BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Populist theory of democracy suggests that democracy and its process function to make political decisions based on the collective will of the people. The will of the people is determined by the participation of the people in voting, involvement in political and public affairs, and expression of opinions and thoughts. Therefore, the strength of democracy according to the populists depends on the strength of participation of the people in political and public affairs.

Populist theorists, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Basic Political Writings 1987 P. 201) and John Stuart Mill (Utilitarianism, On Liberty, Considerations on Representative Government, Remarks on Bentham’s Philosophy: The Guernsey Press, 2001 P. 246) suggested that democracy can indeed be weakened by low voters turnout. Voting is one of the easiest ways for citizens to participate in the democratic process. If less people are expressing their will—that is lower voter turnout—the less accurate the will of the people will be, according to populist theory. Putnam described voting as “the most common act of democratic citizenship” (Putman, Robert D. Bowling Alone. 2000 P 31).