How Democratic was Britain by 1914?
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The Acts of Britain in 1883, 1884 and 1885 tackled many of the anomalies that had been outstanding from 1867 and 1872 but Britain was still far from being a democracy. Victorian democracy was based on a property (a practice which continued until 1948) and several groups were excluded—

1 Women did not have the vote. This was a major issue until after 1905. Neither party was prepared to tackle this due to the prejudices and divisions that existed within them.

2 Not all men had the vote. By 1911 only 63% of males were registered to vote. Excluded from voting were male domestic servants, sons living at home, paupers in receipt of poor relief, soldiers living in barracks and people who did not pay rates. These groups had little in common and failed to combine to fight for the franchise.

3 The electoral registration system was outdated and required to be undertaken in the presence of a lawyer. As a result many people did not register.

4 Many working class people moved around the country in search of employment. These people failed to get the vote because they had not resided in the same place for the required 12 months.

5 Few working class people stood as M.Ps even after 1885

6 1885 established the principle of “Plural voting” – the practice that allowed voters to vote in 2 different constituencies, so university students could vote both at home and university. Property owners could vote in all the constituencies where the resided property .

7 The 1914 Act did not enfranchise all women only those over thirty or women married to men who owned property, plural voting still existed at this time.

Between 1832 and 1928 there was a series of reforms of the franchise, of the distribution of parliamentary seats and of the rules for the conduct of elections that resulted in the system gradually becoming more democratic. There were also reductions in the powers of the House of Lords, which confirmed the predominance of the elected House of Commons over the unelected upper house. Looking at the period as a whole it is clear that many of the reforms advocate by the reformers in the early 19th century were actually implemented by 1928, and that the parliamentary system had become more democratic.

Other Notes in this Category

1. 1885 Redistribution Act
2. Compare the attitude of the Liberal and Tory Parties to parliamentary reform before 1867
3. Explain how the Reform Union differed from the Reform League
4. How Democratic was Britain by 1914?
5. Overview of Growth of Democracy
6. Reform between 1832 and 1886
7. The Ballot Act 1872, The corrupt and Illegal Practices Act 1883, Representation of the People Act 1884
8. To what extent was the Electoral system democratic in 1850?
9. Why did the demand for parliamentary reform grow between 1850 and 1867?

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