When were the principles of universal suffrage introduced? Universal suffrage is ...

What is universal suffrage? This is an opportunity to vote in elections for all citizens of the country regardless of their gender, religion, nationality, social status, income level, etc. Under universal suffrage, there is only one qualification - age. Citizens who have the right to vote in elections thus elect their representatives to state authorities, participate in referendums and elect a head of state.

Political progress

Today, universal suffrage is an obligatory attribute of democratic states. However, mankind had to go a long and thorny path to achieve its establishment in most countries of the world.

It is also important that the introduction of universal suffrage in different epochs meant different reforms. This principle was first realized in revolutionary France of the late 18th century. However, the then society believed that universal suffrage was a privilege only for the male part of the population.

French revolution

In 1792, the rebellious Parisians captured the royal palace. The monarch was deposed. The revolutionaries decided to establish a new supreme legislative and representative body. It was the famous National Convention.

At the same time, on August 11, 1792, a decree regulating the upcoming elections to this new institution was issued. It was this document that actually introduced universal suffrage in the country. This was an epoch-making event, the importance of which became especially noticeable over time.

Elections to the National Convention

Prior to the decree of 1792, French voters were divided into active and passive. To get the right to vote it was necessary to be a resident of the city and pay enough taxes. It was a classical property qualification, which also abolished the decree "Convocation of the National Convention". Now, for admission to the elections, it was enough to be a Frenchman over the age of 21 and have an annual residence at the place of his residence. Also, the new legislation introduced the custom of bringing a civil oath.

Elections in 1792 compared with the current electoral process, for example, in the same France, were far from universal (women still could not vote). However, it was the events of the Great Revolution that did much for their further democratization. The property qualification was abolished, and people with different social status (for example, aristocrats and peasants) were equalized. Reducing the age limit from 25 to 21 years also met the interests of the masses.

The Old and the New Order

In Europe, the struggle for the guarantees of universal suffrage took place throughout the XIX century. At the beginning of the century, together with the French Revolution in the Old World, the process of abandoning the remnants of the legacy of medieval feudalism began.

All European states (except Switzerland) were still monarchies. It was an outdated and inefficient form of government. The existence of kingdoms, principalities and duchies did not suit the bourgeoisie, which sought to strengthen its position through democratic mechanisms.

Towards change

For a century, the progressive public, students, workers, urban poor and intellectuals tried to force their authorities to introduce universal suffrage. This requirement appeared in the 1920s. XIX century among members of the British trade unions. However, conservative monarchical and aristocratic circles opposed electoral reforms. They realized that democracy was a danger to their own privileged future.

Even in France, after the end of the Napoleonic wars and the restoration of the monarchy, a property qualification was again introduced. And only after the revolution of 1848 and the overthrow of King Louis Philippe in the new Constitution was finally enshrined the right of all men to vote in elections. Since then, no reactionaries have already abolished it. After that reform, the number of French voters increased from 240,000 to 9 million.

Suffragettes

Although by the end of the nineteenth century, many men could vote in many countries, the problem of women's suffrage was never solved in any of these countries. The struggle for the corresponding reform was started by the suffragettes. For the first time such amendments appeared in the laws of New Zealand in 1893. The principles of universal suffrage were first introduced in this country, since without the involvement of women's electorate in elections one can not speak of any of their "universality".

In the next few decades the suffragettes achieved their demands in several other countries. It is interesting that in the Russian Empire women were allowed to vote back in 1906. True, the effect of that reform has spread only to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland. It was not a single such experiment. In Finland, Russian monarchs often introduced advanced innovations, which they for various reasons could not realize in the territory of the rest of the empire.

The Suffrage in Russia

After the 1905 revolution, the State Duma appeared in Russia. However, the parliamentary elections were limited by various qualifications. This was opposed by various oppositionists, primarily leftists. They demanded that a universal suffrage be introduced in the country. Parliamentary evolution in tsarist Russia was thwarted by the onset of the First World War. And only after the October Revolution of 1917 the Bolsheviks that came to power announced that they would get rid of the "bourgeois" electoral legislation.

Although Lenin criticized many of the orders of the capitalist countries, he did not intend to refuse elections. Representative offices (councils) he contrasted with the outdated parliamentarism. In January 1918, the meeting of the newly opened Constituent Assembly was disrupted . After this episode, the Bolsheviks began to build their own state, without regard for their political opponents.

Bolshevik reform

According to Lenin's ideology, in the future communism had to come - the ideal state of society. This utopia had little in common with the state, but at the same time the Bolshevik leader believed that for some time the state with its elected institutions should be left. First of all, this was done in order to protect the gains of the revolution. The fall of the autocracy opened up wide opportunities for the Bolsheviks to experiment in the construction of a new state.

July 10, 1918 was adopted by the Constitution of the RSFSR (before the creation of the USSR was another 4 years). A separate section of it was devoted to the legislation on the election of Soviets. In this document for the first time in the history of Russia the principle of universal suffrage was formally enshrined. Women could vote now. According to the wording, "all citizens of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic" were entitled to vote. The age limit was set at 18 years.

At the same time, people who live on unearned income (parasites), servants of the church, agents of the former tsarist police, criminals and insane persons lost their voices. The Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 reflected the basic guarantees of universal suffrage. However, the document had many legal gaps regarding the elections. They were filled with individual local and republican instructions.

English experience

In the UK, labor unions turned out to be the flagship of the struggle for universal suffrage. Year after year, they sought political change. The greatest popularity was gained by the Chartists movement. Delays occurred gradually. By the end of the XIX century, the authorities allowed universal suffrage for men. It was done without revolutions, as in the rest of Europe.

The struggle for the political equality of women in the UK continued for several decades. The suffragist movement in this country was one of the most powerful in the Old World. However, the confrontation between society and the state did not reach its peak. The First World War began, which slowed down political processes not only in Foggy Albion, but also in other European countries.

In early 1918, the government of Prime Minister Lloyd George adopted a law granting suffrage to all women over 30 years of age. Everything was done without any hype. Even in the parliament, only 23 deputies opposed it. The country was engaged in war, and it was not up to political changes. With the onset of the world, the British discovered that they live in a new, advanced society without sexual discrimination.

USA

Immediately after the formation of the United States, the Constitution was adopted in this country. For the end of the 18th century this was the most progressive and progressive document. He also regulated some of the most important features of the suffrage. However, each state separately defined its own legislation, including that relating to the elections. For example, at the beginning of the nineteenth century property qualifications existed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland for election participants.

Slavery was a serious problem for the suffrage and the whole country in general. It was common in the southern agricultural states, where the inevitable conflict with the industrially developed north was ripe. Civil war broke out (1861-1865 gg.). Only after its end, slavery was finally abolished.

Several amendments to the Constitution followed, which gradually increased the number of people with electoral rights. Blacks joined this group. And in 1920, the nineteenth amendment was adopted, which gave women the right to vote. This was the unconditional victory of the suffragettes. So in the United States universal suffrage has triumphed.