Editing Democracy (section)

====18th and 19th centuries====
[[File:The House of Commons 1793-94 by Karl Anton Hickel.jpg|thumb|[[William Pitt the Younger]] addressing the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]]]]
The [[first Parliament of Great Britain]] was established in 1707, after the merger of the [[Kingdom of England]] and the [[Kingdom of Scotland]] under the [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union]]. Two key documents of the [[Constitution of the United Kingdom|UK's uncodified constitution]], the English [[Declaration of Right, 1689]] (restated in the [[Bill of Rights 1689]]) and the Scottish [[Claim of Right 1689]], had both cemented Parliament's position as the supreme law-making body and said that the "election of members of Parliament ought to be free".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chavetz|first1=Josh|title=Democracy's Privileged Few. Legislative Privilege and Democratic Norms in the British and American Constitutions|date=2007|publisher=Yale University Press|page=274}}</ref> However, Parliament was only elected by male property owners, which amounted to 3% of the population in 1780.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/struggle_democracy/getting_vote.htm|title=Getting the vote|publisher=The National Archives|access-date=22 August 2010}}</ref> The first known British person of [[African diaspora|African]] heritage to vote in a general election, [[Ignatius Sancho]], voted in 1774 and 1780.<ref>{{cite news|title=Record of Ignatius Sancho's vote in the general election, October 1774|url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/record-of-ignatius-sanchos-vote-in-the-general-election-october-1774|access-date=2 October 2020|agency=British Library|archive-date=30 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930142733/https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/record-of-ignatius-sanchos-vote-in-the-general-election-october-1774|url-status=dead}}</ref>

During the [[Age of Liberty]] in Sweden (1718–1772), [[civil rights]] were expanded and power shifted from the monarch to parliament.<ref>Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sweden". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 188–221.</ref> The taxed peasantry was represented in parliament, although with little influence, but commoners without taxed property had no suffrage.

The creation of the short-lived [[Corsican Republic]] in 1755 was an early attempt to adopt a democratic [[constitution]] (all men and women above age of 25 could vote).<ref>{{cite book|title=The ungovernable rock: a history of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom and its role in Britain's Mediterranean strategy during the Revolutionary War, 1793–1797|first=Desmond|last=Gregory|year=1985|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press|location=London|page=31|isbn=978-0-8386-3225-3}}</ref> This [[Corsican Constitution]] was the first based on [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] principles and included [[female suffrage]], something that was not included in most other democracies until the 20th century.

