Britain: 1760-1900: Democracy

What is Democracy?
1. Government of the people, for the people, by the people
2. A type of Government that is elected by the people
3. To be democractic a country must be
  1. Right to vote
  2. Choice
  3. Access to information
  4. Participation
  5. Fairness
  6. Accountability of voters
Is Britain a true Democracy?
1. Today
  1. YES!!!
2. 1760?
  1. NO!!!
    1. Why?
      1. Many people were not allowed to vote
      2. Britain was ruled by rich land owners who controlled the Government
      3. Bribery and corruption were common in voting
      4. Some areas of Britain hap no representitives!
      5. Voting done in public, no secret ballot
How many people could vote?
1. Only 1 in 50 people could vote!
The landowners would bribe or beat men to vote for their MP(s)
1. This meant that the landowners had...
  1. MP(s) to represent them
  2. and the votes to get them in Parliament
The Government represented the land of Britain, not the people
1. e.g. Old Sarum was a hill on which no one lived
  1. Two MPs were sent from there every year
    1. Places like this were known as Rotten bouroughs
2. e.g. Industrial towns such as Manchester and Birmingham had no one to represent them
  1. Thousands of people lived in these towns!

Resource summary

	Created by Lewis White about 11 years ago