, cultural and material
phenomena. With the rapid expansion of childhood and youth studies in
recent decades, the series encourages diverse and emerging theoretical and
methodological approaches. We welcome proposals which explore the
diversities and complexities of children’s and young people’s lives and
which address gaps in the current literature relating to childhoods and
youth in space, place and time. We are particularly keen to encourage writ-
ing that advances theory or that engages with contemporary global chal-
lenges. Studies in Childhood and Youth will be of interest to students and
scholars in a range of areas, including Childhood Studies, Youth Studies,
Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, Politics, Psychology, Education,
Health, Social Work and Social Policy.
 John Wall
Editor

Exploring Children’s
Suffrage
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Ageless Voting
Editor
John Wall
Childism Institute
Department of Philosophy and Religion
Rutgers University Camden
Camden, NJ, USA

ISSN 2731-6467     ISSN 2731-6475 (electronic)

Studies in Childhood and Youth
ISBN 978-3-031-14540-7    ISBN 978-3-031-14541-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14541-4

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Chapter The reform that never happened: a history of children’s suffrage restrictions is
licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to
the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
 Contents

1 Introduction:
 Children’s Suffrage Studies  1
John Wall
The Intellectual Context   5
The Conversation Today  10
The Present Volume  15
References   18

Part I Theoretical Frameworks  25

2 Silence
 Is Poison: Explaining and Curing Adult “Apathy” 27
Michael S. Cummings
The Germ  29
Metastasis  32
The Cure  36
Conclusion  44
References  45

3 How
 Low Can You Go? The Capacity to Vote Among
Young Citizens 47
Nick Munn
Introduction  47
Step 1: Lowering the Voting Age  48
Austria  49

v
vi Contents

Why Not Abandon Age Limits?  50

The Question of Incapacity  52
The Question of Capacity  54
Abandoning the Voting Age  57
The Benefits of Universal Enfranchisement  59
Conclusion  61
References  63

4 The
 Case for Children’s Voting 67
John Wall
Learning from History  68
Deconstructing Voting Competence  73
Reconstructing Democratic Societies  78
Reimagining Democratic Theory  82
Conclusion  85
References  86

Part II Historical Contexts  89

5 The
 Enfranchisement of Women Versus the
Enfranchisement of Children 91
David Runciman
Introduction  91
They Are Not Competent  93
They Don’t Want It  97
They Don’t Need It 101
They Are Better Off Without It 104
Conclusion 108
References 108

6 De-Colonizing
 Children’s Suffrage: Engagements with
Dr B R Ambedkar’s Ideas on Democracy111
Anandini Dar
Brief Sketch About Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar 113
What Is a Democracy? 115
Who Is a Minority? Who Should be Allowed to Vote? 118
Applying Ambedkar’s Ideas to Children 123
Conclusion 127
References 128
 Contents  vii

7 The
 Reform that Never Happened: A History of
Children’s Suffrage Restrictions131
Bengt Sandin and Jonathan Josefsson
Introduction 131
Background 133
Historicising Suffrage Reforms 134
Political Barriers: Actors and Issues in the Centre and on the
Periphery 143
Concluding Discussion 147
References 149

Part III Practical Considerations 153

8 Generational Economics155
Luigi Campiglio and Lorenza Alexandra Lorenzetti
Politics and Social Choice Without Children 156
Children and Generationality 157
Positive Freedom and Low Fertility 161
Children’s Poverty 165
Investing in Children: Mill’s Dilemma 169
The Rosmini-Vote Solution: Children’s Proxy-Vote 170
What Italians Think About the Political Representation of
Children and the Proxy-Vote 172
Conclusion 174
References 174

9 Legality
 of Age Restrictions on Voting: A Canadian
Perspective177
Cheryl Milne
History of the Franchise in Canada 179
Voting Rights Litigation 180
Impact of International Law and Experience 186
Competent and Informed Voters 189
Children’s Activism 190
Conclusion 191
References 192
viii Contents

