Mandated Choice Policies:: When are they preferable?

Jens Damgaard Thaysen; Andreas Albertsen

doi:10.1177/1065912920936361

Mandated Choice Policies: When are they preferable?

Jens Damgaard Thaysen, Andreas Albertsen

Department of Political Science

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

178 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Under mandated choice policies, people are free to choose whichever option they prefer, but “choosing not to choose” is penalized. In Australia, voting is mandatory, and abstaining is penalized with a fine. In New Zealand and several American states, it is mandatory for those who want to obtain a driver’s license that they decide whether to register as organ donors. If they fail to do so, they will not receive a driver’s license. Proponents of such policies stress that they may be the least autonomy-infringing ways of achieving some good and provide society with knowledge about people’s preferences and are, partly for these reasons, preferable to employing defaults. This article compares mandated choice in voting and donor registration with respect to the ends served, how a mandated choice policy will serve these ends, the distribution of burdens, and the nature of the possible options. It is argued that mandated choice is more attractive in the context of donor registration.

Original language	English
Journal	Political Research Quarterly
Volume	74
Issue	3
Pages (from-to)	744-755
Number of pages	12
ISSN	1065-9129
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912920936361
Publication status	Published - Sept 2021
Event	50. Årsmøde i dansk selskab for statskundskab 2018 - Hotel Vejle Fjord, Vejle, Denmark Duration: 1 Nov 2018 → 2 Nov 2018 http://dpsa.dk/pages/page.asp?pid=3&l=dk

Conference

Conference	50. Årsmøde i dansk selskab for statskundskab 2018
Location	Hotel Vejle Fjord
Country/Territory	Denmark
City	Vejle
Period	01/11/2018 → 02/11/2018
Internet address	http://dpsa.dk/pages/page.asp?pid=3&l=dk

Keywords

active choice
compulsory voting
mandated choice
mandatory choice
organ donation
voting ethics
ENGAGEMENT
DILEMMA

Access to Document

10.1177/1065912920936361

Mandated Choice Policies_Accepted manuscript_2020Accepted manuscript, 562 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Political equality and voting matters
Albertsen, A. B. (Participant)
01/04/2018 → 31/10/2019
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "Mandated Choice Policies:: When are they preferable?",

abstract = "Under mandated choice policies, people are free to choose whichever option they prefer, but “choosing not to choose” is penalized. In Australia, voting is mandatory, and abstaining is penalized with a fine. In New Zealand and several American states, it is mandatory for those who want to obtain a driver{\textquoteright}s license that they decide whether to register as organ donors. If they fail to do so, they will not receive a driver{\textquoteright}s license. Proponents of such policies stress that they may be the least autonomy-infringing ways of achieving some good and provide society with knowledge about people{\textquoteright}s preferences and are, partly for these reasons, preferable to employing defaults. This article compares mandated choice in voting and donor registration with respect to the ends served, how a mandated choice policy will serve these ends, the distribution of burdens, and the nature of the possible options. It is argued that mandated choice is more attractive in the context of donor registration.",

keywords = "active choice, compulsory voting, mandated choice, mandatory choice, organ donation, voting ethics, ENGAGEMENT, DILEMMA",

author = "Thaysen, {Jens Damgaard} and Andreas Albertsen",

year = "2021",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1177/1065912920936361",

language = "English",

volume = "74",

pages = "744--755",

journal = "Political Research Quarterly",

issn = "1065-9129",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",

number = "3",

note = "50. {\AA}rsm{\o}de i dansk selskab for statskundskab 2018 ; Conference date: 01-11-2018 Through 02-11-2018",

url = "http://dpsa.dk/pages/page.asp?pid=3&l=dk",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Mandated Choice Policies:

T2 - 50. Årsmøde i dansk selskab for statskundskab 2018

AU - Thaysen, Jens Damgaard

AU - Albertsen, Andreas

PY - 2021/9

Y1 - 2021/9

N2 - Under mandated choice policies, people are free to choose whichever option they prefer, but “choosing not to choose” is penalized. In Australia, voting is mandatory, and abstaining is penalized with a fine. In New Zealand and several American states, it is mandatory for those who want to obtain a driver’s license that they decide whether to register as organ donors. If they fail to do so, they will not receive a driver’s license. Proponents of such policies stress that they may be the least autonomy-infringing ways of achieving some good and provide society with knowledge about people’s preferences and are, partly for these reasons, preferable to employing defaults. This article compares mandated choice in voting and donor registration with respect to the ends served, how a mandated choice policy will serve these ends, the distribution of burdens, and the nature of the possible options. It is argued that mandated choice is more attractive in the context of donor registration.

AB - Under mandated choice policies, people are free to choose whichever option they prefer, but “choosing not to choose” is penalized. In Australia, voting is mandatory, and abstaining is penalized with a fine. In New Zealand and several American states, it is mandatory for those who want to obtain a driver’s license that they decide whether to register as organ donors. If they fail to do so, they will not receive a driver’s license. Proponents of such policies stress that they may be the least autonomy-infringing ways of achieving some good and provide society with knowledge about people’s preferences and are, partly for these reasons, preferable to employing defaults. This article compares mandated choice in voting and donor registration with respect to the ends served, how a mandated choice policy will serve these ends, the distribution of burdens, and the nature of the possible options. It is argued that mandated choice is more attractive in the context of donor registration.

KW - active choice

KW - compulsory voting

KW - mandated choice

KW - mandatory choice

KW - organ donation

KW - voting ethics

KW - ENGAGEMENT

KW - DILEMMA

U2 - 10.1177/1065912920936361

DO - 10.1177/1065912920936361

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1065-9129

VL - 74

SP - 744

EP - 755

JO - Political Research Quarterly

JF - Political Research Quarterly

IS - 3

Y2 - 1 November 2018 through 2 November 2018

ER -

Mandated Choice Policies: When are they preferable?

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

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Projects

Political equality and voting matters

Cite this