The people at freakonomics link to a detailed experiment on voter turn-out rates in the United States. In this case study, it was found that increased amounts of social pressure will increase voting rates. Here were the voter turn-out rates for the different groups:

Control: 29.7%
Civic Duty: 31.5% (sent a pamphlet telling them it was their civic duty to vote)
Hawthorne: 32.2% (got the same pamphlet and were told their turn-out rate was being studied)
Self: 34.5% (pamphlet included a list of who in their own household had voted last election and were told that a list of who voted this time would be sent to them after the election)
Neighbours: 37.8% (pamphlet included a list of who among their neighbours had voted last election and were told that a similar list would be distributed after the election)

So, we can see that the fear of others knowing they weren’t voting increased voting turn out by 8.1%.

Now, I’m not sure public humiliation is necessarily the solution to voter apathy but in light of the 41% turn-out rate in Alberta, it certainly is interesting.