Universal suffrage
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Universal suffrage (also general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to all adults, without distinction as to race, sex, belief, intelligence, or economic or social status. This would include right to vote or participate in government, most often in a democracy. Universal suffrage in colloquial speech often indicates nearly universal suffrage; for example, according to the CIA World Factbook, the United States is considered to have universal suffrage [1] despite the fact that roughly 5.3 million of its citizens cannot vote due to felony convictions.[2]
In the first modern "democracies" only a limited number of people had a say in the running of the government - for example in Britain only male landowners with relatively large holdings had the right to vote. Suffrage depended on local custom before 1832, so there were exceptions. In all modern democracies the number of people who could vote increased gradually with time. The 19th century featured movements advocating universal male suffrage - the extension to all males regardless of social standing or race. The democratic movement of the late 19th century, unifying Liberals and Social Democrats, particularly in northern Europe, used the slogan Equal and Common Suffrage. The Movement for Universal Suffrage consisted of a social, economic and political movement aimed at extending suffrage to people of all races.
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[edit] Expanding suffrage
The first movements toward universal suffrage (or manhood suffrage) occurred in the early 19th century, and focused on removing property requirements for voting. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the focus of universal suffrage movement became the removal of restrictions against women having the right to vote.
Several countries which had enacted universal suffrage had their normal legal process, or their existence, interrupted during the Second World War.
Many societies in the past have denied people the right to vote on the basis of race or ethnicity. For example, non-whites could not vote in national elections during apartheid-era South Africa, until the system came to an end with the first free multi-party elections in 1994. In the pre-Civil Rights Era American South, blacks often technically had the right to vote, but various means prevented many of them from exercising that right. The Ku Klux Klan formed after the American Civil War, largely to intimidate blacks and to prevent them from voting.
[edit] Other disenfranchisement
Some so-called "universal" suffrage systems still exclude some potential voters. For example, some jurisdictions deny the vote to various categories of convicted criminals or the mentally ill, and almost all jurisdictions deny the vote to non-citizen residents and citizens under the age of 18.
The development/integration of the European Union has changed a few matters. Citizens of an EU Member-State are allowed to vote in E.U. parliamentary elections, as well as some local elections. For example, a Briton living in Graz, Austria, would be able to vote in for the European Parliament as a resident of the "electoral district" of Austria, and to vote in Graz municipal elections. He would, however, not be able to vote in Austrian (federal) elections, or Styrian (state) elections. Depending on the paradigm of federalism, this could either be compared to
- a New Yorker living in Montréal being able to vote in city elections, but not in Canadian (federal) or Québec (provincial) elections, or
- a New Yorker living in Sacramento, being able to vote in city elections, but not in American (federal) elections or Californian (state) elections.
[edit] Universal suffrage in the world
States have granted and revoked universal suffrage at various times, including Brunei since 1962.
| Year | Country / Territory | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1776 - 1807 | New Jersey | First state to include both women and blacks. There was a property requirement; but its enforcement was and is disputed. New Jersey was independent until 1789. |
| 1890 | Wyoming | First state to allow women to run for the legislature. This is the date of Wyoming's admission to the Union; women's suffrage had been permitted in the territory since its formation in 1869. Other Western states also had universal suffrage before 1920. |
| 1893 | New Zealand | With the inclusion of women becomes the first nation to grant universal suffrage, however, women were not eligible to stand for parliament until 1919. |
| 1894 | South Australia | Women's suffrage, but not universal. First state to also allow women as candidates for parliament. Other Australian states followed 1899-1908. Aboriginals of Australia were allowed to vote, but this right was taken away at the time of Federation in 1901 and they were not allowed to vote in South Australia again until 1963. |
| 1901 | Australia | Women's suffrage, but not universal; the first federal election in Australia. In 1902 restrictions were imposed on Chinese, Indians, Polynesians (except Māori) and Indigenous Australians amongst others and some of these persisted until 1965. |
| 1906 | Grand Duchy of Finland | As an autonomous Grand Duchy. including women, first nation to also allow women as candidates. Finland became independent with same Universal Suffrage in 1917. This was the first time when women were actually elected (19 of 200 MPs). |
| 1913 | Norway | Including women, first independent nation to also allow women as candidates. |
| 1918 | Canada | Last province to enact women's suffrage was Quebec in 1940; status Indians gained the right to vote in 1960. |
| 1918 | Estonia | |
