Compulsory Votnig as the Solution to Low Electoral Turnout – the Treatment Worse than the Disease?

Abstract

The objective of the paper is to analyse the issue of compulsory voting, i.e. the electoral system in which voters are obliged by law to participate in elections. The first section provides the landscape of compulsory voting in Europe and sanctions for non-participation. The second part discusses the arguments for and against compulsory voting which are based on different constructions of the same categories as democracy, freedom, equality, representation, civil rights and obligations. The final section examines the impact of compulsory voting on electoral turnout.