Alison Martin Britain How important was political opportunism as a reason for Britain becoming more democratic between 1851 and 1928 ? Between 1851 and 1928 Britain evolved into a democracy. This happened due to various reasons. Some historians believe that the most important reason for parliamentary reform was political opportunism, whereas other historians believe that it was other factors that caused Britain to become a democracy. The other factors were: the long term legacy of the French revolution, the impact of the industrial revolution on British society, the new voting system which replaced the outdated one.
For a country to be democratic there should be universal suffrage – all adults should have the right to vote. Britain was not very democratic in this respect in 1851, since only 1 in 7 men had the right to vote and no women could vote. However, a number of pieces of legislation were passed to extend the franchise. The 1867 Second Reform Act granted the vote to some working class men for the first time and meant that 1 in 3 men could vote. The 1884 Third Reform Act gave more respectable working class men the vote and meant that 2 out of every 3 were enfranchised.
Britain was quite democratic by 1900 as there had been many reforms to push Britain to a more democratic system. A key point in democracy is the right to vote, by 1900 more men were given the right to vote and voting was more confidential. A further key point in democracy is fair voting. Voting was made fairer by 1900. The 1872 secret voting act made voting more confidential.
So therefore it was for their own political advantage of the Liberal government to offer social reform, even if they did not fully believe in the principle of government intervention in people’s everyday lives. Although there can be an argument that gaining political advantage is what any party wants to do, because they need to get more power to make a difference in the way they think is best. However the rise of the Labour party was a massive factor for the drive of reform within the Liberal party. Another reason for Liberal reforms between 1906-14 was the investigations and findings of Booth and Rowntree. Booth carried out extensive research in London and found out that 35% of the population lived in extreme poverty, this was much higher than even the socialist.
The Age of democracy is a response or answer to the Age of Absolutism by the new ideas that spread throughout the world. Although democracy and absolutism had advantages and disadvantages, democracy was a more effective type of government for it limited royal power and protected the rights of the people socially, politically, and economically. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, tension arose between the two different types of governments, the democracy and absolute monarchs. During the Age of Absolutism there were many different views on how to run a monarchy. There were so many different monarchs at the time; they all had different ways of running their perspective courts.
Should the Westminster electoral system be reformed? The Westminster electoral system has been a target for reform for a long time. Despite the loss in the 2011 referendum, reform is still wanted by a number of people especially the Liberal Democrats who will benefit the most. First Past the Post is the system that Westminster uses for election to the Houses of Commons it is a simple majority or plurality system that requires a candidate to get more votes than anyone else. One argument that the Westminster electoral system should be reformed is that First Past the Post doesn't give the social representation that other system gives, for example in the Parliament elected in 2010, women, 51% of the population, are represented by 22% of Parliament therefore an under representation, however, university educated are overrepresented, 91% of the Houses of Commons represent 31% of the population but having PR doesn't guarantee that the social composition of Parliament only making the percentage of votes more proportional towards the seats.
Nevertheless, progressive reformers and the federal government were for the most part effective in bringing reform to the political, economic, and social problems throughout the country in the early 1900’s. Political problems during the Progressive Era were big issues due to the previous role of the political machine, a political organization contained of a boss and many people underneath who used bribery to obtain votes for their respective parties. The abuse of political machines pushed reformers toward the idea of a greater democracy. The most important reform in politics throughout the early 1900’s was that of the direct primary. The idea that voters could choose presidential candidates was new because normally only a select number of people would be able to do so.
By 1860 there were only 1.4 million voters out of a population of 30million. Voters All men who were landowners, tenant farmers, professional men, like doctors or lawyers, or businessmen had the right to vote. The franchise (right to vote) was based on property. The 1832 Reform Bill gave the vote to the upper-middle class who along with the landed aristocracy dominated British politics Fairness Elections were marked by corruption and by intimidation. The small size of the electorate allowed vote-rigging and intimidation of voters as well as bribery.
Within many generations our structure of culture has been changing and different philosophies of our government have formed. The Bill of Rights was created because many congressional delegates feared that the new central government would lead to the same powerful government and oppression they have just overthrown. The Bill of Rights was a response to the British actions during the colonial period. The new American settlers brought with them a desire for democracy and openness. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments which contains procedural and substantive guarantees of individual liberties and limits.
The changes and continuities that resulted from the implementation of Enlightment ideas between 1700 and 1820 in North America and Europe were that there was a change in government in both locations due to uprising ideas of revolts. In addition, Europe experienced technological advancements, and improvements in the economy from events experienced after the affects of Enlightenment. The continuities in North America and Europe were the practice of the same religion and social class system. Because of people like Rousseau, Diderot and Voltaire the ideas of revolutions were made. Rousseau began to question the ideas of the divine right of kings.