Fairness

Question 1

Introduction

Answer 1

One major feature of democracy is fairness, meaning that the voting system is open and free of corruption and bribery.

Question 2

Benchmark

Answer 2

In 1850, seats were unfairly distributed and voting was done openly, which led to major corruption.

Question 3

Knowledge 1

Answer 3

To challenge this, the Secret Ballot Act, 1872 was introduced to enable votes to be cast in secret which reduced the opportunity for bribery.

Question 4

Analysis 1

Answer 4

This led to Britain becoming more democratic because voters could not be lure in or pressured to vote a particular way.

Question 5

Knowledge 2

Answer 5

Furthermore, the Second Reform Act, 1867 redistributed parliamentary seats by redistributing seats to more populated parts of the country.

Question 6

Analysis 2

Answer 6

This led to Britain becoming more democratic because more populated areas started to become better represented. For example, extra MPs were given seats to represent Manchester and Liverpool which had a growing population.

Question 7

Counter Analysis

Answer 7

However, it could be argued that the system wasn’t fair with land owning interests as the South of England was still over represented until 1884, Representation of the People Act which removed the distinction between boroughs an counties.

Question 8

Evaluation

Answer 8

To evaluate, it appears that the issue of fairness had been addressed quite well by 1872 as it was almost impossible for a corrupt politician to “buy votes”. However, it wasn’t until the Corruption and Illegal Practices Act, 1883 was passed, which limited how much candidates could spend on elections for voters, and the distribution of seats was based on a much fairer system which was still in place by 1918. Overall, compared to Universal Suffrage and Accountability, this issue was very well resolved by 1900.