Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T05:56:41.644Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
Series:   Elements in Campaigns and Elections

Citizens Under Compulsory Voting: A Three-Country Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2023

Ruth Dassonneville ,
Thiago Barbosa ,
André Blais ,
Ian McAllister  and
Mathieu Turgeon
Ruth Dassonneville
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal
Thiago Barbosa
Affiliation:
Brazilian Federal Senate
André Blais
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal
Ian McAllister
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Canberra
Mathieu Turgeon
Affiliation:
Western University, Ontario

Summary

A burgeoning literature studies compulsory voting and its effects on turnout, but we know very little about how compulsory voting works in practice. In this Element, the authors fill this gap by providing an in-depth discussion of compulsory voting rules and their enforcement in Australia, Belgium, and Brazil. By analysing comparable public opinion data from these three countries, they shed light on citizens' attitudes toward compulsory voting. The Element examines citizens' perceptions, their knowledge of the system, and whether they support it. The authors connect this with information on citizens' reported turnout and vote choice to assess who is affected by mandatory voting and why. The work clarifies that there is no single system of compulsory voting. Each country has its own set of rules, and most voters are unaware of how they are enforced.
Get access

Keywords

compulsory votingsanctionsvoter turnoutpolitical knowledgepublic opinion
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Campaigns and Elections
Online ISBN: 9781009071116
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 12 October 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achen, C. and Blais, A. (2016). ‘Intention to vote, reported vote, and validated vote’. In Elking, J. A. and Farrell, D. M. (eds.), The act of voting: Identities, institutions and locale. London: Routledge, pp. 195–209.Google Scholar
Agência Câmara (2015). ‘Câmara rejeita voto facultativo e mantém obrigatoriedade atual’. www.camara.leg.br/noticias/461372-camara-rejeita-voto-facultativo-e-mantem-obrigatoriedade-atual/ (last accessed on 30 November 2022).Google Scholar
Senado, Agência (2017). ‘Propostas tornam o voto facultativo no Brasil’. www12.senado.leg.br/noticias/audios/2017/05/propostas-tornam-o-voto-facultativo-no-brasil (last consulted on 30 November 2022).Google Scholar
Ajzen, I., Fisbein, M., Lohmann, S., and Albarracín, D. (2018). ‘The influence of attitudes on behavior’. In Albarracín, D. and Johnson, B. T. (eds.), The handbook of attitudes, vol. 1, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, pp. 197–255.Google Scholar
Arnold, F. and Freier, R. (2016). ‘Only conservatives are voting in the rain: Evidence from German local and state elections’. Electoral Studies, 41, 216–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barber, S. (2016). ‘Federal election results 1901–2016’. https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2017-03/apo-nid75062.pdf (last consulted on 25 January 2022).Google Scholar
Bechtel, M. M., Hangartner, D., and Schmid, L. (2016). ‘Does compulsory voting increase support for leftist policy?’ American Journal of Political Science, 60(3), 752–67.Google Scholar
Bennett, S. C. (2005). Compulsory voting in Australian national elections. Canberra: Parliament of Australia Research Debrief.Google Scholar
Berinsky, A. (2017). ‘Rumors and health care reform: Experiments in political misinformation’. British Journal of Political Science, 47(2), 241–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bethell, L. (2000). ‘Politics in Brazil: From elections without democracy to democracy without citizenship’. Daedalus, 129(2), 1–27.Google Scholar
Birch, S. (2009). Full participation: A comparative study of compulsory voting. New York: United Nations University Press.Google Scholar
Blais, A. (2006). ‘What affects voter turnout?’ Annual Review of Political Science, 9, 111–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blais, A. and Anduiza, E. (2013). ‘Voter turnout’. In Vallelly, R. (ed.), Oxford bibliographies in political science. New York: Oxford University Press. www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199756223/obo-9780199756223-0066.xml.Google Scholar
Blais, A. and Dobrzynska, A. (1998). ‘Turnout in electoral democracies’. European Journal of Political Research, 33(2), 239–61.Google Scholar
