International Differences
| Country | Compulsory | № | Turnout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malta | N | 6 | 94% |
| Chile | N | 2 | 93%† |
| Austria | N | 9 | 92% |
| Belgium | Y | 12 | 91% |
| Italy | Y (not enforced) | 9 | 90% |
| Luxembourg | Y | 7 | 90% |
| Iceland | N | 10 | 89% |
| New Zealand | N | 12 | 88% |
| Denmark | N | 14 | 87% |
| Germany | N | 9 | 86% |
| Sweden | N | 14 | 86% |
| Greece | Y (not enforced) | 10 | 86% |
| Venezuela | N* | 7 | 85% |
| Czech Republic | N | 2 | 85% |
| Argentina | Y | 12 | 83% |
| Brazil | Y | 9 | 83% |
| Netherlands | N** | 7 | 83% |
| Australia | Y | 14 | 81% |
| Costa Rica | N | 8 | 81% |
| Norway | N | 9 | 81% |
| Romania | N | 2 | 81% |
| Bulgaria | N | 2 | 80% |
| Israel | N | 9 | 80% |
| Portugal | N | 9 | 79% |
| Finland | N | 10 | 78% |
| France | N | 9 | 76% |
| United Kingdom | N | 9 | 76% |
| South Korea | N | 11 | 75% |
| Ireland | N | 11 | 74% |
| Canada | N | 12 | 74% |
| Spain | N | 6 | 73% |
| Japan | N | 12 | 71% |
| Estonia | N | 2 | 69% |
| Hungary | N | 2 | 66% |
| Russia | N | 2 | 61% |
| India | N | 6 | 58% |
| Switzerland | N | 8 | 54% |
| Poland | N | 2 | 51% |
| United States | N | 18 | 48%*** |
Voter turnout varies considerably between countries. It tends to be lower in the United States, Asia and Latin America than most of Europe, Canada and Oceania. Western Europe averages a 77% turnout, and South and Central America around 54% since 1945. The differences between nations tend to be greater than those between classes, ethnic groups, or regions within nations. Confusingly, some of the factors that cause internal differences do not seem to apply on a global level. For instance, nations with better-educated populaces do not have higher turnouts. There are two main causes of these international differences—culture and institutions—although there is much debate over the relative impact of the various factors.
Read more about this topic: Voter Turnout
Famous quotes containing the word differences:
“The mother must teach her son how to respect and follow the rules. She must teach him how to compete successfully with the other boys. And she must teach him how to find a woman to take care of him and finish the job she began of training him how to live in a family. But no matter how good a job a woman does in teaching a boy how to be a man, he knows that she is not the real thing, and so he tends to exaggerate the differences between men and women that she embodies.”
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