Between 1867 and 1928 Britain took almost all the steps need to become a democracy" Discuss.

In order to evaluate the development of democracy during this period in Britain it would be helpful to have some clear definition of what democracy actually is. The Oxford English dictionary defines democracy as "a system of government by the whole population, usually through elected representation". This definition would suggest that the whole adult population of a state or country would have the right to vote in a parliamentary election. Evidence may suggest that the parliamentary system in Britain in the middle of the 19th Century did not even come close to this definition. The British electoral system had remained largely unchanged through the entire 17th and 18th Century when politics in Britain was largely dominated by wealthy landowners. The first Parliamentary Reform Act of 1832 increased the franchise in Britain from 435,000 to 653.000 from a population of twenty million. The fact that ninety-four percent of the British population was excluded from the franchise is a clear reflection of how democratic British politics was at this time.

The Reform Act of 1832 stimulated public agitation, which heightened political consciousness among the working class. The Chartist movement grew out of a demand for voting rights for the working class at a time when Britain was experiencing an economic recession. The charter consisted of six demands: universal suffrage; equal electoral districts; voting by ballot; payment for members of Parliament and the abolition of the property qualification. It must be said the Chartist movement achieved very little.

Before the 1867 Reform Act was passed through Parliament, a political battle ensued between William Gladstone who lead the Liberal Party and Benjamin Disraeli, who was the leader of the Conservative Party. Both tried to claim the credit for pushing through this Act of Parliament in a bid to gain the support of the working class voters. By 1867 many influential members of Parliament accepted that reforms were necessary to take account for the social and economic changes that had taken place as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Some P.M.s also thought that the aristocracy of labour were now responsible and intelligent enough to be included in the franchise, without the fear of producing radicals or revolutionaries as a result. The Reform Act aimed increase the franchise by lower and widen the property qualifications Thereby adding significant numbers of working class people to the franchise without giving them any real political power.

When the second Reform Act was passed through Parliament in 1867, it more than doubled the franchise from 1,120,000 to 2,500,000 people by giving the vote to working class men from towns and cities. It also distributed Parliamentary seats more equally throughout Britain by given fifteen seats to towns which had not had parliamentary representation until this time, it also gave an extra seat to some of the larger towns and cities, such as, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. This Act still excluded working class men under the age of twenty-one, the whole female population (regardless of class status) and men from the rural areas of Britain. Evidence may also suggest that the 1867 Reform Act did very little to alter the political balance of power in Britain which was still dominated by the upper and middle classes.

In 1872, the Secret Ballot was introduced in Britain. Voting at this time in Britain was carried out in an open manner, which left the electorate wide open to intimidation, corruption and bribery. The introduction of the Secret Ballot meant that some of these elements were removed from the process of voting and allowed voting to be carried out in private. In an attempt to further reduce these elements the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Acts was introduced in 1883. This limited the amount of money that a candidate could spend of election expenses, this was enforced to stop candidates buying ...

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The third Reform Act of 1884-1885 extended the franchise from 2.5 million to 5 million by giving the vote to working class men from rural areas, but almost half of the male adult population was still excluded from the franchise. These men were excluded for a number of reasons. Sons who were still living at home, people living on poor relief, servants living with employers, service men living in barracks and people who failed to have certain residential qualifications were all still excluded from the franchise. After the third Reform Act in fifty-two years only 28.5% of the British population were included in the franchise. There was still no indication that women wound be included in the franchise in Britain, it would take two further reforms in 1918 and 1928 before women would have the same voting rights as men.

John Stuart Mill had put forward the idea that women should be included in the franchise in 1967 but his proposal was largely ignored by Parliament. Some of the reasons for continually excluding women from the franchise may seem quite ridiculous to say the least. It had been suggested that “a women’s brain was smaller than a men’s” and that “women’s physiology, such as, child bearing, menstruation and the menopause would cloud their judgment when it came to political matters. One of the more logical arguments that was put forward was that “men did not have universal suffrage, so why should women”.

Women's status in Victorian society was inferior to men in a number of key areas. Even within the family home, women were given inferior roles to men. Women were denied the same legal rights as men, with regard to property and child custody. The lack of education available to women meant that their employment opportunities were severely limited. The main areas of employment for women were working in the domestic services, where the wages were inferior to that of men. In order for women to be able to compete with men on an equal level, they had to be given the same level of education. These barriers began to break down in 1870 when the Education Act created a system of elementary education for girls that was equal to that of boys. In 1878 London University offer degrees to women that were the same as the degrees offered to men. The universities of Manchester, Liverpool and Durham all followed suit within seven years of London University's example. By providing a proper level of education for women, it opened up new career opportunities, such as nursing, medicine and teaching, but to follow the latter career choice women had to remain unmarried. Women also found employment in the post office and civil services. Although, women's status was beginning to improve, they were still denied the right to vote.

