Thinking outside the box

摘要

A wave of interest in lowering the voting age is sweeping the UK, catalysed by Scotland's recent independence referendum. For the first time in the country, the ballot was open to people aged 16 and 17. Other countries watched this political experiment closely and are looking afresh at their voting age limits - but politics, not evidence, is generally driving the discussion. Societies have long had a raft of legal boundaries between adolescence and adulthood, decreeing at what age we can or cannot do things such as drive, drink alcohol or vote. In most countries, 18 is the age of majority for most purposes, but there are all sorts of exceptions. The US has probably the most diverse and logically inconsistent array of limits. You can drive at 16 but not drink alcohol until 21. In between those two extremes fall the ages at which you can see a movie intended for adults, enter into a legally binding contract, or buy cigarettes. Moreover, in most US states 12-year-olds who commit a serious violent crime can be tried as adults, because they are viewed as "old enough to know better", whereas a 25-year-old with a clean driving record might not be able to rent a car without paying an "immaturity premium".