The Voting Rights Paradox: Ideology and Incompleteness of American Democratic Practice

This Essay describes the “voting rights paradox”—the factthat despite America’s professed commitment to universalenfranchisement, voting rights legislation throughout U.S.history has arisen in some states to serve antidemocratic,exclusionary ends. This Essay argues that this contradictioncomes into focus when the right to vote is understood as havingas an ideological driving force based on worthiness foradmission to the franchise. This ideology of worthiness persistsbecause the right to vote is dependent on political decisions leftto the political branches and the majority’s willingness to allowpropaganda to influence the scope of the franchise.Ultimately, this Essay argues that the voting rights paradoxis effectively the “invisible hand” influencing the American lawof democracy. The only way out of the paradox is to reorientvoting rights towards a communitarian conception that fostersan authentic understanding of a universalist right to vote.

Thismust be expressed by (and coupled with) fundamental,structural transformations in the mechanisms for allowingcitizens to exercise their voting rights.