To What Extent Was Gradual Democratisation of Britain Between 1830-1931, in Particular the Reform Acts of 1832, 1867 and 1884, Conceded by the British Ruling Classes as a Response to the Threat of Revolution?
The period between 1830-1931 saw significant extensions of the franchise in Britain. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a narrow elite held a dense concentration of both economic wealth and political power, with little sign of wanting to concede either. Certainly there had, until then, been no major electoral reform since 1432, when Henry VI franchised male owners of property worth 40 shillings – which, by the 1830s, allowed only 635,000 out of a population of 20 million to vote. Bribery, intimidation and rotten boroughs, in which some MPs could be elected into seats with less than 100 voters whilst entire cities such as Manchester went unrepresented, were common.
As Thomas Paine succinctly put it, “The man who is in the receipt of a million a year is the last person to promote a spirit of reform, lest, in the event, it should reach to himself.”# Nevertheless, by the end of the period, suffrage had been extended to all men and women over the age of 21 in what some have called a ‘democratic revolution’.# Five Reform Acts, passed in 1832, 1867, 1885, 1918, and 1928, had this effect, whilst other reforming Acts removed rotten boroughs and corruption, and implemented a secret ballot. That the democratic revolution occurred peaceably between 1830-1931 requires explaining, as it was certainly not the case in many other European countries, where revolution was an integral part of reform.
“Only when the dusk begins to fall”, wrote Hegel, “does the owl of Minerva spread its wings and fly.” He meant that a historical era could only be properly understood as it drew to an end. Today, with few more apparent changes in suffrage on the horizon, there is perhaps no better time to evaluate the era of history that gave us our current democratic settlement. That social unrest gripped the country during this period is hard to deny, but the abiding question asks: was the social unrest sufficient to catalyse democratisation? Indeed, why did the elites on these
As Thomas Paine succinctly put it, “The man who is in the receipt of a million a year is the last person to promote a spirit of reform, lest, in the event, it should reach to himself.”# Nevertheless, by the end of the period, suffrage had been extended to all men and women over the age of 21 in what some have called a ‘democratic revolution’.# Five Reform Acts, passed in 1832, 1867, 1885, 1918, and 1928, had this effect, whilst other reforming Acts removed rotten boroughs and corruption, and implemented a secret ballot. That the democratic revolution occurred peaceably between 1830-1931 requires explaining, as it was certainly not the case in many other European countries, where revolution was an integral part of reform.
“Only when the dusk begins to fall”, wrote Hegel, “does the owl of Minerva spread its wings and fly.” He meant that a historical era could only be properly understood as it drew to an end. Today, with few more apparent changes in suffrage on the horizon, there is perhaps no better time to evaluate the era of history that gave us our current democratic settlement. That social unrest gripped the country during this period is hard to deny, but the abiding question asks: was the social unrest sufficient to catalyse democratisation? Indeed, why did the elites on these