10 A
 View from Paediatric Medicine: Competence, Best
Interests, and Operational Pragmatism197
Neena Modi
Introduction 197
Societal Change 198
Insights from Paediatric Medicine 203
Operationalising a Child Vote 208
Conclusions 211
References 212

Index215
 Notes on Contributors

Luigi Campiglio is Professor of Economic Policy at the Catholic

University of the Sacred Heart, Italy. He was Director of the Economic
Policy Institute and Deputy Pro-Rector, as well being a visiting scholar at
Stanford University and the University of Cambridge. His research activi-
ties concern theoretical and applied topics in economics, including the
distribution of income, the welfare state, family economics, uncertainty in
economic decisions, and the relationship between the economy and the
political system. He publishes widely in academic journals and public mag-
azines and is the author of Prima le donne e i bambini, Il costo del vivere,
Mercato, prezzi e politica economica, and Tredici idee per ragionare di
economia.
Michael S. Cummings is founding Chair and Professor Emeritus of
Political Science at the University of Colorado Denver, United States. He
publishes on communal and utopian studies, American political thought
and practice, and youth politics. He is the author of Children’s Voices in
Politics, American Political Thought (three editions), Beyond Political
Correctness, and The Transformation of U.S. Unions. He is a long-time
activist in electoral politics and progressive causes, especially the rights of
children and people with disabilities.
Anandini Dar is Assistant Professor in the School of Education Studies,
and Deputy Dean of the International Affairs Division, at Dr.
B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi, India. She is co-founder of the Critical
Childhoods and Youth Studies Collective (CCYSC) and runs an
EU-ICSSR-funded project on “Displacement, Placemaking and Wellbeing

ix
x Notes on Contributors

in the City.” Her research is in childhood studies, youth geographies,

migration and diasporas, feminist pedagogy, and ethnographic research
methods for young subjects. Her articles include “Teen Lives in India,”
“Political Geographies of Youth,” “Performative Politics: South Asian
Children’s Identities and Political Agency,” and “Children’s Political
Representation: The Right to Make a Difference.”
Jonathan Josefsson is Associate Professor in the Department of Thematic
Studies, Unit of Child Studies, at Linköping University, Sweden. His
research interests concern primarily child and youth studies, migration,
politics, and political philosophy. He is the co-editor of The Politics of
Children’s Rights and Representation and the author of numerous articles
including “Political Strategies of Self-Representation: The Case of Young
Afghan Migrants in Sweden,” “Empowered Inclusion: Theorizing Global
Justice for Children and Youth,” “Age as Yardstick for Political
Citizenship,” and “‘We Beg You, Let Them Stay’: Rights Claims of
Asylum-Seeking Children as a Socio-Political Practice.”
Lorenza Alexandra Lorenzetti is Research Fellow in Economics at the
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Italy. Her scholarship focuses on
economic policy analysis, behavioural development economics, environ-
mental economics, and developing countries. Her articles include “Why
do Populists Neglect Climate Change: A Behavioural Approach,” “Cotton
Sector Liberalization in Sub-­Saharan Africa,” and “Slow Fertility Transition
in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Cheryl Milne is a lawyer and Director of the David Asper Centre for
Constitutional Rights, at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto,
Canada. She has been Chair of the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of
Children and the legal clinic Justice for Children and Youth and the Child
and Youth Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association. She was a legal
advocate for children with Justice for Children and Youth. She is counsel
on a claim by thirteen youth to eliminate the age requirement for voting
in the Canada Elections Act.
Neena Modi is Professor of Neonatal Medicine, and head of the multi-
disciplinary Neonatal Medicine Research Group, at Imperial College
London, and Consultant in Neonatal Medicine at Chelsea and Westminster
NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom. She is a fellow and member of
Council of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the current president of the
British Medical Association, and past president of the UK Medical
 Notes on Contributors  xi

