democracy essays

• Widening of the franchise


  Expansion of the right to vote
• Period when the franchise was widened in Britain

  1867-1918
• The widening of the franchise between 1867-1918 helped Britain become more democratic to an extent
• 1867 Reform Act


  1. Gave the vote to skilled working men living in towns

  2. Doubled the electorate to 2.5 million voters
• 1884 Reform Act


  1. Gave working class men in the countryside the vote

  2. Increased the electorate to 5.7 million
• 1918 Representation of the People Act


  1. Abolished the property qualification for men

  2. Gave all women over the age of 30 the vote if they owned property or were married to property owners
• Millions of women could vote for the first time, giving them a political voice
• The vote was given to all males over 21
• Britain was not fully democratic by 1918 because men and women could not vote on equal terms
• 22% of women aged 30 and above were denied the vote as they were not property owners
• Even though Britain had come a long way since 1867 with the widening of the franchise, it was not fully democratic by 1918 because men and women could not vote on equal terms
• The People Act was passed, giving all men and women over the age of 21 the vote


  1928
• Tackling corruption and intimidation in the political system helped Britain become more democratic before 1918
• Before 1872 there were no fixed rules on bribery and corruption
• The electorate before 1872 would vote by standing on the hustings and they would publicly announce who they would be voting for
• Secret Ballot Act (1872)

  1. Hustings replaced with polling booths

  2. People could now vote in secret

  3. Voting became a political act rather than a social occasion
• Candidates were discouraged from bribing or intimidating voters


  As they couldn't be sure how a person would cast their ballot
• Corruption in elections was reduced but did not die out completely
• By 1918 the electorate could now vote for their personal choice rather than being forced to vote in a certain way
• Corruption in elections did not die out completely
• Widening and membership of the House of Commons during the 19th century


  • Led to Britain becoming more democratic to an extent
• Typical MP in the 19th century

  Upper class male who had to own land and were not paid
• In 1858 the property qualifications to become an MP was abolished


  Working class men could not afford to give up their job to become an MP
• This shows that Britain was slowly becoming more democratic before 1918 because people no longer needed to own land to become an MP, therefore more middle class males stood to become an MP
• Britain was not fully democratic by 1918 because women could still not stand to become an MP, therefore making the House of Commons unrepresentative
• Britain did become more democratic by 1918 because the House of Commons was becoming more representative of the British public
• It would take until 1948 for plural voting to be abolished
• Role of the House of Lords


  Challenge to Britain being called a true democracy as it is an unelected chamber
• House of Lords had the power to vote or block bills made by the house of commons


  1911
• 1909 Liberal party needed the people's budget passed


  1. If the budget did not become a law the liberals could not raise taxes and pay for the social reforms

  2. 1911 Parliament Act led to the House of Lords getting a few changes such as the House of Lords could no longer reject or alter money bills like budgets

  3. The House of Lords could only delay non-money bills for two years
• 1911 Parliament Act


  Victory for democracy since the elected house of commons could now make its own mind up about what money it raised through taxation
• Britain was not fully democratic by 1918 because the House of Lords was not elected and could still delay laws that the elected government wanted to enact by two years and a more radical demand was to abolish the house of lords completely