A flourishing democracy presupposes citizens who care, who are willing to take part, and capable of helping to shape the common agenda of a society. Participation, whether through the institutions of civil society, political parties, or the act of voting, is increasingly being seen as an essential prerequisite of any stable democracy. Competitive, "multi-party elections" have become the watchword of the 1990s and the concept of "democracy" has spread its tentacles into almost every corner of the globe, but there remains a considerable malaise of the functioning of democratic principles and institutions, not least in those states termed as "established democracies."
International IDEA is frequently requested to provide information on political participation around the world, and the Voter Turnout Project focuses on one specific dimension of political participation - voter turnout in elections. While elections do not equal democracy, they are without doubt an important and indispensable element
Beyond the widespread belief that participation in political life is a positive thing, there is little agreement on what constitutes a good or democratic level of voter turnout. Does high turnout indicate great enthusiasm for the political process or reflect compulsion, sometimes subtle, other times overt, that a regime places on its citizens to vote? Does low turnout indicate a weak political system, or merely reflect a widespread contentment among the people with the system as it is? If the statistics that International IDEA has gathered indicate anything it is that high voter turnout does not necessarily mean that a multi-party democracy is stable.
Albania has had three competitive elections in the 1990s which all demonstrated high levels of electoral participation (99% in 1991, 89% in 1992 and 1996). But that country's government became quickly embroiled in trying to salvage a collapsing state, precipitated by the perceived illegitimacy of the incumbent politicians.
Conversely, in the 1996 United States presidential election, 47% of the voting age population participated, and of this turnout President Clinton received 49% of the votes - representing 23% of the eligible voters. Despite low turnout few would question the legitimacy of his mandate.
