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111-519: The Putney Debates , which took place from 28 October to 8 November 1647, were a series of discussions over the political settlement that should follow Parliament 's victory over Charles I in the First English Civil War . The main participants were senior officers of the New Model Army who favoured retaining Charles within the framework of a constitutional monarchy , and radicals such as

222-450: A unicameral body, a bicameral Parliament emerged when its membership was divided into the House of Lords and House of Commons , which included knights of the shire and burgesses . During Henry IV 's time on the throne, the role of Parliament expanded beyond the determination of taxation policy to include the "redress of grievances", which essentially enabled English citizens to petition

333-577: A French invasion and unrest throughout the realm. For the first time, burgesses (elected by those residents of boroughs or towns who held burgage tenure , such as wealthy merchants or craftsmen) were summoned along with knights of the shire. Montfort was killed at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, and Henry was restored to power. In August 1266, Parliament authorised the Dictum of Kenilworth , which nullified everything Montfort had done and removed all restraints on

444-535: A candidate can often be elected with the support of only a minority of votes, leaving the majority of votes cast wasted, and thus a moderate winning vote of say just 34 percent repeated in several swing seats can be enough to create a landslide increase in seats won by a government. The district-by-district basis of ' First past the post voting ' elections means that parties will usually categorise and target various districts by whether they are likely to be held with ease, or winnable by extra campaigning, or written off as

555-601: A certain new town" were summoned to advise on the rebuilding of Berwick after its capture by the English. Parliament—or the High Court of Parliament as it became known—was England's highest court of justice. A large amount of its business involved judicial questions referred to it by ministers, judges, and other government officials. Many petitions were submitted to Parliament by individuals whose grievances were not satisfied through normal administrative or judicial channels. As

666-662: A committee chosen mainly from the ranks of the Army's officers, would be the basis of any future constitutional settlement and that it would be presented to the Army itself at a mass meeting. However, the Agitators wanted to discuss the future of the King, leading the Grandees, fearing a complete breakdown of discipline in the Army, to propose on 8 November that the Agitators and New Agents return at once to their regiments to restore order, thereby suspending

777-589: A fine for the restoration of their property that was identical to the tax requested by the King. At the Salisbury parliament of March 1297, Edward unveiled his plans for recovering Gascony. The English would mount a two-front attack with the King leading an expedition to Flanders while other barons traveled to Gascony . This plan faced opposition from the most important noblemen— Roger Bigod , marshal and earl of Norfolk , and Humphrey Bohun , constable and earl of Hereford . Norfolk and Hereford argued that they owed

888-411: A foregone loss hardly worth fighting for. A safe seat is one that is regarded as very unlikely to be won by a rival politician based on the constituency 's past voting record or polling results. Conversely, a marginal seat or swing seat is one that could easily swing either way, and may even have changed hands frequently in recent decades - the party that currently holds it may have only won it by

999-616: A leader of the baronial reformers, ignored these orders and made plans to hold a parliament in London but was prevented by Bigod. When the king arrived back in England he summoned a parliament which met in July, where Montfort was brought to trial though ultimately cleared of wrongdoing. In April 1261, the pope released the king from his oath to adhere to the Provisions of Oxford, and Henry publicly renounced

1110-446: A low effective number of parties . Malta with only two major parties is a stark example of divergence from Duverger's rule. In a system where the intent is to avoid the waste of votes, a set proportion of votes, as a minimum, assures the election of a candidate. This is set as the inverse of the district magnitude plus one, plus one, the Droop quota . Droop is the mathematical threshold that

1221-580: A method called binomial voting , which assigned 2 MPs to each district. In many cases, however, multi-member constituencies correspond to already existing jurisdictions (regions, districts, wards, cities, counties, states or provinces), which creates differences in district magnitude from district to district: The concept of district magnitude helps explains why Duverger's speculated correlation between proportional representation and party system fragmentation has many counter-examples, as PR methods combined with small-sized multi-member constituencies may produce

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1332-560: A new constitution in which the king's powers were given to a council of nine. The new council was chosen and led by three electors (Montfort, Stephen Bersted, bishop of Chichester , and Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester ). The electors could replace any of the nine as they saw fit, but the electors themselves could only be removed by Parliament. Montfort held two other Parliaments during his time in power. The most famous— Simon de Montfort's Parliament —was held in January 1265 amidst threat of

1443-501: A new manifesto to be presented at the mass meeting which contained, among other provisions, a clause in which the members of the army would sign a declaration of loyalty to Lord Fairfax and the General Council (and hence making further agitation when ordered to desist a mutinous offence). The presentation itself was split from one mass meeting to three smaller ones. Those regiments invited to the first meeting on 15 November agreed with

1554-487: A particular group has a slight majority, for instance, gerrymandering politicians can obtain 2/3 of that district's seats. Similarly, by making four-member districts in regions where the same group has slightly less than a majority, gerrymandering politicians can still secure exactly half of the seats. However, any possible gerrymandering that theoretically could occur would be much less effective because minority groups can still elect at least one representative if they make up

