Must We Vote, or At Least Stay Informed?
Intuitively, the reason we care so much about enfranchisement is that we want a say in how our society is run. We want the option to intervene when it looks like an incompetent candidate for office might be elected if we stand idly by. But often it may seem to us that all the candidates are equally competent, for all intents and purposes. Then there's no need to vote. So what matters is not so much actually voting as having the power to vote when necessary. I owe this point to the real MVP, Kane B . But this is too superficial. A moment's reflection raises the question, what good is the power to vote when necessary if you don't know when voting is necessary? Simple. It's worth jack shit, unless you decide to vote anyway. So if we want our voting power to be worth something even though we only vote when it seems called for, we need to at least be aware of when a vote is called for—when it might well make an important difference. Does this mean we're obligated t