What factors influenced the extension of the franchise up to 1918? The franchise of democracy was extended to more and more people in Britain from 1867, 1884 and 1918. This happened for many reasons. At the time there was growing public pressure to push new political ideologies of democracy and liberalism and the newfound attitude of the working and middle-class that were the earners of the country, therefore they should get the vote. These factors tie in with the political power plays between the Whigs and Tories, who were playing for an advantage over one another, and the looming threat of socialism.
This source of power is also affected by members of the cabinet whom are too powerful and important to easily dismiss, most recently famous was during Tony Blair’s leadership, 1997 – 2007, and the pressure he received off Gordon Brown to leave. The majority a Prime Minister receives in a general election also alters the power that they have. If there is a large majority then a Prime Minister has, arguably, got more of a political mandate than a leader with a
People believe this is down to the party’s history; the Labour Party originated from the trade union movement at the turn of the 20th century and originally had a chairman of the Labour MPs in the House of Commons, but no leader. A bad experience of excessive leadership power in 1931 made the party members reluctant to recognise the supremacy of the leader over the labour movement. Labour has always wanted to ensure that the leader is accountable which has led to restrictions on the power of the leader after the 1918 constitution. For example, when in opposition, leaders must work with a shadow cabinet and the membership of which has to have been elected by MPs. This argument shows that the leader of the Labour Party may have restrictions on his or her powers when in opposition as they are made to work with a shadow cabinet hence delegating power.
It is difficult for a Backbench MP to influence government policy if a government has a large majority in Parliament. The power of individual backbench MPs is reduced making it harder to challenge the government. Also, the PM has powers of patronage which demand loyalty; few MPs want to cause a general election by defeating the government. Thus accepting their fate as lobby
Most Americans feared socialism; they linked it to trade unions, mass immigration and anarchy. Socialists believed in equality Big business leaders were afraid of organised labour; the growth of for ‘social justice’ including causes such as women’s suffrage, direct election to the senate and conservation. Some Progressives were pacifists and anti-imperialists but most were strong nationalists. The Progressive wing of the Republican party reunited with the mainstream party in 1916. Progressivism achieved very little as a separate party but at one time, it seemed that it could achieve national support.
In 1909, Herbert Croly was determined to better the United States and did so by writing a book called, “The Promise of American Life”. Croly’s book caught the eye of many politicians and has often been called “…one of the few genuinely important political studies written by an American in the early twentieth century… it has generally been considered an expression of progressivism”(192). During this era the United States experienced constant change due to the Industrial Revolution. As a result, the wealth in the United States was granted to fewer and fewer individuals because big businesses were taking over. Additionally, the economy was not balanced and Herbert Croly devised a plan to regain this balance through federal regulations.
Explain why there was protest against the political system in the period 1815-1822. Many people felt that the Government existed soely to appease the wealthily ruling class and nobody else. They therefore felt that it was time for a change; the administration should work to improve the lives of the vunerable in society rather than protect the interests of a small few. This was spurred on by the conditions that the working class had to endure while working in the new industries created by the industrial revolution. So, faced with the policies of Lord Liverpool’s Government, many people felt they were being treated unjustly.
Liberals are probably the strongest advocates of democracy. Democracy solves a problem described by an old adage: "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." When power or wealth concentrates too heavily in too few hands in society, democracy is useful for dispersing much of that power back to the people. In other words, when enough voters become discontented with the status quo, they vote to change it. Of course, those already in power bitterly resent this; that is why there is such a strong anti-democratic streak in wealthy conservatives and business owners.
They didn’t get a majority government in 1910 like they did in 1906 which led them to think that social reform was the way to gain votes. Many politicians who came from modest backgrounds also wanted to “wage war” on poverty as they saw it as the scourge of modern day Britain and it was the governments job to fix
Progressivism: Roosevelt’s Reign The United States have undergone many changes due to the efforts of many Americans who are willing to fight for causes that were out of the ordinary and made sense. Theodore Roosevelt was the President during this time period. He also made it illegal to give preferential treatment to railroad passengers with the Elkins Act in 1903. Later, The Hepburn Act, gave Congress even more power over the railroads. These changes made by Roosevelt have broken the threshold of strong monopoly business practices and has created “fairness” in the economy.