When voters are alienated against a political class that is out of touch, corrupt, inept, or indifferent to their voters, it's the voters fault. Inevitably, there are solutions. Geoff Hoon, leader of the Commons, is suggesting compulsory voting in the U.K., following Australia and Belgium. This is in response to a low turnout in the British May elections (61.5%) up from 2001 (59%). So, what good would compulsory voting do except alienate even more voters and give undue importance to the indifferent, uneducated, uncaring vote?

Maybe that's exactly why politicians want it. A voting public that reflects the undistinguished crop of candidates.