Presumptive inclusion

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Presumptive inclusion means assuming something is included by default and only excluding it if there’s a clear reason. It’s used in fields like democracy and medicine. In democracy, some theorists want voting rights to be protected by default for everyone, and only taken away if the government can show a good reason. A common example is youth suffrage. Eric Wiland argues, “Children should have the right to vote unless there is a good reason to disenfranchise them.” The idea is similar to innocent until proven guilty: freedoms should not be taken away without strong justification. Some people treat voting as a form of speech, so compulsory voting is controversial. If voting is a right, the same standard used for adults could apply to kids, potentially enfranchising many more people.