The United Kingdom’s slow progress towards democracy.
Perhaps the first significant tiny step towards democracy in England came when the barons forced King John to sign the Magna Carta in1215. This led to the establishment of a parliament.
By the time of the Tudors in the 16th century there were two houses of Parliament, the ‘Lords’ for the nobility and the ‘Commons’ for the influential middle class.
Charles I signed the ‘Petition of Rights’ which reduced the power of the monarchy. He was later to be obliged to become a ‘Constitutional Monarch’ rather than an ‘Absolute’ one. The Civil War saw the overthrow of the Monarchy but it was soon restored in the form of Charles II.
Great Britain was created in 1707 by the Act of Union between England and Scotland. In 1801 the United Kingdom was created by the Act of Union with the Kingdom of Ireland.
From 1688 to 1832, less than 10% of the adult male population had the right to vote. The Great Reform Act of 1832 increased the male suffrage to 14%
The Reform Act of 1867 increased male suffrage to 37%. The Ballot Act of 1867 introduced the ‘secret ballot’. The Representation of the People Act (1884) and Redistribution of Seats Act (1887) raised male suffrage to 56%. The Representation of the People Act (1918) gave the vote to all men over 21 and to women over 30. The Qualification of Women Act (1918) gave women over 30 the right to stand as MPs. The Equal Franchise Act of 1928 lowered the voting age for women to 21 – for the first time men and women were equal. The Representation of the People Act of 1949 abolished extra votes for graduates and owners of business premises. The Representation of the People Act (1969) lowered the voting age to 18. In the referendum for Scottish Independence to be held in 2014 the voting age will be lowered to 16. Is this a desire to greater democracy or a desire for a YES vote?
The House of Lords’ power has been reduced since 1911 to prevent it vetoing money bills and to reduce the length of time that the Lords could delay a bill from 3 to 2. The veto was removed as the Lords had a built in Conservative majority. Life Peerages were introduced in 1958. In 1999 the ‘Hereditary Peers’ in the house were reduced to 92. In 2001 fifteen ‘People’s Peers’ were introduced.
Where are we now in the Lords? – 660 Life Peers, 89 Hereditary Peers, 26 Bishops (Lords Spiritual) – Total 775 (Source: House of Lords Information Office). Lords reform has been proposed for over 100 years the three largest political parties in Westminster profess to be in favour, it is just that the time is never right. Britain is one of only three countries where the second chamber is larger than the first. The other two are Kazakstan and Burkina Faso - Portugal, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland do not have a second chamber. Is this a money saving idea in these times of austerity?
The Monarchy has been shown by recent Guardian Newspaper investigations to have unsuspected influence on law making (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/aug/31/secret-royal-veto-powers-exposed ).
Technological developments mean that the Scottish members of parliament can vote electronically. Westminster lags behind. Referenda are rare in the UK but surely they are the epitome of democracy and why can’t we vote electronically. This would be cheap and easy. If the internet is secure enough for banking it is secure enough for voting. More referenda would reverse the apathy about politics. It would be engaging to see the results coming in as live bar charts on a website. People would start to care about the results. The Scottish government has pioneered e-petitions whereby citizens can initiate a debate in Holyrood helping to dispel the feeling of voter impotence.
The United Kingdom has slowly become more democratic over the centuries but we have not yet metamorphosed into a full democracy. I wonder if we ever will. It is strange that we don’t practise what we preach so forcibly to other countries.