Blais, A. and Daoust, J.-F. (2020). The motivation to vote: Explaining electoral participation. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Bol, D. and Giani, M. (2021). ‘It’s a (coarsened exact) match! Non-parametric imputation of European abstainers’ vote’. Political Science Research and Methods, 9(2), 445–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouhon, F. and Reuchamps, M. (eds.) (2018). Les systems électoraux de la Belgique. Brussels: Bruylant.Google Scholar
Brack, N. and Pilet, J.-B. (2010). ‘One country, two party systems? The 2009 Belgian regional elections’. Regional and Federal Studies, 20(4–5), 549–59.Google Scholar
Brennan, J. and Hill, L. (2014). Compulsory voting: For and against. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brieba, D. and Bunker, K. (2019). ‘Voter equalization and turnout bias after electoral reform: Evidence from Chile’s voluntary voting law’. Latin American Politics and Society, 61(4), 23–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broockman, D. E. and Butler, D. M. (2017). ‘The causal effects of elite position-taking on voter attitudes: Field experiments with elite communication’. American Journal of Political Science, 61(1), 208–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bugarin, M. and Portugal, A. (2015). ‘Should voting be mandatory? The effect of compulsory voting rules on candidates’ political platforms’. Journal of Applied Economics, 18(1), 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, J. M. and Horiuchi, Y. (2017). ‘Compulsory voting and income inequality: Evidence for Lijphart’s proposition from Venezuela’. Latin American Politics and Society, 59, 122–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cepaluni, G. and Hidalgo, F. D. (2016). ‘Compulsory voting can increase political inequality: Evidence from Brazil’. Political Analysis, 24(2), 273–80.Google Scholar
Chapman, E. B. (2019). ‘The distinctive value of elections and the case for compulsory voting’. American Journal of Political Science, 63(1), 101–12.Google Scholar
Chong, A. and Olivera, M. (2008). ‘Does compulsory voting help equalize incomes?’ Economics & Politics, 20(3), 391–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Converse, P. E. (1964). The nature of belief systems in mass publics. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Dassonneville, R., Feitosa, F., Hooghe, M., Lau, R. R., and Stiers, D. (2019). ‘Compulsory voting rules, reluctant voters and ideological proximity voting’. Political Behavior, 41(1), 209–30.Google Scholar
Dassonneville, R. and Kostelka, F. (2021). ‘The cultural sources of the gender gap in voter turnout’. British Journal of Political Science, 51(3), 1040–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dassonneville, R. and McAllister, I. (2018). ‘Gender, political knowledge, and descriptive representation: The impact of long‐term socialization’. American Journal of Political Science, 62(2), 249–65.Google Scholar
Deschouwer, K. (2012). The politics of Belgium: Governing a divided society. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Kamer, De (2021). ‘Wetsvoorstel tot wijziging van de wet van 23 maart 1989 betreffende de verkiezing van het Europees parlement, teneinde de burgers vanaf de leeftijd van 16 jaar de mogelijkheid teg even om te gaan stemmen’. www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/55/2373/55K2373001.pdf (last consulted on 27 December 2022).Google Scholar
De Standaard (2001). ‘Niet gaan stemmen blijft strafbaar in Mechelen’. www.standaard.be/cnt/dst07022001_015.Google Scholar
De Vries, C. E., Hakhverdian, A., and Lancee, B. (2013). ‘The dynamics of voters’ left/right identification: The role of economic and cultural attitudes’. Political Science Research and Methods, 1(2), 223–38.Google Scholar
Delli Carpini, M. X. and Keeter, S. (1996). What Americans know about politics and why it matters. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
DeNardo, J. (1980). ‘Turnout and the vote: The joke’s on the democrats’. American Political Science Review, 74(2), 406–20.Google Scholar
Eisinga, R., Te Grotenhuis, M., and Pelzer, B. (2012). ‘Weather conditions and political party vote share in Dutch national parliament elections, 1971–2010’. International Journal of Biometerology, 56(6), 1161–5.Google ScholarPubMed
Engelen, B. (2005). ‘Een dam tegen het leeglopen van de democratie: Pleidooi voor het behoud van de opkomstplicht’. Ethiek en Maatschappij, 8(2), 49–63.Google Scholar