1665-453: A permanent feature of English politics. Thereafter, the king ruled in concert with an active Parliament, which considered matters related to foreign policy, taxation, justice, administration, and legislation. January 1236 saw the passage of the Statute of Merton , the first English statute . Among other things, the law continued barring bastards from inheritance. Significantly, the language of

1776-412: A precedent that taxation was granted in return for the redress of grievances. In 1232, Peter des Roches became the king's chief minister. His nephew, Peter de Rivaux , accumulated a large number of offices, including lord keeper of the privy seal and keeper of the wardrobe ; yet, these appointments were not approved by the magnates as had become customary during the regency government. Under Roches,

1887-518: A schedule rather than at the pleasure of the king. The reformers hoped that the provisions would ensure parliamentary approval for all major government acts. Under the provisions, Parliament was "established formally (and no longer merely by custom) as the voice of the community". The theme of reform dominated later parliaments. During the Michaelmas Parliament of 1258, the Ordinance of Sheriffs

1998-428: A significant percentage of the population (e.g. 20–25%), compared to single-member districts where 40–49% of the voters can be essentially shut out from any representation. Sometimes, particularly under non-proportional or winner-takes-all voting systems, elections can be prone to landslide victories . As the result in each district is not related to votes cast elsewhere and may not reflect a party's national popularity,

2109-880: A significant presence in an area. Many assemblies allow free postage (through franking privilege or prepaid envelopes) from a representative to a constituent, and often free telecommunications. Caseworkers may be employed by representatives to assist constituents with problems. Members of the U.S. Congress (both Representatives and Senators) working in Washington, D.C., have a governmentally staffed district office to aid in constituent services. Many state legislatures have followed suit. Likewise, British MPs use their Parliamentary staffing allowance to appoint staff for constituency casework. Client politics and pork barrel politics are associated with constituency work. In some elected assemblies, some or all constituencies may group voters based on some criterion other than, or in addition to,

2220-517: A slender margin and a party that wants to win it may be able to take it away from its present holder with little effort. In United Kingdom general elections and United States presidential and congressional elections, the voting in a relatively small number of swing seats usually determines the outcome of the entire election. Parties aspire to hold as many safe seats as possible, and high-level politicians, such as prime ministers, prefer to stand in safe seats. In large multi-party systems like India ,

2331-522: A small shift in election results, sometimes caused by swing votes, can lead to no party taking a majority of seats, causing a hung assembly . This may arise from a significant number of seats going to smaller regional parties instead of the larger national parties which are the main competitors at the national or state level, as was the situation in the Lok Sabha (Lower house of the Parliament of India ) during

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2442-526: A successful commander in the Civil War, and lately MP for Droitwich , his brother Major William Rainsborough , and the Agitators Edward Sexby and William Allen . The New Agents also brought John Wildman and Maximillian Petty, two civilian advisors who had been involved with Army affairs since at least July 1647. The debates opened on 28 October and were transcribed by secretary William Clarke and

2553-481: A tax on moveables. In reality, this grant was not made by a parliament but by an informal gathering "standing around in [the king's] chamber". Norfolk and Hereford drew up a list of grievances known as the Remonstrances , which criticized the king's demand for military service and heavy taxes. The maltolt and prises were particularly objectionable due to their arbitrary nature. In August, Bigod and de Bohun arrived at

2664-672: A team of stenographers . From 2 November however, all recording ceased. The debates were not reported and Clarke's minutes were not published at the time. They were lost until 1890 when they were rediscovered at the library of Worcester College, Oxford , and subsequently published as part of the Clarke Papers. Cromwell and Ireton's main complaint about the Agreement was that it included terms for near universal male suffrage, which Ireton considered to be anarchy. Instead, they suggested suffrage should be limited only to landholders. The Agitators, on

2775-519: A term also used for administrative subdivisions of a municipality. However, in the Republic of Ireland , voting districts are called local electoral areas . District magnitude is a term invented by the American political scientist Douglas W. Rae in his 1967 dissertation The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws . It refers to the number of seats assigned to each district, and thus helping determine

2886-620: A time of transition for the great council. The cause of this transition were new financial burdens imposed by the Crown to finance the Third Crusade , ransom Richard I , and pay for the series of Anglo-French wars fought between the Plantagenet and Capetian dynasties . In 1188, a precedent was established when the great council granted Henry II the Saladin tithe . In granting this tax, the great council

2997-508: A vassal to the King of France, English kings were suitors to the Parlement of Paris . In the 13th century, the French and English parliaments were similar in their functions; however, the two institutions diverged in significant ways in later centuries. After the 1230s, the normal meeting place for Parliament was fixed at Westminster . Parliaments tended to meet according to the legal year so that

