During the 20th century participation in elections for the National Council has steadily fallen, after a peak in 1919 when 80.4% of the electorate turned out. This was the first election organised under the proportional representation system. The most marked drop in interest was seen after 1967: in twelve years the rate of participation fell by almost 18 percentage points to 48%. Since then, it has varied at between 42 and 49%. In Switzerland participation in elections is therefore relatively low in comparison with other European countries.