Women’s Federation and the UK Royal College of Paediatrics and Child

Health. She is the author of numerous publications in neonatal medicine
and policy, including “Votes for a Better Future,” “A Radical Proposal: To
Promote Children’s Wellbeing Give Them the Vote.”
Nick Munn is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Waikato,
New Zealand. His research focuses on ethics and political philosophy, par-
ticularly on the challenges of virtual technology and the status of margin-
alized groups like the young, persons with disabilities, and criminals in
democratic societies. He is the author of numerous articles in these areas,
including “The Trap of Incrementalism in Recognising Children’s Right
to Vote,” “The Moral Requirement for Digital Connectivity,” “Capacity
Testing the Youth: A Proposal for Broader Enfranchisement,” and
“Against the Political Exclusion of the Incapable.”
David Runciman is Professor of Politics and former Head of Department
in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University
of Cambridge, United Kingdom. He is a fellow of the British Academy, a
fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and hosted the podcast “Talking
Politics” from 2016 to 2022. His research interests are in twentieth-cen-
tury political thought, particularly ideas of democracy and crisis, and the
role of technology in contemporary politics. He is the author of How
Democracy Ends, Confronting Leviathan, The Confidence Trap, Politics:
Ideas in Profile, The Politics of Good Intentions, Where Power Stops, and
Pluralism and the Personality of the State.
Bengt Sandin is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Thematic
Studies, Unit of Child Studies, at Linköping University, Sweden. He was
one of the founders of the Unit of Child Studies, an interdisciplinary
research centre with the first doctoral programme of its kind in the world.
His scholarship focuses on the history of children and youth. His publica-
tions include studies of early modern education and state formation, child
labour, street children, educational media politics, history of child psychia-
try, dyslexia diagnoses, welfare politics and child rights, welfare politics
and restorative justice, and suffrage and age barriers. Recent publications
include Schooling and State Formation in Early Modern Sweden.
John Wall is Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Childhood Studies at
Rutgers University Camden, United States. He is Director of the Childism
Institute and co-founder of the Children’s Voting Colloquium. His
research lies at the intersection of political theory, post-structuralism, and
xii Notes on Contributors

children’s rights. He is the author of Give Children the Vote, Children’s

Rights: Today’s Global Challenge, Ethics in Light of Childhood, and Moral
Creativity, and he is the co-editor of The Bloomsbury Handbook of Theories
in Childhood Studies, Children and Armed Conflict, Marriage, Health,
and the Professions, and Paul Ricoeur and Contemporary Moral Thought.
He is an advisor on several international research projects and scholarly
journals.
 List of Figures

Fig. 8.1 Society reproduction: generations and income 160

Fig. 8.2 Change in newborns according to labor market slack (authors’
calculations based on the Eurostat database of the European
Commission, 2021) 163
Fig. 10.1 Boy with a Spinning Top; 1735 Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin,
The Louvre, Paris 199
Fig. 10.2 The Violet Vendor; 1885 Fernand Pelez, Musée des Beaux
Arts, Paris 199

xiii
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction: Children’s Suffrage Studies

John Wall

Children under 18 make up a third of the world’s population. There are

as many people under 18 on the planet as there are either women or men.
This means that children, so defined, have significant stakes in democratic
life. They are just as impacted by democratic policies and laws as anyone
else, often more so. They rely on healthy democratic systems to support
their well-being, educations, families, economic security, health, and
futures. In addition, young people actively contribute to democracies by
protesting, organizing, assisting election campaigns, being consulted on
policies, and pressuring representatives. In many countries, children
engage in formal democratic procedures such as youth councils, child and
youth parliaments, political organizations, and consulting with children’s
commissioners, special ombudspersons, and government agencies.
While children have always played active roles in democratic life, these
roles have become especially visible in recent years. Malala Yousafzai began
blogging and protesting at age 10 about the growing exclusion of girls
from education in Pakistan, eventually becoming the youngest ever Nobel
Peace Prize winner for her work at age 17. Teenagers David Hogg, X

J. Wall (*)
Childism Institute, Department of Philosophy and Religion,
Rutgers University Camden, Camden, NJ, USA
e-mail: johnwall@camden.rutgers.edu

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1

Switzerland AG 2022
J. Wall (ed.), Exploring Children’s Suffrage, Studies in Childhood
and Youth, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14541-4_1
2 J. WALL

