Why a Student-Run Democracy May Not be as Great as we Think

Here at UVa we have a student-run and student-elected government, and I am now skeptical of its merits. Each spring, student leaders are elected to different positions within student government, such as President of Student Council, Chair of the Honor Committee, and many others. There are also different referenda that students may vote on, which may affect the constitutions of these student-run organizations. UVa students receive an online ballot used to select next year’s student leaders and make other important decisions. But is this really the best process for selecting the most qualified candidates?

The first issue with this process is that voter participation is low. The Cavalier Daily reported that only 18.8% of the student body participated in the 2018 election for student council president. This is an alarmingly low percentage that implies that our government does not truly represent the student body. Even though electronic voting creates low voting costs, students still do not take the time to cast their vote because they do not have enough expected benefit to justify the small use of their time. My hypothesis is that most of those who vote have some kind of relationship with a given candidate, and therefore have more to gain by seeing their friend in power. If this hypothesis is true, then it would show that we are not necessarily electing the most qualified candidates, but rather the most popular.

The second issue with student elections is voter ignorance. Nobody knows about the constitutions of the Honor Committee or Student Council except for students within those organizations. Most UVa students have never met any of the candidates running for elected positions, let alone know anything about their proposed ideas or their experiences within their organizations. Even if all this information was available to voters, it would be irrational for them to spend the time learning everything about each vote. Considering this ignorance, why should students vote on decisions that they know nothing about? In my opinion, this is an example of when democracy is used unnecessarily. I believe that we should delegate this decision making to those within Student Council or Honor, because they are knowledgeable and informed about their organizations, unlike the greater student-body.