Voting highs and lows
• Voter participation in competitive elections has declined from an average of 78 per cent in 1945 to 71 per cent in the 1990s.
• Some 86 per cent of voters participated in the first democratic election in East Timor in 2001.
• In February 2001 90 per cent of registered voters in Bahrain turned out to support a referendum to establish a democratically elected chamber in parliament and to set up an independent judiciary.
• Five of the top democracies in voter turnout – Australia, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Nauru and Singapore – enforce compulsory voting laws.
• In Africa 21 out of 53 nations are electoral democracies, though corruption mars many campaigns in the region.
• In Ghana, a president who seized power in a 1981 coup was prevented from continuing a third term by the nation’s constitution. The nation’s first democratic election in 2000 voted in opposition leader John Kufour as president.
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Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