González, and their classmates, after a mass shooting at their high school
in Parkland, Florida, led the most effective gun control movement in the
United States in many years. Greta Thunberg at age 15 created the largest
and most powerful global campaign in history to fight the climate emer-
gency, teaming up with other climate activists like Xiuhtezcatl Martinez
who had been protesting on the issue since as young as 6. Bolivian child
laborers and union organizers successfully pressured their national govern-
ment to lower the legal working age to 10. Young people around the
world have organized and marched in Black Lives Matter protests. Child
parliaments in India and at least 20 other countries have effectively mobi-
lized children as young as 5 to change policies around education funding,
street sanitation, environmental degradation, discrimination, and
much else.
Despite these evident capacities for democratic engagement, however,
and despite the impact of democratic decisions in every area of their lives,
children are almost universally denied the right to vote. There are, it is true,
now 19 countries with national voting ages of 16 (and many more regions
and cities). Most countries, however, set the voting age at 18, some even
higher at 20 or 21. The international consensus is that democracies can
legitimately establish bars to voting rights at an established age of majority.
The only other broadly accepted exclusion from the franchise is non-citizen-
ship. It largely goes without question in international discourse and aca-
demic scholarship that “universal” suffrage means “adult” suffrage. This
assumption is for the most part simply taken for granted. Suffrage is for
those who happen to have existed on the planet for at least 18 years.
Exploring Children’s Suffrage puts this widespread assumption into
question. It does so by developing a critical and interdisciplinary scholarly
discussion around the meaning and possibilities for children’s rights to
vote. To this end, the authors bring their diverse expertise to four central
questions running throughout the volume: What intellectual, historical,
and other assumptions underlie the exclusion of children from the fran-
chise? Is children’s suffrage compatible with democratic ideals? What
effects would children’s suffrage likely have on children, adults, societies,
and democracies? And what might children’s voting rights look like in
practice? These and other questions open up an intellectual space to think
carefully and multidimensionally about children’s suffrage beyond the
usual historical and scholarly norms.
Let me be clear: The discussion in this book is about voting rights for
all children, starting at birth. There is already a significant literature on
 1 INTRODUCTION: CHILDREN’S SUFFRAGE STUDIES 3

lowering voting ages to 16. The present volume is instead about what it
might mean to eliminate voting ages altogether. It puts into question the
very notion of using age as a barrier. The debate about lowering voting
ages by two or so years often revolves around how much older youth are
similar in their democratic capacities to adults. But in this book, we exam-
ine the more difficult and radical question of what it means to rethink
voting rights beyond the normative model of adulthood. This exploration
requires a different and more profound critique of democratic life. It puts
into question the very notion of the adult as the proper marker of enfran-
chisement. A similarly profound rethinking took place when voting rights
were extended to other groups like the poor, minorities, and women. The
question then was not whether such groups are sufficiently like wealthy
white men. The question, rather, was whether democratic norms them-
selves needed to be rethought. In this book too, the authors ask, not
whether children are like adults or not, but whether children can be
included as children in the democratic franchise.
The following chapters do not presume that suffrage is the only demo-
cratic value. Suffrage is merely one democratic right among others.
Children are already exercising many democratic rights that are often
more powerful and effective: rights to organize, protest, speak freely, use
mass media, access information, campaign for change, lobby representa-
tives, and much else. Teenage climate activists like Thunberg have exer-
cised a stronger influence in global politics than most adults and politicians
could dream of. What is more, voting rights vary widely in their actual
usefulness. Only 6.4 percent of the world’s population is currently esti-
mated by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index (2021) to
live in a “full democracy” with free and fair elections and responsive gov-
ernance. A further 39.3 percent live in a “flawed democracy” that contains
systemic democratic deficiencies, and 17.2 percent in a “hybrid regime”
that is partly authoritarian. Voting in the vast majority of the world’s
democracies has little real influence in otherwise flawed and corrupt politi-
cal systems.
Nevertheless, it is also the case that the right to vote is central to demo-
cratic life, indeed arguably the most fundamental democratic right. This is
why non-wealthy men, minorities, and women over history have fought
and sometimes died to gain it. However effectual or not it may be, and
however much it is actually used, few who have the right to vote would
voluntarily give it up. At the very least, possessing the right to vote invests
the holder with democratic dignity. It names you as a full rather than
4 J. WALL