3108-466: A year at Easter in the spring and after Michaelmas in the autumn. Under Edward, the first major statutes amending the common law were promulgated in Parliament: The first Statute of Westminster required free elections without intimidation. This act was accompanied by the grant of a tax on England's wealthy wool trade —a half- mark (6 s 8 d ) on each sack of wool exported. It became known as

3219-673: Is allowed to affect apportionment, with rural areas with sparse populations allocated more seats per elector: for example in Iceland, the Falkland Islands, Scottish islands, and (partly) in US Senate elections. Gerrymandering is the manipulation of electoral district boundaries for political gain. By creating a few "forfeit" districts where opposing candidates win overwhelmingly, gerrymandering politicians can manufacture more, but narrower, wins for themselves and their party. Gerrymandering relies on

3330-573: Is larger than 1 where multiple members are elected - plural districts ), and under plurality block voting (where voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled), proportional representation or single transferable vote elections (where the voter casts just one vote). In STV elections DM normally range from 2 to 10 members in a district. But 21 are elected in a single contest conducted through STV in New South Wales (Australia). In list PR systems DM may exceed 100. District magnitude

3441-508: Is maximized where: DM is moderate where districts break up the electorate or where relatively few members overall are elected, even if the election is held at-large. District magnitude may be set at an equal number of seats in each district. Examples include: all districts of the Northern Ireland Assembly elected 6 members (5 members since 2017); all those of the Parliament of Malta send 5 MPs; Chile, between 1989 and 2013, used

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3552-404: Is not synonymous with proportional representation. The use of "general ticket voting" prevents the multiple-member representation of the district from being mixed and balanced. Where list PR is used in the district, a closed list PR method gives the party machine, not the voters, the power to arrange the candidates on the party list. In this case, a large district magnitude helps minorities only if

3663-425: Is the mathematical minimum whereby no more will be elected than there are seats to be filled. It ensures election in contests where all votes are used to elect someone. (Probabilistic threshold should include the likely number of votes wasted to minor lists). For instance, a 10%-polling party will not win a seat in a 5-member district (Droop quota of 1/6=16.67%) but will do so in a 10-member district as its 10 percent of

3774-596: Is used for provincial districts and riding for federal districts. In colloquial Canadian French , they are called comtés ("counties"), while circonscriptions comtés is the legal term. In Australia and New Zealand , Electoral districts are called electorates , however elsewhere the term electorate generally refers specifically to the body of voters. In India , electoral districts are referred to as " Nirvācan Kṣetra " ( Hindi : निर्वाचन क्षेत्र ) in Hindi , which can be translated to English as "electoral area" though

3885-660: Is used such as general ticket voting. The concept of magnitude explains Duverger's observation that single-winner contests tend to produce two-party systems , and proportional representation (PR) methods tend to produce multi-party systems . District magnitude is minimal (exactly 1) in plurality voting in single-member districts ( First-past-the-post voting used in most cases). As well, where multi-member districts are used, threshold de facto stays high if seats are filled by general ticket or other pro-landslide party block system (rarely used nationwide nowadays). In such situations each voter has one vote. District magnitude

3996-453: The magna et antiqua custuma (Latin: ' great and ancient custom ' ) and was granted to Edward and his heirs, becoming part of the Crown's permanent revenue until the 17th century. In 1294, Philip   IV attempted to recover Aquitaine in the Gascon War . Edward's need for money to finance the war led him to take arbitrary measures. He ordered the seizure of merchants' wool, which

4107-472: The Army Council . The debates began on 28 October 1647 at St. Mary's Church, Putney and continued until 8 November, when senior officers including Thomas Fairfax , Oliver Cromwell , and Henry Ireton , grew concerned at the possible impact on military discipline and closed them down. The most contentious item was that of the right to vote : the Grandees wanted to restrict it to property-owners, but this

4218-601: The Cantonal Council of Zürich are reapportioned in every election based on the number of votes cast in each district , which is only made possible by use of multi-member districts, and the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina , by contrast, is apportioned without regard to population; the three major ethnic groups – Bosniaks , Serbs , and Croats – each get exactly five members. Malapportionment occurs when voters are under- or over-represented due to variation in district population. In some places, geographical area

4329-692: The Case of the Armie that the New Agents were invited to debate the Case of the Armie before the General Council of the Army. The radicals wanted a constitution based upon one man, one vote , biennial Parliaments and a re-organisation of parliamentary constituencies . Authority was to be vested in the House of Commons rather than the King and Lords. Certain "native rights" were declared sacrosanct for all Englishmen: freedom of conscience, freedom from impressment (conscription) into

4440-798: The Domesday survey was planned at the Christmas council of 1085, and the Constitutions of Clarendon were made at the 1164 council. The magnum concilium continued to be the setting of state trials, such as the trial of Thomas Becket . The members of the great councils were the king's tenants-in-chief . The greater tenants ( archbishops , bishops , abbots , earls , and barons ) were summoned by individual writ , but lesser tenants were summoned by sheriffs . These were not representative or democratic assemblies. They were feudal councils in which barons fulfilled their obligation to provide counsel to their lord

