Demeny voting (or family voting) is a type of proxy voting where the provision of a political voice for children by allowing parents or guardians to vote on their behalf. The term is named after demographer Paul Demeny even though the concept predates him and is often pitched as a stop-gap measure for whatever ages suffrage is denied to youth. Under a Demeny voting system, parents would decide how to cast each child's proxy vote, and some systems could allow for a split vote if the parents' political views differ. Children would gain the right to vote either at a certain voting age or when they feel they are ready.
Etymology
Demeny voting is named after demographer Paul Demeny. Demeny argued that children "should not be left disenfranchised for some 18 years: let custodial parents exercise the children's voting rights until they come of age". Demeny's motivation behind proposing such a system was to "make the political system more responsive to the young generation's interests" and was part of a broader set of policy proposals aimed at combating the low fertility rate in certain countries.
History
The idea, however, is older than Demeny's idea; it was regularly discussed in France in the 1920s and was almost adopted by the National Assembly.
In Germany the idea was even first discussed in the 1910s. In the 1970s and the 1980s lawyers and political scientists began a discussion which is still going on. In 2003 and 2008 the German parliament had votes on whether to introduce a (which is the term in German), but the proposals were defeated. In 2011 Hermann started a comprehensive economic approach to discuss it.
Pieter Vanhuysse (head of research and Deputy Director at the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, Vienna) argued in 2013 that in Austria, where there are relatively strong pro-elderly policies, that "the time is ripe for at least opening a clear-headed and empirically informed democratic debate about the radical idea of giving each parent one half extra vote, to be used on behalf of each under-age child until that child reaches legal voting age".
Japan has discussed Demeny voting as a possible answer to its aging population, which gives disproportionate voice to the elderly as a result of their increasing numbers. This follows the publication of a paper by Reiko Aoki of the Centre for Intergenerational Studies at Hitotsubashi University and Rhema Vaithianathan of the University of Auckland. On 2 March 2011, the Centre for Intergenerational Studies at Hitotsubashi University hosted a conference on Demeny voting. Aoki and Vaithianathan have also conducted a number of surveys on voter attitude to Demeny Voting and found that a considerable percentage of respondents would cast their children's vote differently to their own. In July 2013, Nikkei in Japan wrote a major editorial supporting the idea as part of a debate on constitutional reform in Japan.
In Hungary, the ruling coalition has been advocating Demeny voting, but admitted in April 2011 that it probably won't come into practice for some time.
Paul Demeny discussed the idea on a CBC interview. Professor Miles Corak from the University of Ottawa has also written a blog on the idea and promoted it in Canada. He suggests that it is supported on a humanitarian basis since the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that children be given civil and political rights. He suggests that given the evidence that households where mothers control the purse-strings spend more on their children, it is mothers who ought to be given the proxy vote until the child comes of age. Professor Corak's thesis has been taken up by journalist-turned-politician Chrystia Freeland.
Arguments in favor
Aoki and Vaithianathan argue that Demeny voting is justified because it reduces gerontocracy. They calculate that Demeny voting in Japan would increase the parent voting bloc from 24% to 37% and lower the over-55-year-old voter-bloc from 43% to 35%.