second-class citizen. And it puts pressure on those in power to take your

group’s interests into greater consideration than they are otherwise likely
to do. It is at the least rather disingenuous for adults to claim that children
do not need suffrage because it means little anyway.
This book brings together authors who have been writing on the topic
of children’s suffrage for some time. All are prominent researchers in their
respective fields. They are international experts in childhood studies, polit-
ical science, philosophy, history, economics, medicine, and law. The aim is
to bring these so far fairly isolated explorations together into a broad and
rich conversation that can establish the foundations for a new scholarly
field of children’s suffrage studies. Such a field would explore children’s
rights to vote as a critical academic subject. Like, for example, critical race
studies or queer studies, it would unite disparate disciplines around a com-
mon set of concerns. And it would embrace both interdisciplinarity and
intersectionality. It would seek to engage not only scholars’ own fields of
study but also new fields that can shed different kinds of light on the issues
at hand.
The present volume also grows out of a series of discussions among its
authors, other scholars, and child and adult children’s voting activists at
the Children’s Voting Colloquium. This online organization, co-founded
in 2020 by myself and children’s suffrage activist Robin Chen, is a global
community of around a hundred researchers and activists. It meets online
monthly to share ideas, hear from experts, and support initiatives. It has
worked with numerous organizations advocating for children’s suffrage
such as Amnesty International UK, Children’s Voice Association (Finland),
the National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) (US), KRÄTZÄ
(Germany), Neighborhood Children’s Parliaments (India), YouthLaw
Aotearoa (New Zealand), the National Large Families Association (Italy),
and Freechild Institute (US). And it has maintained a lively and ever-
growing discussion of the question of children’s enfranchisement through
its website (https://www.childrenvoting.org), blog posts, media, and
listserv.
What these discussions make clear is that there is growing interest in the
question of children’s suffrage from many directions in many parts of the
world. But equally clear is the fact that such explorations are taking place
largely in isolation—isolation from one another and isolation from research
and social communities. It is eye-opening to hear new arguments about,
for example, children’s voting as a potential factor in longer-term eco-
nomic policymaking. And it is inspiring to learn, for example, how
 1 INTRODUCTION: CHILDREN’S SUFFRAGE STUDIES 5

child-led groups like KRÄTZÄ in Germany fought numerous campaigns

for children’s suffrage in the 1990s through the courts and local legisla-
tures. But these developments are taking place often separately. The issue
time and again makes little headway because it is confronted with pro-
found historical assumptions and fears that block critical reflection. A
more complex discussion demands wider intellectual and cultural change
as well as more careful and integrated scrutiny. The conversation needs to
be broadened and deepened.
The purpose of the present volume, then, is to explore children’s suf-
frage in critical and interdisciplinary depth as a meaningful possibility for
democratic societies. The chapters take up diverse aspects of the issue and
come to different and sometimes competing conclusions. But in each case,
the attempt is made to shed as much scholarly light as possible on chil-
dren’s age in relation to the franchise. In this regard, the volume parallels
early debates that took place within the past two centuries about enfran-
chising the poor, minorities, women, and younger adults. As then, the
issues arise from movements on the ground but also engage philosophical,
legal, economic, and other kinds of analysis. As often then also, democra-
cies today are in significant peril, facing fundamental threats from authori-
tarianism, corruption, and neoliberalism. Rethinking the franchise in light
of another marginalized group might once again help to save democracy
from itself.

