Abstentionism is standing for election to a
deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an
election boycott in that abstentionists participate in the election itself. Abstentionism has been used by
Irish republican political movements in the United Kingdom and Ireland since the early 19th century. It was also used by Hungarian and Czech nationalists in the
Austrian Imperial Council in the 1860s.