Engelen, B. (2007). ‘Why compulsory voting can enhance democracy’. Acta Politica, 42(1), 23–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, T. (2006). Compulsory voting in Australia. Australian Electoral Commission Report. https://emailfooter.aec.gov.au/About_Aec/Publications/voting/files/compulsory-voting.pdfGoogle Scholar
Feitosa, F., Blais, A., and Dassonneville, R. (2020). ‘Rules, politics, and policy’. Election Law Journal, 19, 19–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferwerda, J. (2014). ‘Electoral consequences of declining participation: A natural experiment in Austria’. Electoral Studies, 35, 242–52.Google Scholar
Fornos, C. A., Power, T. J., and Garand, J. C. (2004). ‘Explaining voter turnout in Latin America, 1980 to 2000’. Comparative Political Studies, 37(8), 909–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fowler, A. (2013). ‘Electoral and policy consequences of voter turnout: Evidence from compulsory voting in Australia’. Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 8(2), 159–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franklin, M. (1999). ‘Electoral engineering and cross-national turnout differences: What role for compulsory voting?’ British Journal of Political Science, 29(1), 205–24.Google Scholar
Freire, A. and Turgeon, M. (2020). ‘Random votes under compulsory voting: Evidence from Brazil’. Electoral Studies, 66, 102168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallego, A. (2010). ‘Understanding unequal turnout: Education and voting in comparative perspective’. Electoral Studies, 29(2), 239–48.Google Scholar
Gerlache, A. (2012). Tweet published on 11 October 2012. https://twitter.com/AlainGerlache/status/256324758625464320 (last accessed on 18 February 2022).Google Scholar
Geys, B. (2006). ‘Explaining voter turnout: A review of aggregate-level research’. Electoral Studies, 25(4), 637–63.Google Scholar
Glasman, L. R. and Albarracín, D. (2006). ‘Forming attitudes that predict future behavior: A meta-analysis of the attitude-behavior relation’. Psychological Bulletin, 132(5), 778–822.Google Scholar
Godbout, J.-F. and Turgeon, M. (2019). ‘The preferences of voters and non-voters in Canada (1988–2008)’. In Loewen, P. J. and Rubenson, D. (eds.), Duty and choice: The evolution of the study of voting and voters. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 81–104.Google Scholar
Gomez, B. T., Hansford, T. G., and Krause, G. A. (2007). ‘The Republicans should pray for rain: Weather, turnout and voting in US presidential elections’. Journal of Politics, 69(3), 649–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gow, N. (1971). ‘The introduction of compulsory voting in the Australian Commonwealth’. Politics, 6(2), 201–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, L. (2006). ‘Lower voter turnout in the United States: Is compulsory voting a viable solution?’ Journal of Theoretical Politics, 18(2), 207–32.Google Scholar
Hirczy, W. (1994). ‘The impact of mandatory voting laws on turnout: A quasi-experimental approach’. Electoral Studies, 13(1), 64–76.Google Scholar
Hirst, J. (2002). ‘The distinctiveness of Australian democracy’. Quadrant, 46(12), 19–27.Google Scholar
Hoffman, M., León, G., and Lombardi, M. (2017). ‘Compulsory voting, turnout, and government spending: Evidence from Austria’. Journal of Public Economics, 145, 103–15.Google Scholar
Hooghe, L., and Marks, G. (2018). ‘Cleavage theory meets Europe’s crises: Lipset, Rokkan, and the transnational cleavage’. Journal of European Public Policy, 25(1), 109–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooghe, M. and Deschouwer, K. (2011). ‘Veto players and electoral reform in Belgium’. West European Politics, 34(3), 626–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooghe, M. and Pelleriaux, K. (1998). ‘Compulsory voting in Belgium: An application of the Lijphart thesis’. Electoral Studies, 17(4), 419–24.Google Scholar
IDEA (2021). ‘Institute for democracy and electoral assistance voter turnout database’. www.idea.int/data-tools/data/voter-turnout (last accessed on 25 January 2021).Google Scholar
Irwin, G. (1974). ‘Compulsory voting legislation, impact on voter turnout in the Netherlands’. Comparative Political Studies, 7(3), 292–315.Google Scholar
Jackman, S. (1999). ‘Non-compulsory voting in Australia? What surveys can (and can’t) tell us’. Electoral Studies, 18(1), 29–48.Google Scholar
Jackman, Simon (2001). Compulsory voting. In N. J. Smelser & B. Baltes (eds.), International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. pp. 16314–18.Google Scholar
