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TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > History > Overview of Growth of Democracy

• Adult Male suffrage -- 1918
• Secret Ballot -- 1872
• Equal Constituencies
• Payment of M.Ps -- 1911
• Abolition of land qualification
• Annual Parliaments - Never granted was inefficient

Living in a democracy today, it seems we take for granted the rights of citizens to participate in the political process, and be properly represented at both levels of government, national and local. However these rights were virtually non-existent two hundred years ago and had to be earned often through a rough and trying process of struggle by individuals. Although it has to be mentioned that although we portray Britain today as being a democracy there are still anomalies in the system, the House of Lords for example is not elected by the people they are simply able to take their seat through their heritage, Although today the House of Lords is unable to stop any Bills from being passed in parliament it still has the power to delay the passing of Bills.

Until the First Reform Act of 1832 the system of parliamentary representation had been largely unchanged since the sixteenth century as mainly the land owning classes dominated parliament. Britain was, however, rapidly changing. The industrial revolution, in a relatively short period of time, altered both the social and economic structure which under pinned the existing system of representation.

The land owning classes no longer subjugated parliament. A new group of middle class entrepreneurs , industrialists, merchants and traders could rightly claim to be the new wealth creators. These people claimed that it was unjust that they did not have the vote and believed that they were entitled due to their economic power.

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