| 1918 | United Kingdom | Women over 30 had been given the vote in 1918 with some property restrictions and in 1928 universal suffrage for all. |
| 1918 | Soviet Union | With the 1918 Soviet Constitution, although direct voting and the lifting of some political restrictions not until the 1936 Soviet Constitution. |
| 1918 | Austria | After the Central Powers' defeat in World War I. |
| 1918 | Czechoslovakia | After the Central Powers' defeat in World War I |
| 1918 | Germany | After the Central Powers' defeat in World War I. Revoked during 1935-1945 by the Nuremberg Laws. The restrictions applied also to the territories occupied by the Nazis during World War II |
| 1918 | Hungary | After the Central Powers' defeat in World War I |
| 1919 | Democratic Republic of Armenia | became part of the Soviet Union in 1920 |
| 1919 | Azerbaijan Democratic Republic | became part of the Soviet Union in 1920 |
| 1919 | Democratic Republic of Georgia | became part of the Soviet Union in 1921 |
| 1919 | Poland | |
| 1919 | Luxembourg | |
| 1919 | The Netherlands | universal male suffrage in 1917 |
| 1920 | United States | After the Civil War, Male Blacks and other minorities were guaranteed suffrage in the 15th amendment to the Constitution, de jure. However, not enforced in the South, and some parts of the North, until 1964. |
| 1921 | Sweden | universal male suffrage 1909 |
| 1922 | Lithuania | |
| 1922 | Republic of Ireland | As the Irish Free State in 1922, law adopted from British law having been part of the United Kingdom. Law subsequently carried over during changes in constitutional status in 1937 and 1949. |
| 1923 | Romania | |
| 1931 | Sri Lanka (as Ceylon) | Indian Tamils disenfranchised 1949 |
| 1931 | Spain | Male suffrage over 23. In 1933: Universal (for both Male and Female) suffrage. Revoked during Franco era, 1939-1975 |
| 1932 | Brazil | |
| 1934 | Turkey | |
| 1935 | Burma | Last free elections held in 1990.[3] |
| 1944 | France | Universal male suffrage used in 1792, for the National Convention, enacted in 1793 and 1848, but restricted with lenght of residence in 1851; reintroduced in 1852. |
| 1945 | Italy | Universal male suffrage 1912 for people 30 or older, 1918 for people 21 or older |
| 1945 | Japan | Universal male suffrage 1926 |
| 1947 | Republic of China (now on Taiwan) | Universal suffrage under the Constitution of the Republic of China |
| 1948 | Israel | Universal suffrage since independence. |
| 1948 | South Korea | |
| 1948 | Belgium | |
| 1950 | India | As part of Constitution of India. |
| 1951 | Argentina | Universal male suffrage 1912. |
| 1952 | Greece | Universal male suffrage 1864; women permitted to vote in local elections 1930. |
| 1955 | Malaysia | The victory of Union Party convinces the British to grant Malaysia's Independence in 1957. |
| 1956 | Colombia | |
| 1963 | Iran | Reforms under Shah's "White Revolution" |
| 1964 | Afghanistan | Constitution transformed Afghanistan into a modern democracy.[4] |
| 1965 | Australia | A murky constitutional history regarding the voting rights of Aboriginals of Australia was clarified and ratified at the federal government level and in subsequent state governments in the following years - see Human rights in Australia for more. |
| 1971 | Switzerland | Introduction of women's suffrage at the federal level; for cantonal elections this was not completed until 1990. |
| 1976 | Portugal | |
| 1984 | Liechtenstein | |
| 1994 | South Africa | White women's suffrage in 1930. |
| 2002 | Bahrain | Universal male suffrage in 1973, although parliament was suspended and dissolved in 1975 for approximately 30 years. |
| 2003 | Oman | |
| 2005 | Kuwait | Universal adult male suffrage since 1962, for citizens who are 21 or older, with the exception of those who, at the time of elections, serve in the armed forces and, citizens who have been naturalized for fewer than 30 years. Note: As of 2005, women who satisfy the age and citizenship requirements are allowed to vote provided both men and women vote in separate polling locations. |
| 2006 - 2010 | U.A.E. | Limited, will be fully expanded by 2010.[5] |
| 2007 | Qatar | Municipal elections in 1999. |
[edit] Women voting
The first women's suffrage (with the same property qualifications as for men) was granted in New Jersey in 1776 (the word "inhabitants" was used instead of "men") and rescinded in 1807.
The Pitcairn Islands granted restricted women's suffrage in 1838. Various other countries and states granted restricted women's suffrage in the latter half of the nineteenth century, starting with South Australia in 1861.
The first unrestricted women's suffrage in terms of voting rights (women were not initially permitted to stand for election) in a major country was granted in New Zealand. The women's suffrage bill was adopted mere weeks before the general election of 1893.
The first to grant women's suffrage and also allow women to stand for parliament was South Australia, in 1894.
In 1931, the Second Spanish Republic allowed women the right of passive suffrage with three women being elected. During the discussion to extend their right to active suffrage, the Radical Socialist Victoria Kent confronted the Radical Clara Campoamor. Kent argued that Spanish women were not yet prepared to vote and, since they were too influenced by the Catholic Church they would vote for right-wing candidates. Campoamor however pleaded for women's rights regardless of orientation. Her point finally prevailed and, in the election of 1933, the political right won with the vote of citizens of any sex over 23. Both Campoamor and Kent lost their seats.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
- Suffragette
- This entry is related to, but not included in the elections and voting series. Other related articles can be found at the Politics Portal.