4551-528: The First War of Scottish Independence . This need for money led to what became known as the Model Parliament of November 1295. In addition to magnates who were summoned individually, sheriffs were instructed to send two elected knights from each shire and two elected burgesses from each borough. The Commons had been summoned to earlier parliaments but only with power to consent to what the magnates decided. In

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4662-679: The Levellers who sought more sweeping changes, including one man, one vote and freedom of conscience , particularly in religion. Alarmed by what they viewed as the dangerous radicalism and increasing power of the New Model Army, in March 1647 the Presbyterian moderates who dominated the Long Parliament ordered the army to disband, a demand which was refused. In June, the army removed Charles from

4773-532: The Second Barons' War . Montfort defeated the king at the Battle of Lewes in 1264 and became the real ruler of England for the next twelve months. Montfort held a parliament in June 1264 to sanction a new form of government and rally support. This parliament was notable for including knights of the shire who were expected to deliberate fully on political matters, not just assent to taxation. The June Parliament approved

4884-515: The baronage as the latter attempted to defend what they considered the rights belonging to the king's subjects. King John ( r.  1199–1216 ) alienated the barons by his partiality in dispensing justice, heavy financial demands and abusing his right to feudal incidents, reliefs , and aids . In 1215, the barons forced John to abide by a charter of liberties similar to charters issued by earlier kings (see Charter of Liberties ) . Known as Magna Carta (Latin for ' Great Charter ' ), it

4995-474: The shires and boroughs were recognised as communes (Latin communitas ) with a unified constituency capable of being represented by knights of the shire and burgesses . Initially, knights and burgesses were summoned only when new taxes were proposed so that representatives of the communes (or the Commons) could report back home that taxes were lawfully granted. The Commons were not regularly summoned until

5106-439: The wasted-vote effect , effectively concentrating wasted votes among opponents while minimizing wasted votes among supporters. Consequently, gerrymandering is typically done under voting systems using single-member districts, which have more wasted votes. While much more difficult, gerrymandering can also be done under proportional-voting systems when districts elect very few seats. By making three-member districts in regions where

5217-439: The 1290s, after the so-called Model Parliament of 1295. Of the thirty parliaments between 1274 and 1294, knights only attended four and burgesses only two. Early parliaments increasingly brought together social classes resembling the estates of the realm of continental Europe: the landed aristocracy (barons and knights), the clergy, and the towns. Historian John Maddicott points out that "the main division within parliament

5328-404: The 1990s. Elected representatives may spend much of the time serving the needs or demands of individual constituents , meaning either voters or residents of their district. This is more common in assemblies with many single-member or small districts than those with fewer, larger districts. In a looser sense, corporations and other such organizations can be referred to as constituents, if they have

5439-621: The Armie Truly Stated . The fundamental ideas of the Case of the Armie came to be reflected in a written constitutional draft: the Agreement of the People . The Putney Debates came about as a result of the publication of the Case of the Armie . According to the author of a book called A Call to all the Soldiers of the Armie (a work usually ascribed to John Wildman ), Ireton was so incensed by

5550-586: The Army (which requested that Parliament pay the soldiers arrears and secure the future funding of the army), and a month later, on 8 January 1648, the General Council voted to terminate itself. The symbolic importance of the debates may have been a factor, 36 years later, following the Restoration of the monarchy, when King Charles II chose Putney Heath as the site of a parade of 6,000 soldiers, in October 1684. Parliament of England The Parliament of England

5661-594: The Lincoln parliament of 1301, the King heard complaints that the charters were not followed and calls for the dismissal of his chief minister, the treasurer Walter Langton . Demands for appointment of ministers by "common consent" were heard for the first time since Henry III's death. To this, Edward angrily refused, saying that every other magnate in England had the power "to arrange his household, to appoint bailiffs and stewards" without outside interference. He did offer to right any wrongs his officials had committed. Notably,

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5772-527: The Model Parliament, the writ of summons invested shire knights and burgesses with power to provide both counsel and consent. By 1296, the King's efforts to recover Gascony were creating resentment among the clergy, merchants, and magnates. At the Bury St Edmunds parliament in 1296, the lay magnates and Commons agreed to pay a tax on moveable property. The clergy refused, citing the recent papal bull Clericis Laicos , forbidding secular rulers from taxing

5883-554: The New Agents in The Case of the Armie . The New Agents accepted the meeting, sending Robert Everard (identified on the first day of the Putney Debates as 'Buff Coat') and another New Agent from Col. Whalley's Regiment only identified as 'Bedfordshire Man' (this was possibly Trooper Matthew Weale, a signatory of the Case of the Armie and the Agreement of the People ). Other members of the Army present were Colonel Thomas Rainsborough ,

5994-474: The Provisions in May. Most of the barons were willing to let the king reassume power provided he ruled well. By 1262, Henry had regained all of his authority, and Montfort left England. The barons were now divided mainly by age. The elder barons remained loyal to the king, but younger barons coalesced around Montfort, who returned to England in the spring of 1263. The royalist barons and rebel barons fought each other in

