What Is My Duty as a Voter?: Frederick Douglass's Framework for the Civic Responsibility of Voting

Abstract In a series of election cycles preceding and during the American Civil War, Frederick Douglass reflected on the question of how abolitionists like himself should conduct themselves with respect to elections, political parties, and candidates. Scholars often characterize Douglass as someone who grappled with balancing his unwavering moral principles and the practical demands and constraints of politics. They also trace a trajectory in his public life increasingly toward pragmatism. This essay argues that Douglass expounds a general framework for citizens thinking through how to fulfill the civic responsibility of voting. Douglass posits a “rule of political action,” which he expresses in the following terms: “Do all the good you can, and do no harm.” Through an analysis of his speeches and writings, this essay demonstrates that Douglass's standard calls on voters to maximize the short-term good they may achieve while simultaneously avoiding any course of action that would be detrimental to the long-term health of American civic culture and the prospects for future political action. Douglass thereby offers a distinctive perspective on the civic duty of voting in our contemporary era of polarization, negative partisanship, and dissatisfaction with the major political parties in the United States.