Universal suffrage is often said to be a defining feature of democracy, but is not the reality for many elections around the world.

In this new piece for Political Quarterly with Jamie Underwood, we map the arguments for enfranchising all residents – and then the number of unenfranchised adults in the UK.

The conversations that take place in a democracy are a function of who can vote. Political parties tend to focus on those who have the legal power to vote and are likely to use that. Journalists tend to follow their lead in shaping the news agenda.

A wider franchise can lead to a wider set of viewpoints and perspectives being heard about the challenges and issues that societies are grappling with today.

Listening to others, after all, is an essential feature of a good democracy.

Read for free: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923x.70011