Jaitman, L. (2013). ‘The causal effect of compulsory voting laws on turnout: Does skill matter?’ Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 92, 79–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, C. B. and Spoon, J.-J. (2011). ‘Compelled without direction: Compulsory voting and party system spreading’. Electoral Studies, 30(4), 700–11.Google Scholar
Jerit, J. and Barabas, J. (2017). ‘Revisiting the gender gap in political knowledge’. Political Behavior, 39(4), 817–38.Google Scholar
Kang, W. C. (2019). ‘Liberals should pray for rain: Weather, opportunity costs of voting and electoral outcomes in South Korea’. Political Science, 71(1), 61–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, G. and Levin, I. (2018). ‘A general model of abstention under compulsory voting’. Political Science Research and Methods, 6(3), 489–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kostelka, F., Shane, S., and Blais, A. (2021). ‘Is compulsory voting a solution to low and declining turnout? Cross-national evidence since 1945’. forthcoming in Political Science Research and Methods DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2022.57.Google Scholar
Kouba, K. (2021). ‘Where is the class bias attenuation? The consequences of adopting compulsory voting in Austria-Hungary in 1907’. European Political Science Review, 13(2), 151–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kriesi, H., Grande, E., Lachat, R. et al. (2006). ‘Globalization and the transformation of the national political space: Six European countries compared’. European Journal of Political Research, 45(6), 921–56.Google Scholar
Kropko, J. and Banda, K. K. (2018). ‘Issue scales, information cues, and proximity and directional models of voter choice’. Political Research Quarterly, 71(4), 772–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuklinski, J. H., Quirk, P. J., Jerit, J., and Rich, R. F. (2001). ‘The political environment and citizen competence’. American Journal of Political Science, 45(2), 410–24.Google Scholar
Kuzelewska, E. (2016). ‘Compulsory voting in Belgium. A few remarks on mandatory voting’. Bialstockie Studia Prawnicze, 20, 37–51.Google Scholar
Lever, A. 2010. ‘Compulsory voting: A critical perspective’. British Journal of Political Science, 40(4), 897–915.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lijphart, A. (1997). ‘Unequal participation: Democracy’s unresolved dilemma’. American Political Science Review, 91(1), 1–14.Google Scholar
Lijphart, A. (2001). ‘Compulsory voting is the best way to keep democracy strong’. In DiClerico, R. E. and Hammock, A. S. (eds.), Points of view. New York: McGraw Hill, pp. 74–7.Google Scholar
Love, J. L. (1970). ‘Political participation in Brazil, 1881–1969’. Luso-Brazilian Review, 7(2), 3–24.Google Scholar
Lupu, N. and Warner, Z. (2021). ‘Why are the affluent better represented around the world?’ European Journal of Political Research, 61(1), 67–85.Google Scholar
Luskin, R. C. (1990). ‘Explaining political sophistication’. Political Behavior, 12(4), 331–61.Google Scholar
Lutz, G. and Marsh, M. (2007). ‘The consequences of low turnout’. Electoral Studies, 26(3), 539–47.Google Scholar
McAllister, I. (1986). ‘Compulsory voting, turnout and party advantage in Australia’. Politics, 21(1), 89–93.Google Scholar
McAllister, I. and Snagovsky, F. (2018). ‘Explaining voting in the 2017 Australian same sex marriage plebiscite’. Australian Journal of Political Science, 53(4), 409–27.Google Scholar
Mackerras, M. and McAllister, I. (1999). ‘Compulsory voting, party stability and electoral advantage in Australia’. Electoral Studies, 18(2), 217–33.Google Scholar
Mainwaring, S. (1986). ‘The transition to democracy in Brazil’. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, 28(1), 141–79.Google Scholar
Malkopolou, A. (2014). The history of compulsory voting in Europe: Democracy’s duty? London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Meier, P. (2012). ‘Caught between strategic positions and principles of equality: Female suffrage in Belgium’. In Rodriguez Ruiz, B. and Rubio Marín, R. (eds.), The struggle for female suffrage in Europe: Voting to become citizens. Leiden: Brill, pp. 407–20.Google Scholar
Mellows, R. (2010). ‘Compulsory voting just an illusion’. Adelaide Advertiser, 23 August, 18.Google Scholar
