Description: The Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy is an interdisciplinary publication that explores the intersection of provocative legal issues with public and social policy. By examining salient topics, such as energy, economics, healthcare, and social justice, the Journal seeks to introduce and advance discourse consistent with Wake Forest’s motto of Pro Humanitate.
Bryce R. Nolan
The only people who have the necessary level of social responsibility to vote intelligently are those who have demonstrated a willingness to place themselves in the line of fire to protect their society. At least, that is the central philosophy of Robert A. Heinlein’s classic, controversial novel, Starship Troopers . [1] The right to vote — the “sovereign franchise”—is exclusive to military veterans of the “Federal Service.” The book’s society—the “Terran Federation”—claims to have strong justifications for
The Federation’s philosophy places the human survival instinct as the ultimate source of moral behavior. [2] Thus, to the Federation, the scaling-up of that model of morality to the national level provides, at least to them, the only effective way to create serious, rational voters. The Federation’s citizens scoff at the folly of so-called ‘unlimited democracies.’ Specifically, they question the wisdom of a universal franchise absent a method of ensuring that the franchise is exercised responsibly while sti