British Democracy [Measurement] Flashcards
What is the background for the democracy of Britain?
Before 1850…
- 4% of the population was voting (middle class and aristocracy men)
- there was lots of corruption
- only those who could vote could run as a candidate
- the country was misrepresented in parliament
What is the line of argument?
That Britain was not fully democratic by [chosen year].
What was the 2nd Reform Act? [Extension of the Franchise]
Was introduced in 1867 and allowed men who met the property qualifications the right to vote - if they paid £10 in rent. This meant that 1/3 of men now had the vote. This was beneficial to the working class men as some could now vote but this was flawed as it was uneven qualifications for urban and rural areas.
What was the 3rd Reform Act? [Extension of the Franchise]
Was introduced in 1884 and allowed all men that paid £10 in rent the ability to vote, meaning working class men in urban and rural areas could now vote. This was an effort toward a democratic franchise but 40% of men remained without the vote and no females had the vote either.
What was the Representation of the People Act? [Extension of the Franchise]
Was introduced in 1918 and gave the vote to all men 21 and above without any other qualifications to meet. Some women could now also vote as long as they met the qualifications in place. There were now voters of both gender but the voting population did not fully represent the countries population as there were not equal voting qualifications and taxpayers that were under 21 were not voting even though parliament issues affected them.
How would you evaluate the extension of the franchise?
The voting population was poorly represented in parliament and if they wanted the country to be democratic they had to have parliament be representative of Britain - a 50/50 split of male and female. Wealthy men still held the power in parliament so the extension of the franchise was not impactful unless this also changed.
What was the Secret Ballot Act? [Corruption and Bribery]
Was introduced in 1872 and made noting private as it now had to occur in private ballots. This reduced the result of bribery and pressure applied by candidates as their vote could no longer be watched, and this is proven by landlords losing their seats in parliament after this act was introduced.
What was the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act? [Corruption and Bribery]
Was introduced in 1883 and made it illegal to act corruptly during elections. Clear rules were set for what was allowed during election campaigns and punishments were set in place too. Budgets were give and expenses had to be recorded which prevented bribery. The punishments deterred candidates as well as they did not want to be banned or imprisoned. It was not fully stopped as background bribery was still active.
How would evaluate the tackling of corruption and bribery?
If it hadn’t been for the extension of the franchise and the redistribution of seats at this time then these efforts would not have been as effective. Due to there being more voters and larger consistencies it would take more money and effort to gain the same result so many MP’s did not participate in bribery due to this.
What was the 2nd Reform Act? [Redistribution of Seats]
Was introduced 1867 and made a move towards better representation as it gave cities 2 or 3 MPs and removed MPs from sparsely populated areas. 52 seats were redistributed with this act. Due to the voting population at this time the redistribution of these seats was not greatly impactful.
What was the Redistribution of the Seats Act? [Redistribution of Seats]
Was introduced in 1885 and began to make constituencies roughly equal in size (about 50,000 to one). Many towns lost MPs, some even losing their right to elect one. There was now increased representation for industrial cities and Scotland and Wales were getting better representation too.
What was the Representation of the People Act? [Redistribution of Seats]
Was introduced in 1918 and set constituencies to 70,000 people to a single MP. Votes were now as equal as they could be to the next. Many MP’s were now moved from rural areas but this didn’t mean that voting was completely fair as plural voting was still a thing and allowed people to qualify to vote in multiple constituencies - a businessman could vote in his home constituency and the one his business is in.
What was the Abolition of the Property Qualification Act? [House of Commons Membership]
Was introduced in 1858 and got rid of the property qualifications in place to become an MP. This benefitted the working class but most couldn’t afford to run as it was an unpaid job and so this act wasn’t really effective. On the other hand, some communities banded together to financially aid a family so that the man of the house could run in an election so they had a chance at someone fighting for their rights.
What was the Parliament Act? [House of Commons Membership]
Was introduced in 1911 and saw the introduction of a salary for MPs. Now the working class could afford to run in elections and so this benefitted them greatly. Even though this was now a full-time paying job, women still could not run in elections and so the House of Commons was still very underrepresenting.
How would you evaluate the widened membership of the House of Commons?
There were still mass amounts of misrepresentation in parliament and this wasn’t just with there being no representation of women. The minorities of the country also had no representation in parliament so the country was still majorly misrepresenting its public and so there were many improvements to be made in the House of Commons before Britain could be deemed democratic.