Miller, P. and Dassonneville, R. (2016). ‘High turnout in the low countries: Partisan effects of the abolition of compulsory voting in the Netherlands’. Electoral Studies, 44, 132–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagel, J. and McNulty, J. (1996). ‘Partisan effects of voter turnout in senatorial and gubernatorial elections’. American Political Science Review, 90(4), 780–93.Google Scholar
Oliveira, L. H. H. D. (1999). ‘Voto obrigatório e eqüidade um estudo de caso’. São Paulo em perspectiva, 13, 144–52.Google Scholar
Oliveira, C. and Turgeon, M. (2015). ‘Ideologia e comportamento politico no eleitorado brasileiro’. Opinião Pública, 21(3), 574–600.Google Scholar
Pacek, A. and Radcliff, B. (1995). ‘Turnout and the vote for left-of-centre parties: A cross-national analysis’. British Journal of Political Science, 25(1), 137–43.Google Scholar
Panagopoulos, C. (2008). ‘The calculus of voting in compulsory voting systems’. Political Behavior, 30(4), 455–67.Google Scholar
Pattie, C. and Johnston, R. (1998). ‘Voter turnout at the British general election of 1992: Rational choice, social standing or political efficacy?’ European Journal of Political Research, 33(2), 263–83.Google Scholar
Pilet, J. B. (2007). ‘Choosing compulsory voting in Belgium: Strategy and ideas combined’. In ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops, Helsinki.Google Scholar
Power, T. J. (2000). ‘Democratic Brazil. Politics as permanent constitutional convention’. In Kingstone, P. R. and Power, T. J. (eds.), Democratic Brazil: Actors, institutions, and processes. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, pp. 17–35.Google Scholar
Power, T. J. and Roberts, J. T. (1995). ‘Compulsory voting, invalid ballots, and abstention in Brazil’. Political Research Quarterly, 48(3), 795–826.Google Scholar
Pringle, H. (2012). ‘Compulsory voting in Australia: What is compulsory?’ Australian Journal of Political Science, 47(3), 427–40.Google Scholar
Remer-Bollow, U., Bernhagen, P., and Rose, R. (2019). ‘Partisan consequences of low turnout at elections to the European Parliament’. Electoral Studies, 59, 87–98.Google Scholar
Reuchamps, M., Devillers, S., Caluwaerts, D., and Bouhon, F. (2018). ‘Le vote obligatoire’. In Bouhon, F. and Reuchamps, M. (eds.), Les systems électoraux de la Belgique. Brussels: Bruylant, pp. 403–22.Google Scholar
Ricci, P. and Zulini, J. P. (2017). ‘The politics of electoral reforms: The origins of proportional representation in Brazil and the electoral code of 1932’. In George, J. and Rennó, L. (eds.), Institutional innovation and the steering of conflicts in Latin America. Colchester: ECPR Press, pp. 57–84.Google Scholar
Rios, F. (2020). ‘Cycles of democracy and the racial issue in Brazil (1978–2019)’. In Bianchi, B., Chaloub, J., Rangel, P., and Wolf, F. O. (eds.), Democracy and Brazil: Collapse and regression. New York: Routledge, pp. 26–40.Google Scholar
Rubenson, D., Blais, A., Fournier, P., Gidengil, E., and Nevitte, N. (2007). ‘Does low turnout matter? Evidence from the 2000 Canadian federal election’. Electoral Studies, 26(3), 589–97.Google Scholar
Rudolph, L. (2020). ‘Turning out to turn down the EU: The mobilisation of occasional voters and Brexit’. Journal of European Public Policy, 27(12), 1858–78.Google Scholar
Rychter, T. (2018). ‘How compulsory voting works: Australians explain’. Published in the New York Times on 22 October 2018. www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/world/australia/compulsory-voting.html (last accessed on 18 February 2022).Google Scholar
Selb, P. and Lachat, R. (2009). ‘The more, the better? Counterfactual evidence on the effect of compulsory voting on the consistency of party choice’. European Journal of Political Research, 48(5), 573–97.Google Scholar
Selb, P. and Munzert, S. (2013). ‘Voter overrepresentation, vote misreporting, and turnout bias in postelection surveys’. Electoral Studies, 32(1), 186–96.Google Scholar
Senate (2012). ‘Commissie voor de justie: Handelingen’. Commissihandelingen nr. 5–178. www.senate.be/www/?MIval=/consulteren/publicatie2&BLOKNR=9&COLL=C&LEG=5&NR=178&SUF=&VOLGNR=&LANG=nl (last consulted on 25 January 2022).Google Scholar
Sheppard, J. (2015). ‘Compulsory voting and political knowledge: Testing a “compelled engagement” hypothesis’. Electoral Studies, 40, 300–7.Google Scholar
Shineman, V. (2021). ‘Isolating the effect of compulsory voting laws on political sophistication: Leveraging intra-national variation in mandatory voting laws between the Austrian Provinces’. Electoral Studies, 71, 102265.Google Scholar
