by 
The Founders of the United States were more well-read and thought more about the concepts around government than the average person in the United States today. While the typical modern American will spend hours of his day amused by short cat videos, the Founders spent their time as lawyers, playing instruments, and taking care of their property. You can see the architecture they attempted to set up in some of the items that the modern American thinks are in the way– states rights, the Electoral College, and State Governments voting for their senators.
Though we have lost or choose to ignore or not believe in the why of things anymore, these items are still existing, and one of these things is who was able to vote when the country first started.
Voting in the states around the founding of the nation was limited to land-owning males. This was partly because of tradition and things like coverture, and partly because those that owned land were the parties with skin in the game. Government meetings were held in the same place where a village held services, and without modern distractions, people were more involved in their local affairs. In this case, the group that was voting could vote for the best thing for everyone in the group after hearing from all– and the representative to the Constitutional Convention could accurately represent the will of the people.
Today, we have kept the same form, but butchered its function. Politicians have turned elections into popularity contests, changing the rules for the best shot at winning. Which is why they push for more people to vote, regardless of whether the voter knows anything about who they are voting for. Politicians want to have people vote for our name or their team because that way they can win the election and do whatever it is that the power will allow them to do. Which then leads to offering tax cuts or government handouts to try to win the popularity contest.
But this isn’t the way it was designed, and mandatory voting is not what is best for the country— whether it benefits your political party or not. It’s better to have an informed populace who is critical of the government, realizes its base desire for power, and seeks to limit that power and be a check on it, so that the people retain control of their nation. Sometimes the best thing for the people is freedom, not larger government, but we won’t get this when the only way to get elected is to promise things that only a larger government can provide.
