Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-5bvrz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-08T01:29:24.202Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Citizens Under Compulsory Voting: A Three-Country Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2023

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

Information

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.)

Element purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Save element to Kindle

To save this element to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org 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
×