Singh, S. (2010). ‘Contextual influences on the decision calculus: A cross-national examination of proximity voting’. Electoral Studies, 29(3), 425–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, S. (2011). ‘How compelling is compulsory voting? A multilevel analysis of turnout’. Political Behavior, 33(1), 95–111.Google Scholar
Singh, S. (2015). ‘Compulsory voting and the turnout decision calculus’. Political Studies, 63(3), 548–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, S. (2018). ‘Compulsory voting and dissatisfaction with democracy’. British Journal of Political Science, 48(3), 843–54.Google Scholar
Singh, S. (2019). Compulsory voting and parties’ vote‐seeking strategies. American Journal of Political Science, 63(1), 37–52.Google Scholar
Singh, S. (2021). Beyond turnout: How compulsory voting shapes citizens and political parties. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Slovak, M. and Vassil, K. (2015). ‘Indifference or Indignation? Explaining purposive vote spoiling in elections’. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 25(4), 463–81.Google Scholar
Smets, K. and Van Ham, C. (2013). ‘The embarrassment of riches? A meta-analysis of individual-level research on voter turnout’. Electoral Studies, 32(2), 344–59.Google Scholar
Söderlund, P., Wass, H., and Blais, A. (2011). ‘The impact of motivational and contextual factors on turnout in first- and second-order elections’. Electoral Studies, 30(4), 689–99.Google Scholar
Stengers, J. (1990). ‘Histoire de la législation électorale en Belgique’. In Noiret, S. (ed.), Stratégies politiques et réformes électorales aux origines des modes de scrutin en Europe aux XIXe et XXe siègles. Baden Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, pp. 76–107.Google Scholar
Stockemer, D. (2017). ‘What affects voter turnout? A review article/meta-analysis of aggregate research’. Government and Opposition, 52(4), 698–722.Google Scholar
Strangio, P. (2021). ‘“A lonely and quixotic battle”: A short history of agitation against compulsory voting in Australia’. In Bonotti, M. and Strangio, P. (eds.), A century of compulsory voting in Australia: Genesis, impact and future. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 33–57.Google Scholar
Sudinfo (2014). ‘Vous n’allez pas voter? La justice belge n’applique pas de loi sur l’obligation de vote’. www.sudinfo.be/art/1006451/article/2014-05-14/vous-n-allez-pas-voter-la-justice-belge-n-applique-pas-la-loi-sur-l-obligation-d (last consulted on 25 January 2022).Google Scholar
Superior Electoral Court (2023). ‘Election statistics’. https://sig.tse.jus.br/ords/dwapr/seai/r/sig-eleicao-comp-abst/faixa-et%C3%A1ria?session=212703802525676 (last consulted on 12 January 2023).Google Scholar
Turgeon, M. and Blais, A. (2021). ‘Am I obliged to vote? A regression discontinuity analysis of compulsory voting with ill-Informed voters’. Political Science Research and Methods, 11.1 (2023), 207–13.Google Scholar
van der Brug, W. and Rekker, R. (2021). ‘Dealignment, realignment and generational differences in the Netherlands’. West European Politics, 44(4), 776–80.Google Scholar
Victorian Electoral Commission (2015). ‘Report to the Parliament on the 2014 State election’. https://parliament.vic.gov.au/file_uploads/Report_to_Parliament_on_2014_Vic_election-CD_xT1f9RWG.pdf (last consulted on 25 January 2022).Google Scholar
Vlaamse Overheid (2021). ‘Voorontwerp van decreet tot wijziging van diverse decreten wat betreft versterking van de locale democratie’. VR 2021 3004 DOC.0468/3. https://beslissingenvlaamseregering.vlaanderen.be/document-view/6087B9E6364ED90008000954 (last consulted on 25 January 2022).Google Scholar
Volacu, A. (2020). ‘Democracy and compulsory voting’. Political Research Quarterly, 73(2), 454–63.Google Scholar
VRT Nieuws (2018). ‘Hoe moet u stemmen? Wat moet, wat mag, wat mag niet?’ www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/drafts/Politiek/hoe-moet-u-stemmen-wat-moet-wat-mag-wat-mag-niet/.Google Scholar
Zulini, J. P. and Ricci, P. (2020). ‘O Código Eleitoral de 1932 e as eleições da Era Vargas: um passo na direção da democracia?’. Estudos Históricos (Rio de Janeiro), 33, 600–23.Google Scholar

Save element to Kindle

To save this element to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Citizens Under Compulsory Voting: A Three-Country Study
Available formats
×

Save element to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Citizens Under Compulsory Voting: A Three-Country Study
Available formats
×

Save element to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Citizens Under Compulsory Voting: A Three-Country Study
Available formats
×