La democratie post mortem

Contemporary liberal political theorists seek to be neutral regarding controversial metaphysical or religious beliefs. People disagree about what happens after we die. Yet modern democratic structures only enfranchise the living, thus disregarding the possibility that the dead have a legitimate interest in the contemporary polity. I present a practical way to enfranchise the dead, based on the notion of a fixed franchise. Each adult would receive a fixed stock of ten votes. Voting at any particular election would be optional, and any votes left unused on a person's death could be left in the hands of a designated proxy. Voters could leave binding instructions for proxies, including instruction on how to consult the original voter's post-mortem wishes. As it is possible to enfranchise the dead in this way, liberals who still prefer traditional democratic structures must explain how this preference is consistent with liberal neutrality.