[[File:Declaration of Independence (1819), by John Trumbull.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|The [[Thirteen Colonies|Thirteen British Colonies]] on the east coast of North America issued a [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] in 1776]]
[[Colonial history of the United States|Colonial America]] had similar property qualifications as Britain, and in the period before 1776 the abundance and availability of land meant that large numbers of colonists met such requirements with at least 60 per cent of adult white males able to vote.<ref>Donald Ratcliffe,  "[http://jer.pennpress.org/media/26167/sampleArt22.pdf The right to vote and the rise of democracy, 1787—1828]". ''Journal of the Early Republic'' 33.2 (2013): 219–254.</ref> The great majority of white men were farmers who met the property ownership or taxpaying requirements. With few exceptions, no blacks or women could vote. [[Vermont]], which, on declaring independence of Great Britain in 1777, adopted a constitution modelled on Pennsylvania's citizenship and democratic suffrage for males with or without property.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dinkin|first=Robert|url=https://archive.org/details/votinginrevoluti00dink/page/37|title=Voting in Revolutionary America: A Study of Elections in the Original Thirteen States, 1776–1789|publisher=Greenwood Publishing|year=1982|isbn=978-0-313-23091-2|location=US|pages=[https://archive.org/details/votinginrevoluti00dink/page/37 37–42]}}</ref> The [[United States Constitution]] of 1787 is the oldest surviving, still active, governmental [[codified constitution]]. The Constitution provided for an elected government and protected civil rights and liberties, but did not end [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] nor extend [[voting rights in the United States]], instead leaving the issue of suffrage to the individual states.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ratcliffe|first=Donald|date=Summer 2013|title=The Right to Vote and the Rise of Democracy, 1787–1828|url=https://jer.pennpress.org/media/26167/sampleArt22.pdf|journal=Journal of the Early Republic|volume=33|issue=2|pages=231|doi=10.1353/jer.2013.0033|s2cid=145135025|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602005114/https://jer.pennpress.org/media/26167/sampleArt22.pdf|archive-date=2 June 2023}}</ref> Generally, states limited suffrage to white male property owners and taxpayers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ratcliffe|first=Donald|date=Summer 2013|title=The Right to Vote and the Rise of Democracy, 1787–1828|url=https://jer.pennpress.org/media/26167/sampleArt22.pdf|journal=Journal of the Early Republic|volume=33|issue=2|pages=225–229|doi=10.1353/jer.2013.0033|s2cid=145135025|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602005114/https://jer.pennpress.org/media/26167/sampleArt22.pdf|archive-date=2 June 2023}}</ref> At the time of the first [[1788–89 United States presidential election|Presidential election in 1789]], about 6% of the population was eligible to vote.<ref>{{cite web|title=Expansion of Rights and Liberties – The Right of Suffrage|url=https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters_of_freedom_13.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706144856/http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters_of_freedom_13.html|archive-date=6 July 2016|access-date=21 April 2015|website=Online Exhibit: The Charters of Freedom|publisher=National Archives}}</ref> The [[Naturalization Act of 1790]] limited U.S. citizenship to whites only.<ref name="Schultz">{{cite book|last=Schultz|first=Jeffrey D.|title=Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics: African Americans and Asian Americans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WDV40aK1T-sC&pg=PA284|page=284|year=2002|publisher=Oryx Press|access-date=8 October 2015|isbn=978-1-57356-148-8}}</ref> The [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]] in 1791 set limits on government power to protect personal freedoms but had little impact on judgements by the courts for the first 130 years after ratification.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Bill of Rights: A Brief History|url=https://www.aclu.org/bill-rights-brief-history|publisher=ACLU|access-date=21 April 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Inspired by [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] philosophers, the ''[[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]]'' had a significant impact on the development of popular conceptions of [[individual liberty]] and democracy in Europe and worldwide.]]
In 1789, [[Revolutionary France]] adopted the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] and, although short-lived, the [[National Convention]] was elected by all men in 1792.<ref>{{cite web|title=The French Revolution II|url=http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc2/lectures/rev892.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827213104/http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc2/lectures/rev892.html|archive-date=27 August 2008|access-date=22 August 2010|publisher=Mars.wnec.edu}}</ref> The [[Constitution of 3 May 1791|Polish-Lithuanian Constitution]] of 3 May 1791 sought to implement a more effective [[constitutional monarchy]], introduced political equality between townspeople and nobility, and placed the peasants under the protection of the government, mitigating the worst abuses of [[serfdom]]. In force for less than 19 months, it was declared null and void by the [[Grodno Sejm]] that met in 1793.<ref name="Davies1992" /><ref name="Ligeza2017" /> Nonetheless, the 1791 Constitution helped keep alive Polish aspirations for the eventual restoration of the country's sovereignty over a century later.

