Democracy
In 1850, Britain was an undemocratic country. At this time the Electoral system divided Boroughs and Counties. Voting qualifications were different in boroughs and constituencies. The vote was only given to men over the age of 21 providing their property was valued at L10 or more, or land was more than L2 per year in rent. Seats were distributed unequally and traditional ruling families usually formed the Cabinet. Furthermore, bribery and corruption were widespread and only the minority of the population were entitled to vote. At this time There was no form of a basic education for the population masses and There was still a lot of power lying within the House of Lords and not With elected officials. A certain degree of money was necessary to Stand for election because this was not a paying job, which, as a Result stopped vast numbers of people standing for election because The did not have the finances to support themselves. Nor were they able to afford to stand for election as due to bribery and corruption, the poor stood no chance of winning as they did not have the money to provide voters with what they wanted in return for their support.
This act did limit the plural voting to two votes, but the second vote only counted as university or business premises. However between 1850 and 1918, progress was made towards Britain becoming a democracy. This ensured candidates guilty of corruption would be fined or imprisoned and anyone guilty of breaking the rules was disqualified from voting for 7 years. This greatly added to the struggle to increase democracy in Britain as now all children, regardless of background or financial situations, were receiving the same education, even though basic, and individuals were not required to pay for this. The last major act passed in the period was in 1918, a representation of the People Act which not only gave the vote to adult males over 21 with a 6 month residency, but gave it to women for the fist time providing they were over 30 years old, and were householders, married to one or had a university degree. Finally, would democracy not mean a Freedom of Information Act? It seems undemocratic for so much Government Secrecy to exist. There is still the issue surrounding the House Of Lords. there needed to be regular elections and although at this time elections were every seven years, this was not often enough. This act also helped the problem of redistribution of seats as it meant seats were organised in a more reasonable way with 25 in the Counties and 19 to the Boroughs. This act meant that power of landlords was reduced even further and the South West was no longer over-represented. The fact that conciencious objectors were banned from voting for 7 years, as were the insane, prisoners, or members of the House of lords limited the democratic system being implemented here. But should this not have been a right they had? Many may argue that it was fair to exclude conciencious objectors from voting as they were not active in helping their country so why give them a say in how it best be run. Although this act limited plural voting, this was a direct limit on the level of democracy being introduced as the wealthier were still regarded as being superior. Public funds now paid back election expenses under this act, not the candidates, which allowed even the poorest people to stand. In order for Britain to be democratic, all involved had to find a common ground and a great desire for equality and Universal Suffrage.
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Acceptance Essays
