Thompson predicts evolution of fair elections process in the United States

Harvard political philosophy professor Dennis Thompson says creating a fair electoral process in the United States is simply a matter of time.

As part of the James A. Moffett '29 Lectures in Ethics, Thompson spoke yesterday afternoon in Dodds Auditorium about how the temporal nature of elections have implications for how they should be conducted.

"They are part of a sphere that requires special attention and somewhat different standards [from other political processes]," he said.

In his lecture, "Election Time: The Political Metaphysics of the Electoral Process," Thompson noted three temporal characteristics of elections. Elections are periodic, simultaneous in that voting occurs at one moment in history and final for a definite period of time.

Thompson applied these observations to what he described as three "peculiarities" in the election process. First, he questioned why representatives should be allowed to redraw the lines of their districts, in effect selecting whom they represent.

Because elections are periodic, Thompson said, they are a means by which "the current majority escapes domination of past majorities and can decide whether to replace old legislators."

Allowing legislators themselves to govern this process jeopardizes this goal, so redistricting should be left to independent commissions, Thompson said.

He further explained that elections are held simultaneously to ensure that everyone has equal incentive to vote as well as the same information on which to base their selection. Exit polls and projections made before the polls close distort these equalities, he said.

Thompson added that the civic quality of voting together as a nation is an important aspect of the process.

"For that reason, voting alone may be worse than bowling alone," he said.

The finality of elections explains why they are subject to many special restrictions, Thompson said. It is not because there is more at risk, but rather because the results are irreversible, that rules governing speech and financing of elections are in place.

"We accept regulations in the electoral realm that would be intolerable in other parts of our political life," Thompson said.

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He concluded that legislators should exert control over the election process.

"Every citizen has a claim to participate in the rules governing electoral politics," Thompson said, "because they follow a different rhythm."

Thompson is the founder and director of the University Center for Ethics and the Professions at Harvard. He chaired the politics department at Princeton before leaving for Harvard in 1986.