The Intellectual Context

It is safe to say that children’s suffrage is almost never contemplated in
mainstream political, philosophical, legal, historical, sociological, or any
other type of scholarship. It is largely neglected even in the interdisciplin-
ary field of childhood studies, despite that field’s dedication to under-
standing children’s agency and power. Nevertheless, since the 1970s there
have been increasing attempts to explore the issue from various disciplin-
ary perspectives. These attempts cannot be said to constitute a broad con-
versation, taking place as they often do separately from one another. But
they do demonstrate a slowly rising interest in the question over the past
half century and a growing conviction in some quarters about the impor-
tance of the matter. In order to understand the discussions that take place
in this volume, it is helpful to have a sense of this prior intellectual context.
Critical scholarship on children’s voting can be traced to two influential
books published in the United States in 1974: Richard Farson’s Birthrights:
6 J. WALL

A Bill of Rights for Children and John Holt’s Escape from Childhood: The
Needs and Rights of Children. Both Farson, a psychologist, and Holt, an
educator, devote a chapter in their respective books to arguing on behalf
of suffrage for all children. For both, the right to vote is a matter of chil-
dren’s dignity. Farson focuses on children’s right to “liberation” from an
oppressive politics that systematically ignores their concerns: “Because
they are unable to vote, children do not have significant representation in
government processes. They are almost totally ignored by elected repre-
sentatives” (1974, 177). Holt describes children’s suffrage in a similar
manner as a matter of justice: “To be in any way subject to the laws of a
society without having any right or way to say what those should be is the
most serious injustice. It invites misrule, corruption, and tyranny”
(1974, 99). Also in 1974, the US legal scholar Patricia Wald makes a brief
reference to lowering voting ages to 12 or 13, since “many adolescents are
astonishingly well-versed in politics” (22). All these arguments equate
children’s suffrage to larger civil and political liberation movements taking
place in the US at the time and insist that children have a right to be
treated with equal justice.
Little further discussion of the question is found until two publications
in 1986. One, by the British journalism scholar Bob Franklin, draws on
Farson and Holt but is primarily concerned to explain in detail why it is
unjust to exclude children from rights to vote on grounds of their sup-
posed incompetence. “The presence or absence of rationality does not
justify the exclusion of children from political rights but the exclusion, if
anyone, of the irrational” (1986, 34). It is demonstrably untrue, Franklin
claims, that adults vote competently and children would not. “It is adults
who have chosen to pollute their environment with industrial, chemical
and nuclear waste, fought wars, built concentration camps, segregated
people because of the colour of their skin. … Since we do not believe that
adults should be denied rights because they make mistakes, it both incon-
sistent and unjust to argue for the exclusion of children on this ground”
(33). In the same year, the demographer Paul Demeny makes his famous
argument for extra “proxy” votes on behalf of children by their parents.
Now sometimes referred to as “Demeny” voting, the idea here is that,
given children’s large demographic stake in political decisions, each child
deserves a proxy vote via their parents so that their interests are equally
influential over representatives (1986).
In the 1990s, the discussion of children’s suffrage starts to diversify
into new fields of political science, economics, and law, as well as to peek
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 The darkest hour is always that before the dawn, it is said, even as
clouds are a prelude to sunshine.

It is chiefly in novels and on the stage, but seldom in real life, that
people start and scream, or faint and fall; so Alison, on finding herself
suddenly face to face with the object of all her dearest and tenderest
thoughts, felt only her colour change and her heart give a kind of leap
within her breast; while power so completely seemed to leave her limbs for
some moments that she would have slid on the carpet but for the support of
Bevil's caressing arms, and for more than a minute neither spoke, for great
emotion induces silence.

So she remained folded in his close embrace—content, safe in the

shelter of his arms, with her white face nestling on his breast, while he
showered kisses upon it and her hair.

'Captain Goring,' said the vicar, 'how did you discover that she was here
—with me?'

'She wrote to her old servant whither she had gone, and he informed me
without delay at my club. He did not distrust me, as you, sir, did.'

'I trust, Captain Goring, you will pardon that now, "as all is well that
ends well," replied the vicar, with a smile, and thinking, wisely, that he
might be rather de trop just then, he withdrew to another apartment.

Goring now then held her at arm's length to survey her face, it was so
long since he had last looked upon it, and then drew her close again to his
breast. After a time, he asked,

'What is all this that I have been told about your being a governess—
Alison, love, tell me?'

