Having grown up in a western democracy without compulsory voting, I do believe it contributes to lazy, uniformed voting known to the pollies who pander for the short term gratification of these voters and therefore we end up with poorer candidates and elections. However even if only motivated voters come to the polls, the ploy of promising the moon and letting the promise fade with time seems to work if the voter can be emotionally motivated.
One thing that does seem to work is fixed terms where, with the time clock ticking, the outgoing pollie can champion a medium or long term project to cement his 'legacy'. They have no motivation to pursue the short term game since their time is up. This works especially well in the US for the president but they cannot seem to get it done for the congress or the senate.
