Assessing the relationship between compulsory voting and the over-representation of extreme parties

Abstract

In this paper, we address the issue of partisan bias in compulsory voting systems. Given the current global trends - declining trust in mainstream political parties, rising support for left- and right-wing radicals, growing populism and anti-elite sentiment - we seek to determine how they manifest themselves in an environment where citizens are required to vote by law. To answer this question, a quasi-experimental design is proposed. The data show that forced activity does not affect either extreme forces support rates (from a cross-country perspective) or the rationality of their voters (from an individual-level perspective). As far as we know, this is the first attempt to generalize the role of compulsory voting in extreme politics, as well as the first one to refute this role with ample evidence.