A/HRC/30/26 should never be affected.19 Several international human rights mechanisms have emphasized that limitations should remain the exception rather than the rule.20 15. Limiting political participation on the grounds of intellectual or psychosocial impairment and the imposition of linguistic requirements for candidates for public office or the automatic disenfranchisement of detainees, convicted felons or people under guardianship have been found by human rights mechanisms to constitute unreasonable and discriminatory restrictions on the exercise of political and public participation rights.21 A. General challenges to participation in political and public affairs Shrinking of the democratic space 16. Lack of political will or deliberate strategies to monopolize decision-making by those in power are among the main challenges to the realization of participation rights. In many instances, laws are enacted and applied arbitrarily to deny participation and intimidation and persecution are employed to pressure individuals to decide in a particular way.22 In many countries, persons and organizations engaged in promoting and defending human rights face threats, harassment and insecurity, including when advocating for the right to participate in political and public affairs. The absence of free, pluralistic and independent media also jeopardizes the realization of participation in political and public affairs, since the media can be crucial in making citizens aware of their rights. 17. The shrinking of the democratic space has also been considered by human rights experts as threatening the full enjoyment of civil and political rights and resulting in ordinary people’s lives being changed without their input and against their will.23 Some States impose not only legal but also practical barriers to participation, notably by restricting the Internet and the flow of information online through increasingly sophisticated means. Mass surveillance, the interception of digital communications and the collection of personal data is another chilling factor on public participation, especially when those measures target political dissidents.24 General decline in traditional forms of political participation 18. It has been noted by some organizations that voter turnout at general elections in established democracies has declined steadily over a number of decades in the population as a whole,25 with youth absenteeism being the highest.26 Many States are also experiencing declining levels of membership in political parties and interest groups. Election results do 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 6 See, for example, Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 27 (1999) on freedom of movement (art. 12), paras. 11–18. See, for example, A/HRC/20/27, para. 16; and A/66/290, paras. 12 and 17. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 25, paras. 10 and 15; and A/HRC/27/29, paras. 32 and 33; also CRPD/C/TUN/CO/1, para. 35; and CRPD/C/ESP/CO/1, para. 47. See the statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on “Inclusion and the right to participate in public life”, 10 December 2012, available at http://www.ohchr.org/en/ NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12865&LangID=E. A/HRC/25/55, para. 59; also “‘Shrinking’ spaces for citizens threatened democracy, human rights experts tell Third Committee as it considers country reports”, United Nations press release, 28 October 2014 (GA/SHC/4112). A/HRC/27/37, para. 14. International IDEA, Voter turnout since 1945: a global report (Stockholm, 2002), p. 85. See contribution from the Organization for Security and Cooperatin in Europe, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE-ODIHR), pp. 8–9.