The Reform that Never Happened: A History of Children’s Suffrage Restrictions

Abstract

AbstractIn this chapter we discuss the history of children’s voting rights in Sweden. Despite the remarkable strengthening of children’s rights in Sweden in the late twentieth century, and the fact that proposals to expand children’s right to vote have continuously been filed, this has not resulted in a lowering of the voting age after 1974 when it was set to 18 years of age. At the same time a growing number of other countries have lowered the voting age. In this chapter we explore historical restrictions on children’s voting rights and possible explanations to why age limits to voting rights have not been lowered. The answers can be sought in how the age barriers on voting have been situated in relation to other political questions, to party-political dynamics, and to how the institutional framework around children’s rights has developed. The voting age has not been lowered largely because of institutional path dependencies and political barriers to change. Partly, apparently, because of the prolific development of democratic institutions and child inclusive policies. The Swedish case serves as an illustration of the complexity of the historical factors that influence changes in the age of voting, and the interplay between national and international processes.