6105-481: The aftermath of the First English Civil War . Termed the Heads of Proposals , these included provisions for social justice, but the monarchy and House of Lords would have retained a power of veto over the House of Commons . It also stipulated the king would be restored before the issues of the soldiers' indemnity for acts committed during the war and their arrears of pay were entrenched in law. This clear compromise position

6216-498: The agenda. Beginning around the 1220s, the concept of representation, summarised in the Roman law maxim quod omnes tangit ab omnibus approbetur (Latin for ' what touches all should be approved by all ' ), gained new importance among the clergy, and they began choosing proctors to represent them at church assemblies and, when summoned, at Parliament. As feudalism declined and the gentry and merchant classes increased in influence,

6327-455: The appointment of royal ministers, an action that normally was considered a royal prerogative . Historian John Maddicott writes that the "effect of the minority was thus to make the great council an indispensable part of the country's government [and] to give it a degree of independent initiative and authority which central assemblies had never previously possessed". The regency government officially ended when Henry turned sixteen in 1223, and

6438-454: The armed forces and equality before (when judged under or seeking a judgement under) the law. Since Sir Thomas Fairfax was unwell and could not be present, Cromwell chaired the debates. He flatly refused to accept any compromise in which the King was overthrown, while his son-in-law, Henry Ireton, pressed the case that his own The Heads of the Proposals covered all of the concerns raised by

6549-708: The bishops themselves promised an aid but would not commit the rest of the clergy. Likewise, the barons promised to assist the king if he was attacked but would not commit the rest of the laity to pay money. For this reason, the lower clergy of each diocese elected proctors at church synods , and each county elected two knights of the shire . These representatives were summoned to Parliament in April 1254 to consent to taxation. The men elected as shire knights were prominent landholders with experience in local government and as soldiers. They were elected by barons, other knights, and probably freeholders of sufficient standing. By 1258,

6660-467: The body of eligible voters or all the residents of the represented area or only those who voted for a certain candidate. The terms (election) precinct and election district are more common in American English . In Canadian English , the term is used, especially officially, but is also colloquially and more commonly known as a riding or constituency . In some parts of Canada, constituency

6771-590: The body to address complaints in their local towns and counties. By this time, citizens were given the power to vote to elect their representatives—the burgesses—to the House of Commons. Over the centuries, the English Parliament progressively limited the power of the English monarchy , a process that arguably culminated in the English Civil War and the High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I . Since

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6882-478: The church without papal permission. In January 1297, a convocation of the clergy met at St Paul's in London to consider the matter further but ultimately could find no way to pay the tax without violating the papal bull. In retaliation, the King outlawed the clergy and confiscated clerical property on 30 January. On 10 February, Robert Winchelsey , archbishop of Canterbury, responded by excommunicating anyone acting against Clericis Laicos . Most clergy paid

6993-550: The courts were also in session: January or February for the Hilary term , in April or May for the Easter term , in July, and in October for the Michaelmas term . Most parliaments had between forty and eighty attendees. Meetings of Parliament always included: The lower clergy ( deans , cathedral priors, archdeacons , parish priests ) were occasionally summoned when papal taxation was on

7104-605: The custody of Parliament and in August established its headquarters at Putney , just outside the City of Westminster in South West London . Its senior officers or " Grandees " hoped the debates would end political divisions with the Agitators who represented the rank and file, and allow them to reach consensus on a peaceful settlement. Collectively, the two sides were grouped together into

7215-509: The exchequer protesting that the irregular tax "was never granted by them or the community" and declared they would not pay it. The outbreak of the First War of Scottish Independence necessitated that both the king and his opponents put aside their differences. At the October 1297 parliament, the council agreed to concessions in the king's absence. In exchange for a new tax, the Confirmatio Cartarum reconfirmed Magna Carta, abolished

7326-440: The excuse of his absence from the realm and Welsh attacks in the marches, Henry ordered the justiciar, Hugh Bigod , to postpone the parliament scheduled for Candlemas 1260. This was an apparent violation of the Provisions of Oxford; however, the provisions were silent on what should happen if the king were outside the kingdom. The king's motive was to prevent the promulgation of further reforms through Parliament. Simon de Montfort ,

7437-463: The government revived practices used during King John's reign and that had been condemned in Magna Carta, such as arbitrary disseisins , revoking perpetual rights granted in royal charters, depriving heirs of their inheritances, and marrying heiresses to foreigners. Both Roches and Rivaux were foreigners from Poitou . The rise of a royal administration controlled by foreigners and dependent solely on

7548-483: The king military service in foreign lands but only if the king were present. Therefore, they would not go to Gascony unless the King went as well. Norfolk and Hereford were supported by around 30 barons, and the parliament ended without any decision. After the Salisbury parliament ended, Edward ordered the seizure of wool (see prise ) and payment of a new maltolt. In July 1297, a writ declared that "the earls, barons, knights, and other laity of our realm" had granted

