Extending the Franchise

Question 1

Describe the Great Reform Act 1832

Answer 1

• Earl Grey, a Whig, enacted the First Reform Act
• The Act stated: 1 in 5 men (those whose homes had a lease of £10 or more per year) got the vote. Seats must be created for MPs in new industrial towns such as Birmingham. Seats for MPs from rotten boroughs had to be removed
• Middle class were happy about the changes, but the working class still couldn’t vote. Elections remained corrupt and the country was still run by the rich. MPs in the countryside continued to have more power than those in industrial towns.

Question 2

Describe the Representation of the People Act 1918

Answer 2

• Gave the vote to all men over 21, whether they owned property or not.
• Gave the vote to women over the age of 30 who met a property qualification, or whose husband did. This represented 8.5 million women - two thirds of the total population of women in the UK.

Question 3

Describe the Representation of the People Act 1928

Answer 3

Women were finally given the franchise on the same terms as men. All adults over 21 could vote.

Question 4

Describe the Representation of the People Act 1969

Answer 4

• Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18
• Was in recognition of the way in which the opportunities and responsibilities of young people had developed. Extension of university education, greater sexual freedom provided by easier access to contraception and increased earning potential of young people combined to make this Act relatively uncontroversial

Question 5

Describe the work of the suffragists and suffragettes to extend the franchise

Answer 5

• In 1879 the National Union of Women’s Suffrages Societies (NUWSS), suffragists, was established to lobby Parliament and extend the franchise to women, they’re efforts weren’t sufficient.
• The Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) established in 1903, suffragettes, did more disruptive and violent action to draw attention. e.g. hunger strike when imprisoned and Emily Davison was killed when she tried to run in front of the King’s horse in the Derby.
• They gained huge publicity but the suffragettes suspended their activities at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914

Question 6

Describe compulsory voting as a democratic reform

Answer 6

• Govs. could claim greater legitimacy
• Political participation is a civic duty; compulsory voting would have wider educational implications as all of society would be aware of this fact
• The greater level of political participation, the greater the likelihood that citizens will think and act as full citizens
• It would simply mask deeper engagement issues
• It would encourage non-serious voting
• It could be considered a violation of individual freedom (right to not vote)

Question 7

Describe lowering the voting age as a democratic reform

Answer 7

• Voting at 16 would match other aspects of citizenship available at this age
• The needs, views, concerns and interests of 16-17 year olds are marginalised
• It may help re-engage young voters by strengthening their interests
• Age 16 is too young. Most are in fulltime education and living with their parents
• Young voters are less likely to vote than other age groups and this will result in a decline in turnout percentage

Question 8

Describe eDemocracy as a democratic reform

Answer 8

• e.g. e-petitions, blogs and Twitter, e-campaigns
• Citizens can express their views’ without having to leave home
• New technology enlarges citizens’ access to information, making possible a truly free exchange of ideas and views
• It creates a genuinely democratic process in which citizens become active participants in politics
• Risk of hacking could undermine the legitimacy of elections e.g. alleged hacking in 2016 at US presidential election
• It threatens to turn democracy into a series of push-button referendums, eroding its importance