Ash Center logo

Policy Brief  

Lift Every Voice: The Urgency of Universal Civic Duty Voting

By:

Programs

Reimagining Democracy Program

Issues

Institutional Reforms

Download the PDF

Imagine an American democracy remade by its citizens in the very image of its promise, a society where the election system is designed to allow citizens to perform their most basic civic duty with ease. Imagine that all could vote without obstruction or suppression. Imagine Americans who now solemnly accept their responsibilities to sit on juries and to defend our country in a time of war taking their obligations to the work of self-government just as seriously. Imagine elections in which 80 percent or more of our people cast their ballots—broad participation in our great democratic undertaking by citizens of every race, heritage and class, by those with strongly-held ideological beliefs, and those with more moderate or less settled views. And imagine how all of this could instill confidence in our capacity for common action.

This report is offered with these aspirations in mind and is rooted in the history of American movements to expand voting rights. Our purpose is to propose universal civic duty voting as an indispensable and transformative step toward full electoral participation. Our nation’s current crisis of governance has focused unprecedented public attention on intolerable inequities and demands that Americans think boldly and consider reforms that until now seemed beyond our reach.

Related Resources

Surveying Sportsmanship as a Framework for Civility
A red and blue graphic with versus in the middle at a sports stadium.

Q+A

Surveying Sportsmanship as a Framework for Civility

Sports may seem far removed from the challenges facing American democracy, but both rely on a shared commitment to rules, competition, and respect for opponents. As political polarization deepens, some scholars are looking beyond traditional civic institutions and asking whether the values that govern athletics can help strengthen democratic life. New research from the Ronald Reagan Center on Civility and Democracy suggests the answer may be yes.

Terms of Engagement—Mapping Risks to the 2026 Elections

Podcast

Terms of Engagement—Mapping Risks to the 2026 Elections

Samantha Tarazi, co-founder and CEO of the nonpartisan Voting Rights Lab, joins Terms of Engagement co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to discuss a new tool that predicts where threats to election integrity are most likely to appear this upcoming voting season.

More on this Issue

Reimagining Democracy 2026 Summer Reading List
A collage of book covers, podcasts, and reports from the Reimagining Democracy summer reading list.

Feature

Reimagining Democracy 2026 Summer Reading List

Tova Wang, director of research projects in democratic practice at the Ash Center, shares her top picks for summer reads focused on making democracy more resilient, responsive, and inclusive.

Allen Lab Fellow Spotlight: City Charters Are Deliberative Democracy’s Friends

Commentary

Allen Lab Fellow Spotlight: City Charters Are Deliberative Democracy’s Friends

Allen Lab Fellow Tyler Fisher examines the untapped potential of city charters as a vehicle for deliberative democracy, arguing that advocates should work to embed tools like citizen assemblies, participatory budgeting, and town meetings directly into the governing architecture of cities, institutionalizing deliberative democracy one municipality at a time.

Work in the Age of AI: Reflections from After Neoliberalism

Commentary

Work in the Age of AI: Reflections from After Neoliberalism

Allen Lab member Charlie Covit reflects on the After Neoliberalism conference and examines the intersection of artificial intelligence and the future of work, arguing that AI forces a democratic reckoning with the meaning of labor itself and that an economy which generates abundance while stripping citizens of purpose and dignity undermines the very foundation of democratic life.