7659-444: The king stirred resentment among the magnates, who felt excluded from power. Several barons rose in rebellion, and the bishops intervened to persuade the king to change ministers. At a great council in April 1234, the king agreed to remove Rivaux and other ministers. This was the first occasion in which a king was forced to change his ministers by a great council or parliament. The struggle between king and Parliament over ministers became

7770-458: The king. Councils allowed kings to consult with their leading subjects, but such consultation rarely resulted in a change in royal policy. According to historian Judith Green , "these assemblies were more concerned with ratification and publicity than with debate". In addition, the magnum concilium had no role in approving taxation as the king could levy geld (discontinued after 1162) whenever he wished. The years between 1189 and 1215 were

7881-510: The king. In 1267, some of the reforms contained in the 1259 Provisions of Westminster were revised in the form of the Statute of Marlborough passed in 1267. This was the start of a process of statutory reform that continued into the reign of Henry's successor. Edward I ( r.  1272–1307 ) learned from the failures of his father's reign the usefulness of Parliament for building consensus and strengthening royal authority. Parliaments were held regularly throughout his reign, generally twice

7992-521: The location they live. Examples include: Not all democratic political systems use separate districts or other electoral subdivisions to conduct elections. Israel , for instance, conducts parliamentary elections as a single district. The 26 electoral districts in Italy and the 20 in the Netherlands have a role in the actual election, but no role whatsoever in the division of the seats. Ukraine elected half of

8103-569: The magnates demanded the adult king confirm previous grants of Magna Carta made in 1216 and 1217 to ensure their legality. At the same time, the king needed money to defend his possessions in Poitou and Gascony from a French invasion. At a great council in 1225, a deal was reached that saw Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest reissued in return for taxing a fifteenth (7 percent) of movable property. This set

8214-447: The make-up of the district map, made easier by a multitude of micro-small districts. A higher magnitude means less wasted votes, and less room for such maneuvers. As well, a fair voting system in the district contests also means that gerrymandering is ineffective because each party gets their fair share of seats however districts are drawn, at least theoretically. Multiple-member contests sometimes use plurality block voting , which allows

8325-543: The maltolt, and formally recognised that "aids, mises , and prises" needed the consent of Parliament. Edward soon broke the agreements of 1297, and his relations with Parliament remained strained for the rest of his reign as he sought further funds for the war in Scotland. At the parliament of March 1300, the king was forced to agree to the Articuli Super Cartas , which gave further concessions to his subjects. At

8436-586: The manifesto, but two regiments arrived uninvited and objected, sparking the Corkbush Field mutiny . Fairfax and Cromwell suppressed the mutiny and at the other two meetings the other regiments agreed to the terms in the manifesto. On 7 December 1647, at a meeting in Windsor the General Council drew up a non-political petition to present to Parliament called the Humble Representation of the General Council of

8547-406: The meetings. This was reinforced on 11 November when King Charles escaped from Hampton Court Palace , apparently fearing (possibly on the advice of Oliver Cromwell) that the Grandees could easily lose control of the more radical elements in the Army. The King's flight brought all debate to an end as the New Model Army was faced with a more immediate threat. On the same day, the General Council drafted

8658-406: The number of petitions increased, they came to be directed to particular departments (chancery, exchequer, the courts) leaving the king's council to concentrate on the most important business. Parliament became "a delivery point and a sorting house for petitions". From 1290 to 1307, Gilbert of Rothbury was placed in charge of organising parliamentary business and record-keeping—in effect a clerk of

8769-541: The number of representatives allotted to each. Israel and the Netherlands are among the few countries that avoid the need for apportionment entirely by electing legislators at-large . Apportionment is generally done on the basis of population . Seats in the United States House of Representatives , for instance, are reapportioned to individual states every 10 years following a census, with some states that have grown in population gaining seats. By contrast, seats in

8880-406: The number of seats to be filled in any election. Staggered terms are sometimes used to reduce the number of seats up for election at any one time, when district magnitude is more than one. The number of seats up for election varies the ease or difficulty to be elected, as the threshold de facto decreases in proportion as the number of seats being filled increases, unless a pro-landslide voting system

8991-575: The official English translation for the term is "constituency". The term "Nirvācan Kṣetra" is used while referring to an electoral district in general irrespective of the legislature. When referring to a particular legislative constituency, it is simply referred to as "Kṣetra" along with the name of the legislature, in Hindi (e.g. 'Lok Sabha Kshetra' for a Lok Sabha constituency). Electoral districts for buli municipal or other local bodies are called "wards". Local electoral districts are sometimes called wards ,

9102-409: The other hand, felt they deserved the rights in payment for their service during the war. Thus Thomas Rainsborough argued: For really I think that the poorest hee that is in England hath a life to live, as the greatest hee; and therefore truly, Sr, I think itt clear, that every Man that is to live under a Government ought first by his own Consent to put himself under that Government; and I do think that