'I am one now—at least, I was one, in a house in Pembridge Square.'

'With a family called De Jobbyns—absurd name!'

'Yes.'
 'Is this a riddle—a joke, or what?' said he, giving his moustache an
almost angry twitch.

'No riddle or joke,' replied Alison, sweetly. 'I seemed to have no friend
in the world to aid me, and I had my bread to earn.'

'My poor darling!'

'Yes—poor indeed.'

'And you have left that woman?'

'No.'

'How?'

'She dismissed me bluntly and coarsely.'

'Why?' asked Goring, striking the floor with his spurred heel.

'I was dismissed with a month's salary, because I had been detected
wearing your likeness—here, in my locket.'

A smile that rippled into a laugh spread over the face of Goring, who,
recalling the mode in which he had been hunted by mother and daughter,
took in the whole situation.

Calm speech and connected utterance came now to both, and many
mutual explanations were made, and mutual tender assurances given more
than once; for both had much to relate and to hear; nor with both—Alison
especially—without false impressions that required removal.

'And you were actually in Antwerp too!' exclaimed Alison, when she
heard his story.

'I traced you there, only to lose you again—though many times I must
have passed the door of the very place where you lay ill. Oh, my darling,
what you must have endured!'
 Her transitory emotions of gratitude to Cadbury for his supposed
birthday gift made Goring laugh again when he saw her wonder and joy that
it had come from himself, and that she learned the erector of the marble
cross was himself also. Thus, when Bevil felt her tears and kisses on his
cheek, he thought that never were gifts so pleasantly repaid. With Alison, it
would all be rest hereafter. 'Trials and troubles might come,' as a writer has
it; though further trials and troubles seemed at a low computation just then;
'but nothing would tear her great tree up by the roots again.'

Alison felt just a little emotion of shame, and that she kept to herself.
He had never, even for an instant, doubted her love (though he had feared
her father's influence), but she had not been without twinges of doubt,
especially after the day of the Four-in-Hand meeting by the Serpentine.

'How trivial, at first, seem the events that rule our lives—that shape our
destinies—our future,' said Goring. 'Had I not, by the merest chance, met
poor old Archie, heaven alone knows when I might have traced you.'

Hour after hour passed by, and she forgot all about the vicar, and even
of where they were.

She would recal the past time at Chilcote, when the first vague emotion
of happiness in his presence and his society—pleasure that was almost,
strange to say, a kind of sweet pain—stole over her; when she was half-
afraid to meet his eye, and when each stolen glance at the other led to much
secret perturbation of spirit, and when a touch of the hand seemed to reveal
something that was new, as the glamour of a first love stole into the hearts
of both.

How long, long ago, seemed that day on which they rode with the
buckhounds, and took their fences together side by side.

We have not much more to relate, as in a little time they were to glide
pleasantly away into the unnoticed mass of married folks; yet to Alison it
would be always delightful to think that she had, at her will and bidding, a
fine manly fellow like Bevil Goring—one whom brave men had been proud
to follow—for she had a keen appreciation of soldierly renown; and he had
more than a paragraph to his name in the Annual Army List.
 We have said, we think, in a preceding chapter that he wrote to his
solicitors at Gray's Inn an important letter concerning the acquisition of
certain property at Chilcote; thus when he took Archie Auchindoir into his
service as a personal valet (which he did forthwith), great was the
astonishment of the old man on first entering his master's rooms in
Piccadilly at what he saw there, and a cry of joy escaped him and he almost
wept.

There hung all the old family pictures, and there were many a relic and
chattel dearly prized by Sir Ranald and Alison too, in that superstition of
the heart, which few sensitive or affectionate natures are without.

There on the sideboard was the great silver tankard, the gift of Queen
Elizabeth—the Bride of the Bruce—filled with red wine and emptied on
hundreds of occasions by many successions of Cheynes, even after the 24th
of June, 1314, was nigh forgotten, and above it hung the portraits of the two
pale, haughty, yet dashing and noble-looking cavalier brothers, with their
love-locks and long rapiers, who fell in battle for the King of Scotland, and
Archie, greeting them as old friends, passed his shrivelled hands tenderly
and caressingly over the unconscious canvas, as if he could scarcely believe
his eyes.

