High Voter Turnout Creates Stability JMR
Lijphart, Arend. Unequal Participation Democracy’s Unresolved Dilemma. The
American Political Science review, Volume 91, Issue 1. March 1997. Pg 10.
Tingsten (1937) already used the Weimar example to warn that exceptionally high voting frequency may indicate an intensification of political conflict that may foreshadow the fall of democracy. The danger is that, in periods of crisis, sudden jumps in turnout mean that many previously uninterested and uninvolved citizens will come to the polls and will support extremist parties. This however, is an argument for, not against compulsory voting Instead of trying to keep turnout at steady low levels, it is better to safeguard against the danger of sudden sharp increases by maintaining steady high levels, unaffected by crisis and charismatic leaders. Additional evidence that the Weimar precedent should not discourage efforts to increase turnout
is Powell’s (1982, 206) comparative study of 29 democracies in which he found a strong association
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