Daniel Moss, Columnist

Australia Shows Compulsory Voting Is No Cure-All

Extremists overcame the majority in the Brexit referendum and the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Aussies' model might not have helped.

April 15, 2018 at 9:00 AM UTC

By Daniel Moss

Daniel Moss is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian economies. Previously, he was executive editor for economics at Bloomberg News.

Australia's elections have higher turnout, but a similar outcome.
Photographer: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

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Can coercing voter turnout save democracy?

Some who were dismayed by the outcome of the Brexit referendum and the 2016 U.S. presidential election raised that possibility – considering that in both cases, large portions of the eligible population didn’t vote.