When John Stuart Mill's proposal was defeated in the House of Common, it was the beginning of a long and b from itter campaign for women to gain the right to vote. In 1867, the London’s National Society for Women's Suffrage organised a petition, the main purpose of this petition was to have women voting rights included in the 1867 Reform Act. In the later part of the 19th century the National Union of Women's Suffrage was set up. It hoped to win the support of various M.P.s by drawing up petitions and producing pamphlets, but this accomplished very little. In 1903, the Women's Social and Political Union was set up by Emmeline Pankhurst. In the quest for equal suffrage with men, the W.S.P.U. had used more or less the same as the tactics as N.S.W.S. by means of partitions and campaigning. This group of women were not prepared to break the law in their battle to be included in the franchise, but these issues were constantly ignored by M.P.s,, who continually tried to pacify these women by offering false promises. This led to the suffragettes adopting a more aggressive and militant stance. They engaged in activities such as chaining themselves to the railings out side 10 Downing Street, interrupting political meeting, organised rallies, marches and petitions and committing acts of vandalism such breaking shop windows and damaging golf courses. The illegal activities lead to some women being imprisoned, some went on hunger strike in a bid for public publicity. While on hunger strike, some of the women were force-fed. This caused concern within some section of society, so the government introduced the Cat and Mouse Act in 1913. This act allowed the release of women who had been on hunger strike who had became seriously ill as a result, but as soon as they had regained their health they were sent back to prison. The Suffragettes abandoned its campaign when the First World War broke out in order to support the war effort. Evidence may suggest, the way women adapted and took on the role of men during the war had been extremely influential in raising the status of women in British society. The arguments against women's suffrage no longer had any real foundation.

The rise of the Labour Movement stemmed from the harsh working and living conditions that working class people were experiencing at the end of the 19th Century. The more intellectual and politically minded people from the working class section of society began to organise themselves into unions and organisations in order to provide their workers’ better working conditions, and various rights within the work place. It was also the aim of these organisations to improve the standard of living for the working class and offered their working support in time of need. The politically mind members of these organisations began to voice the views and concerns when it came issues of politics, social conditions and workers rights that had a effect on the working class. The most influential members of the aristocracy of labour came from the Fabian Society, who members believed that social changes had to been applied gradually, through discussions, lectures and publications. The Social democratic Federation adopted a Marxist based philosophy and views socialism as the way forward for British society. The two men who had a major influence on the Labour movement were Keir Hardie and Ramsay MacDonald, Both men were members of the Independent Labour Party. Its main focus was for practical reforms that would benefit the working people by demanding the end to child labour, proper provisions for the sick, disabled and unemployed and the collective ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange. These three organisations formed the Labour Representation Committee in 1900 and became the Labour Party in 1906. In the same year the Liberals came to power but did little to enhance the growth of democracy or the status of women during the two terms that they were in power, but the Liberals put in place a number of social reforms that aimed to enhance the living conditions of the working class. The Liberals were also responsible the Parliament Act of 1911, which reduced the power of the House of Lords.

The outbreak of the First World War (1914-1918) resulted in nearly 3 million men from the industrial workforce being enlisted for military service during this period. It is estimated that the industrial workforce only fell by 4% between July 1914 and July 1918. The main reason why Britain was able to maintain its industrial workforce was largely due to the way in which women adopted the role of men during this period, but it is unclear whether or not the Representation of the People Act of 1918 was a direct result of the government's dependence on the united effect of both men and women during the First World War.

The Representation of the People Act (Women's Qualification Act) of enfranchised the largest number of people of all the major Parliamentary reform acts between 1967-1928. The Forth Reform Act extended the franchise from 28.5% to 74% by including women over the age of thirty who were householders; occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5 or had received a degree from a British university. Men over the age of twenty-one with a six month residency were also included. After the Women's Qualification Act was passed the NUWNN and WSPU were disbanded, but there has been much debated among historian whether the Women’s Movement or the part that women played during the First World War directly resulted in women being given the vote in 1918. In the following year, the Sex Disqualification Removal Act was passed through Parliament, which made it illegal to exclude women from jobs because of their Sex. Thereby opening up career opportunities for women in professions such as the legal system or politics. But evidence would suggest that Britain did not become a proper democracy until 1928 when the (Equal Franchise Act) second Representation of the People Act extended the franchise to both men and women over the age of twenty-one, which extended the franchise to 97% of the British population. By 1928 Britain had to all of the necessary steps to be classed as a true democracy which radically changed Britain's political identity in the process.

In conclusion, the expansion of the franchise only increased to 28.5% between 1867 and the out break of the First World War. The most dramatic growth in democracy took place after the First World War when the Representation of the People Act of 1918 increased the franchise to 74% by giving the vote to women over the age of thirty and all men over the age of twenty-one. The Equal Franchise Act of 1928 increased the franchise in Britain to 97% of the population by giving the vote to all men and women over the age of twenty-one. Evidence may suggest that Britain could be classed as a true democracy after 1928. The rise of the Labour Party and the growth of the TUC and the emergence of the Labour Party helped to change the political identity of British politics. The dramatic extension of the franchise between 1918 and 1928 also had a major impact on British politics because politicians had to be much more aware of public opinion when shaping their policies.