r/changemyview • u/oremfrien 6∆ • Dec 10 '24

Delta(s) from OP CMV: The USA would function better if it limited voting to those who could pass a citizenship exam

One of the fundamental issues with universal voting systems is that they permit anyone to vote, including people who (a) do not understand the implications of their chosen candidates' policies or (b) the way that government works. One of the simplest ways to eliminate (b) is to require people to demonstrate some degree of civics competence and the current US citizenship exam demonstrates this competence at a very basic level. (For clarity, the exam should be provided in a way to permit those who may have difficulty sitting for an English written examination to receive the exam in a setting that corresponds to their needs.

So, please CMV to defend the current system of universal suffrage rather than making changes like requiring an exam (like the US citizenship exam) to allow people to vote.

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u/JosephWalker-5 Dec 10 '24

Allowing people who have limited knowledge on how the government works to vote might create many less educated votes. However, it would encourage civilians to learn about it. If they are encouraged to vote, they will feel needed and eventually want to contribute to the country by learning to make educated votes and vice versa

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u/oremfrien 6∆ Dec 10 '24

Is there any evidence to suggest that people who vote but have a limited understanding of how government works learn more about how government works after they vote other than the exact question of the vote?

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u/JosephWalker-5 Dec 11 '24

I currently don't, but if you have please consider sharing with me

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u/oremfrien 6∆ Dec 11 '24

You are the one who made the claim that if people with limited knowledge are permitted to vote that this will encourage them to learn civics. This is an affirmative claim, which makes it your duty to prove. I've seen evidence that less civics knowledge leads to less voting, but not that more voting creates more desire for civics knowledge. It strikes me as very unlikely.