Monks and lay communities in late antique Gaul: the evidence of the Eusebius Gallicanus sermons

The Eusebius Gallicanus sermons reveal the congruity in late antique Gaul between the models of pastoral care for monks and lay Christians. For these Gallic clergy, there was little antagonism between monastery and world. Preachers to both audiences share a common central concern with the defence of community and in this respect they differ from some of their contemporaries. The sermon collection demonstrates that the ascetic world in Gaul was far from monolithic and that pastoral care could be highly individualised and responsive to the demands of local communities.     

Does compulsory voting violate a right not to vote?

It is sometimes claimed that compulsory voting violates a particular right not to vote. For some, this assumed right is as fundamental as the right to vote. The existence of such a right, however, has attracted little sustained scholarly attention. This article explores from a political theory perspective whether the alleged ‘right not to vote’ is deserving the same legal and moral protection as the right to vote. I argue on two broad grounds that it is not. First, not all rights are capable of being legally waived and voting is one of them. Second, voting is a right but it is also a duty; it is a duty-right. Therefore, even though many people do fail to vote, doing so does not seem to constitute the exercise of any particular right, nor should it be legally recognised as such.

有人认为强制性投票侵犯了不投票的权利。对于很多人来说,不投票的权利跟投票的权利同等重要。不过这种权利却未得到学术界的持续关注。本文从政治学的角度探讨了所谓的“不投票权”是否应像投票权一样享有法律上和道德上的保护。笔者基于更宽泛的理由认为不应当。首先,并非所有权利都是可以在法律上免除的,投票权即是。其次,投票是权利,也是义务;是权利—义务。所以,尽管许多人没有投票,但这并不构成某种权利,法律上也不应被视作权利。