On moderating American politics

If the people who turn up voluntarily at the polls reinforce our worst political instincts toward conflict and obstruction, we could dilute their influence by roping absolutely everyone into the process.

That’s how Miller-McCune sums up William Galston’s cure for extreme partisanship. Galston is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Galston’s idea to mandate voting is part of a larger paper titled Economic Growth and Institutional Innovation: Outlines of a Reform Agenda. Long, but worth a read. Galston points to Australia as a model for mandatory voting. Electoral participation there tops 95%.