9213-407: The parliament of February 1305 included ones related to crime. In response, Edward issued the trailbaston ordinance. The state trial of Nicholas Seagrave was conducted as part of this parliament as well. Harmonious relations continued between king and Parliament even after December 1305 when Pope Clement V absolved the King of his oath to adhere to Confirmatio Cartarum . The last parliament of

9324-407: The parliaments . Kings could legislate outside of Parliament through legislative acta (administrative orders drafted by the king's council as letters patent or letters close ) and writs drafted by the chancery in response to particular court cases. But kings could also use Parliament to promulgate legislation. Parliament's legislative role was largely passive—the actual work of law-making

9435-504: The party machine of any party chooses to include them. In a multi-member district where general ticket voting is not used, there is a natural impetus for a party to open itself to minority voters, if they have enough numbers to be significant, due to the competitive environment produced by the electoral system. Apportionment is the process of allocating a number of representatives to different regions, such as states or provinces. Apportionment changes are often accompanied by redistricting ,

9546-504: The petition on behalf of "the prelates and leading men of the kingdom acting for the whole community" was presented by Henry de Keighley , knight for Lanchashire . This indicates that knights were holding greater weight in Parliament. The last four parliaments of Edward's' reign were less contentious. With Scotland nearly conquered, royal finances improved and opposition to royal policies decreased. A number of petitions were considered at

9657-472: The poorest man in England is not at all bound in a strict sense to that Government that he hath not had a voice to put Himself under. And Ireton, for the Grandees: no man hath a right to an interest or share in the disposing of the affairs of the kingdom... that hath not a permanent fixed interest in this kingdom. The debates concluded with the understanding that a modified version of the Agreement , approved by

9768-430: The preamble describes the legislation as "provided" by the magnates and "conceded" by the king, which implies that this was not simply a royal measure consented to by the barons. In 1237, Henry asked Parliament for a tax to fund his sister Isabella's dowry. The barons were unenthusiastic, but they granted the funds in return for the king's promise to reconfirm Magna Carta, add three magnates to his personal council, limit

9879-461: The redrawing of electoral district boundaries to accommodate the new number of representatives. This redrawing is necessary under single-member district systems, as each new representative requires their own district. Multi-member systems, however, vary depending on other rules. Ireland, for example, redraws its electoral districts after every census while Belgium uses its existing administrative boundaries for electoral districts and instead modifies

9990-513: The reign was held at Carlisle in 1307. It approved the marriage of the King's son to Isabella of France . Legislation attacking papal provisions and papal taxation was also ratified. Electoral district The names for electoral districts vary across countries and, occasionally, for the office being elected. The term constituency is commonly used to refer to an electoral district, especially in British English , but it can also refer to

10101-647: The relationship between the king and the baronage had reached a breaking point over the Sicilian business , in which Henry had promised to pay papal debts in return for the pope's help securing the Sicilian crown for his son, Edmund. At the Oxford Parliament of 1258 , reform-minded barons forced a reluctant king to accept a constitutional framework known as the Provisions of Oxford : Parliament now met regularly according to

10212-442: The representation of minorities. John Stuart Mill had endorsed proportional representation (PR) and STV in the mid-19th century precisely to respond to this shortcoming. With lower district magnitudes, the only way to include demographic minorities scattered across the country is to force parties to include them: Large district magnitudes increase the chance for diverse walks of life and minority groups to be elected. However, it

10323-506: The royal prerogative of purveyance , and protect land tenure rights. But Henry was adamant that three concerns were exclusively within his royal prerogative: family and inheritance matters, patronage, and appointments. Important decisions were made without consulting Parliament, such as in 1254 when the king accepted the throne of the Kingdom of Sicily for his younger son, Edmund Crouchback . He also clashed with Parliament over appointments to

10434-437: The rules permit voters not to rank all the candidates or prevent them from ranking all the candidates, some votes are declared exhausted. Thus it is common for one or two members in a district to be elected without attaining Droop. Larger district magnitudes means larger districts, so annihilate the need and practice of gerrymandering , Gerrymandering is the practice of partisan redistricting by means of creating imbalances in

10545-463: The single largest group to take all the district seats. Each voter having just one vote in a multi-member district, Single voting, a component of most party-list proportional representation methods as well as single non-transferable vote and single transferable vote , prevents such a landslide. High district magnitude is a major factor in the inclusion of minorities . Plurality (and other elections with lower district magnitudes) are known to limit

10656-468: The status of fundamental law after John's reign. The word parliament comes from the French parlement first used in the late 11th century, meaning ' parley ' or ' conversation ' . In the mid-1230s, it became a common name for meetings of the great council. The word was first used with this meaning in 1236. In the 13th century, parliaments were developing throughout north-western Europe. As

10767-475: The three great offices of chancellor , justiciar , and treasurer . The barons believed these three offices should be restraints on royal misgovernment, but the king promoted minor officials within the royal household who owed their loyalty exclusively to him. In 1253, while fighting in Gascony, Henry requested men and money to resist an anticipated attack from Alfonso X of Castile . In a January 1254 Parliament,