In the United States, the [[1828 United States presidential election|1828 presidential election]] was the first in which non-property-holding white males could vote in the vast majority of states. Voter turnout soared during the 1830s, reaching about 80% of the adult white male population in the [[1840 United States presidential election|1840 presidential election]].<ref>William G. Shade, "The Second Party System". in Paul Kleppner, et al. ''Evolution of American Electoral Systems'' (1983) pp 77–111</ref> North Carolina was the last state to abolish property qualification in 1856 resulting in a close approximation to universal white male suffrage (however tax-paying requirements remained in five states in 1860 and survived in two states until the 20th century).<ref name="Engerman2005">{{Cite web|first1=Stanley L.|last1=Engerman|first2=Kenneth L.|last2=Sokoloff|title=The Evolution of Suffrage Institutions in the New World|date=2005|url=http://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Workshops-Seminars/Economic-History/sokoloff-050406.pdf|pages=14–16|ref=refEngerman2005|access-date=12 October 2020|archive-date=11 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111211244/http://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Workshops-Seminars/Economic-History/sokoloff-050406.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Scher2015">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=POzqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PR9|title=The Politics of Disenfranchisement: Why is it So Hard to Vote in America?|last=Scher|first=Richard K.|date=2015|page=viii–ix|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-45536-3}}</ref><ref name="NHLTS2009">{{Cite web|date=2009|title=Civil Rights in America: Racial Voting Rights|url=https://www.nps.gov/nhl/learn/themes/CivilRights_VotingRights.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702010008/http://www.nps.gov/nhl/learn/themes/CivilRights_VotingRights.pdf|archive-date=2015-07-02|url-status=live|publisher=A National Historic Landmarks Theme Study}}</ref> In the [[1860 United States census]], the slave population had grown to four million,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/manassas/social/introsoc.htm|title=Introduction – Social Aspects of the Civil War|publisher=Itd.nps.gov|access-date=22 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714073725/http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/manassas/social/introsoc.htm|archive-date=14 July 2007}}</ref> and in [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] after the Civil War, three constitutional amendments were passed: the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th Amendment]] (1865) that ended slavery; the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th Amendment]] (1869) that gave black people citizenship, and the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|15th Amendment]] (1870) that gave black males a nominal right to vote.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3425000965.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610193453/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3425000965.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 June 2014|title=Fifteenth Amendment: Framing and ratification|author=Gillette, William|year=1986|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the American Constitution|access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Black voting rights, 15th Amendment still challenged after 150 years|url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/03/black-voting-rights-15th-amendment-still-challenged-after-150-years/4587160002/|access-date=18 November 2020|newspaper=USA Today}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|The [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] in 1868 altered the way each state is represented in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]. It counted all residents for apportionment including slaves, overriding the [[three-fifths compromise]], and reduced a state's apportionment if it wrongfully denied males over the age of 21 the right to vote; however, this was not enforced in practice. Some poor white men remained excluded at least until the passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]]. For state elections, it was not until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in ''[[Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections]]'' (1966) that all state poll taxes were unconstitutional as violating the [[Equal Protection Clause]] of the Fourteenth Amendment. This removed a burden on the poor.}} Full enfranchisement of citizens was not secured until after the [[civil rights movement]] gained passage by the US Congress of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]].<ref>[http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=100&page=transcript Transcript of Voting Rights Act (1965)] US National Archives.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090214180002/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,897070,00.html The Constitution: The 24th Amendment] Time.</ref>
[[File:Suffrage universel 1848.jpg|thumb|1850s lithograph marking the establishment of [[universal male suffrage]] in France in 1848]]
The voting franchise in the United Kingdom was expanded and made more uniform in a [[Reform Acts|series of reforms]] that began with the [[Reform Act 1832]] and continued into the 20th century, notably with the [[Representation of the People Act 1918]] and the [[Equal Franchise Act 1928]]. [[Universal male suffrage]] was established in [[France]] in March 1848 in the wake of the [[French Revolution of 1848]].<ref>{{cite web|author=French National Assembly|title=1848 " Désormais le bulletin de vote doit remplacer le fusil "|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/suffrage_universel/suffrage-1848.asp|access-date=26 September 2009}}</ref> During that year, several [[Revolutions of 1848|revolutions broke out in Europe]] as rulers were confronted with popular demands for liberal constitutions and more democratic government.<ref>"[http://www.iun.edu/~hisdcl/h114_2002/democracy.htm Movement toward greater democracy in Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804213940/http://www.iun.edu/~hisdcl/h114_2002/democracy.htm|date=4 August 2010}}". Indiana University Northwest.</ref>

In 1876, the Ottoman Empire transitioned from an [[absolute monarchy]] to a constitutional one, and held two elections the next year to elect members to her newly formed parliament.<ref>Hasan Kayalı (1995) [http://psi203.cankaya.edu.tr/uploads/files/Kayali, Elections in the Ott Empire (1995).pdf "Elections and the Electoral Process in the Ottoman Empire, 1876–1919"] ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'', Vol. 27, No. 3, pp 265–286</ref> Provisional Electoral Regulations were issued, stating that the elected members of the Provincial Administrative Councils would elect members to the first [[Parliament of the Ottoman Empire|Parliament]]. Later that year, a new constitution was promulgated, which provided for a [[Bicameralism|bicameral]] Parliament with a [[Senate of the Ottoman Empire|Senate]] appointed by [[Abdul Hamid II|the Sultan]] and a popularly elected [[Chamber of Deputies (Ottoman Empire)|Chamber of Deputies]]. Only men above the age of 30 who were competent in [[Turkish language|Turkish]] and had full civil rights were allowed to stand for election. Reasons for disqualification included holding dual citizenship, being employed by a foreign government, being bankrupt, employed as a servant, or having "notoriety for ill deeds". Full universal suffrage was achieved in 1934.<ref>{{cite book|title=Reconstructing Gender in Middle East: Tradition, Identity, and Power|date=1995|publisher=Columbia University Press|page=101}}</ref>

In 1893, the self-governing colony [[New Zealand]] became the first country in the world (except for the short-lived 18th-century Corsican Republic) to establish active [[universal suffrage]] by recognizing women as having the right to vote.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nohlen|first=Dieter|author-link=Dieter Nohlen|date=2001|title=Elections in Asia and the Pacific: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific|page=14|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>