The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library Presents E.J. Dionne Jr. and Miles Rapoport in conversation with the AJC’s Greg Bluestein - 100% Democracy

The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library Presents E.J. Dionne Jr. and Miles Rapoport in conversation with the AJC’s Greg Bluestein - 100% Democracy

Thursday, Apr 21, 2022 7:00 PM

Location:
The Carter Center
453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30307

A timely and paradigm-shifting argument that all members of a democracy must participate in elections, by a leading political expert and Washington Post journalist.

Today’s headlines are filled with arguments over restrictions on the right to vote and attempts to expand it. But what if we leapt over the current argument, and made a commitment to a ‘100% Democracy’, an election process where every citizen has the right to vote and full opportunities to do so—but also the duty to vote, a requirement to participate in our national choices? 

The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and A Cappella Books welcome E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport to The Carter Center for a discussion on their important new book,”100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting” on Thursday, April 21, 2022 at 7 PM. The authors will appear in conversation with Greg Bluestein, state politics reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

This event is free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the venue. Masks are required.

About the Book

Americans are required to pay taxes, serve on juries, get their kids vaccinated, get driver’s licenses, and sometimes go to war for their country. So why not ask—or require—every American to vote. 

In 100% Democracy, E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport argue that universal participation in our elections should be a cornerstone of our system. It would be the surest way to protect against voter suppression and the active disenfranchisement of a large share of our citizens. And it would create a system true to the Declaration of Independence’s aspirations by calling for a government based on the consent of all of the governed.

It’s not as radical or utopian as it sounds: in Australia, where everyone is required to vote (Australians can vote “none of the above,” but they have to show up), 91.9 percent of Australians voted in the last major election in 2019, versus 60.1 percent in America’s 2016 presidential race. Australia hosts voting-day parties and actively celebrates this key civic duty.

It is time for the United States to take a major leap forward and recognize voting as both a fundamental civil right and a solemn civic duty required of every eligible U.S. citizen. 

About the Authors

E.J. Dionne is the author of Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country and co-author (with Miles Rapoport) of 100% Democracy (The New Press). He is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, university professor at Georgetown University, and visiting professor at Harvard University. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

Miles Rapoport is the Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School. He formerly served in the Connecticut state legislature and as secretary of the state. He also served as president of Demos and of Common Cause. The co-author (with E.J. Dionne) of 100% Democracy (The New Press), he lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.

About the Conversation Partner

Greg Bluestein is a political reporter who covers state politics for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He also contributes to the Political Insider blog and Jolt newsletter, hosts the “Politically Georgia” podcast, co-hosts shows on WSB and Georgia Public Broadcasting outlets, and is a frequent guest on local and national TV and radio programs. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia with degrees in journalism and political science, and lives with his wife and two daughters in metro Atlanta.