10878-421: The unification of England in the 10th century, kings had convened national councils of lay magnates and leading churchmen. The Anglo-Saxons called such councils witans . These councils were an important way for kings to maintain ties with powerful men in distant regions of the country. The witan had a role in making and promulgating legislation as well as making decisions concerning war and peace. They were also

10989-462: The venues for state trials , such as the trial of Earl Godwin in 1051. After the Norman Conquest of 1066, the king received regular counsel from the members of his curia regis ( Latin for ' royal court ' ) and periodically enlarged the court by summoning a magnum concilium (Latin for ' great council ' ) to discuss national business and promulgate legislation. For example,

11100-513: The vote exceeds the Droop quota in such a district (1/11=9%). In systems where a noticeable number of votes are wasted, such as Single non-transferable voting or Instant-runoff voting where transferable votes are used but voters are prohibited from ranking all candidates, you will see candidates win with less than Droop. STV is intended to avoid waste of votes by the use of transferable votes but even in STV, if

11211-547: Was Parliament's main tool in disputes with the king. Nevertheless, the king was still able to raise lesser amounts of revenue from sources that did not require parliamentary consent, such as: Henry III ( r. 1216–1272) became king at nine years old after his father, King John, died during the First Barons' War . During the king's minority, England was ruled by a regency government that relied heavily on great councils to legitimise its actions. Great councils even consented to

11322-502: Was acting as representatives for all taxpayers. The likelihood of resistance to national taxes made consent politically necessary. It was convenient for kings to present the great council as a representative body capable of consenting on behalf of all within the kingdom. Increasingly, the kingdom was described as the communitas regni (Latin for ' community of the realm ' ) and the barons as their natural representatives. But this development also created more conflict between kings and

11433-454: Was based on three assumptions important to the later development of Parliament: Clause 12 stated that certain taxes could only be levied "through the common counsel of our kingdom", and clause 14 specified that this common counsel was to come from bishops, earls, and barons. While the clause stipulating no taxation "without the common counsel" was deleted from later reissues, it was nevertheless adhered to by later kings. Magna Carta would gain

11544-562: Was challenged by the Leveller spokesman, Colonel Thomas Rainsborough , who encapsulated his and the Levellers' position by saying: Earlier that summer Sir Thomas Fairfax , Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Oliver Cromwell (then Member of Parliament for Cambridge and second-in-command), Henry Ireton (Cromwell's son-in-law) and other officers, known as the " Grandees ", attempted to negotiate an inclusive settlement with Charles I of England in

11655-516: Was contrary to the New Model Army 's Declaration on 14 June and consequently the Heads lost the support of those seeking social reform (at the time generally called Levellers and radicals). Sometime before October 1647, five of the most radical cavalry regiments elected new Agitators – known as the New Agents – to represent their views. The New Agents issued a political manifesto: The Case of

11766-538: Was done by the king and council, specifically the judges on the council who drafted statutes. Completed legislation was then presented to Parliament for ratification. Kings needed Parliament to fund their military campaigns. On the basis of Magna Carta, Parliament asserted for itself the right to consent to taxation, and a pattern developed in which the king would make concessions (such as reaffirming liberties in Magna Carta) in return for tax grants. Withholding taxation

11877-453: Was given power to correct abuses of their officials. The Michaelmas Parliament of 1259 enacted the Provisions of Westminster , a set of legal and administrative reforms designed to address grievances of freeholders and even villeins , such as abuses related to the murdrum fine. Henry III made his first move against the baronial reformers while in France negotiating peace with Louis IX . Using

11988-520: Was issued as letters patent that forbade sheriffs from taking bribes. At the Candlemas Parliament of 1259, the baronial council and the twelve representatives enacted the Ordinance of the Magnates . In this ordinance, the barons promised to observe Magna Carta and other reforming legislation. They also required their own bailiffs to observe similar rules as those of royal sheriffs, and the justiciar

12099-483: Was less between lords and commons than between the landed and all others, lower clergy as well as burgesses". Specialists could be summoned to Parliament to provide expert advice. For example, Roman law experts were summoned from Cambridge and Oxford to the Norham parliament of 1291 to advise on the disputed Scottish succession . At the Bury St Edmunds parliament of 1296, burgesses "who best know how to plan and lay out

12210-402: Was only released after payment of the unpopular maltolt , a tax never authorised by Parliament. Church wealth was arbitrarily seized, and the clergy were further asked to give half of their revenues to the king. They refused but agreed to a smaller sum. Over the next couple years, parliaments approved new taxes, but it was never enough. More money was needed to put down a Welsh rebellion and win

12321-435: Was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain . Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised the English monarch . Great councils were first called Parliaments during the reign of Henry III ( r.  1216–1272 ). By this time, the king required Parliament's consent to levy taxation. Originally

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