'A' for her, a' for her—God bless him!' he muttered, knowing well why
Goring had rescued these objects from Sir Ranald's creditors.

In Piccadilly, Archie, though rather a puzzle to Goring's other servants

—his grooms, coachman, and so forth—found himself 'in clover;' and, till
the marriage came off, Alison was to remain with the family of the vicar,
who was to perform the ceremony, at which little Netty Dalton figured as a
bridesmaid.

After all she had undergone, and had feared she might yet have to
undergo, she was again with Goring—his strong arms round her, his lips
upon her cheek and brow!

She was at times confused, bewildered—unable to comprehend it all.

She could but lay her head upon his breast and resign herself to the rapture
of the occasion, and close her eyes as if it would be happiness even if she
opened them no more.

How joyous was that mute embrace—that love-making without words

—the spell that neither knew how—or wished—to break! All her past woes,
and all her future hopes, seemed merged in the joy of the present time;
while the pressure of Bevil's hand, his impassioned murmur, his fond gaze
and studious tenderness, his attention to every wish and want, caused a
sense of joy in her soul of which it had never been conscious before.

As Jerry said, in his off-hand way, when he visited them, like Bella and
himself, 'they were in a high state of sentimental gush.'

Now she knew that she belonged to Goring, and he to her, and that the
life and love of each belonged to each other, that they would be always
together till death—a distant event, let us hope—parted them; that his
handsome face would never smile on another woman as it smiled on her;
and that no other woman's lips would be touched by him as hers had been
on the day she ceased to be Alison Cheyne of Essilmont and that ilk.

THE END.

LONDON: PRINTED BY DUNCAN MACDONALD BLENHEIM HOUSE

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS CHEYNE
OF ESSILMONT, VOLUME 3 (OF 3) ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S.

copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in
these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it
in the United States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of
this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept
and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and
may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the
terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of
the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as
creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research.
Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given
away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with
eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject
to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
 PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free

distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or
any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and

Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree
to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be
bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from
the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in
paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be

used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people
who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a
few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic
works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.
See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with
Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the
collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the
individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the
United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in
the United States and you are located in the United States, we do
not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing,
performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the
work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of
course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™
mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely
sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name
associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of
this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its
attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without
charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also
govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most
countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the
United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms
of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying,
performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this
work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes
no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in
any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other

immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must
appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™
work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or
with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is
accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
 This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived

from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a
notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright
holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the
United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must
comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through
1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted

with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted
with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of
this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project

Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a
part of this work or any other work associated with Project
Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this

electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form,
including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you
provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work
in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in
the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,

performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing

access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:

• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the
method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The
fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark,
but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty
payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on
which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your
periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked
as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information
about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation.”

• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who

notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that
s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
 copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and
discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project
Gutenberg™ works.

• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of

any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in
the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90
days of receipt of the work.

• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™

electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend

considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe
and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating
the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may
be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to,
incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a
copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or
damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer
codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except

for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph
1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner
of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party
distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this
agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and
expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO
REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF
WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE
FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY
DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE
TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL,
PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE
NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you

discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it,
you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by
sending a written explanation to the person you received the work
from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must
return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity
that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a
replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work
electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to
give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in
lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may
demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the
problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in
paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied

warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted
by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the
Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the
Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any
volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability,
costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or
indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur:
(a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b)
alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project
Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of

Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.
It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and
donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the

assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a
secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help,
see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project

Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,

Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to

the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without
widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can
be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the
widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small
donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax
exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating

charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and
keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in
locations where we have not received written confirmation of
compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of
compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where

we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no
prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in
such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make

any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of
other ways including checks, online payments and credit card
donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project

Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed

editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,

including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how
to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.