List of forms of government
94-463: Suffrage , political franchise , or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote ). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vote is called active suffrage , as distinct from passive suffrage , which is the right to stand for election. The combination of active and passive suffrage
188-531: A legislature (such as a parliament or congress), which may be composed of a single chamber (unicameral), two chambers (bicameral), or more than two chambers (multicameral). Where two or more chambers exist, their members are often elected in different ways . The power of representatives is usually curtailed by a constitution (as in a constitutional democracy or a constitutional monarchy ) or other measures to balance representative power: Some political theorists, such as Edmund Burke , believe that part of
282-412: A corporation or organization selling limited autonomy to run a part of its operation (such as a sports team or restaurant). This modern connotation with exclusivity, however, clashes with ideas like universal suffrage where voting is a right for all, not a privilege for a select few. Universal suffrage would be achieved when all have the right to vote without restriction. It could, for example, look like
376-710: A member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of his office, shall (...) also make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: I, A B. do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration. This
470-519: A new electoral register came into effect, based on registration as of the previous 10 October, with the effect of limiting voting to those resident five to seventeen months earlier depending on the timing of the election. Representative democracy Representative democracy , electoral democracy or indirect democracy is a type of democracy where representatives are elected by the public. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of representative democracy: for example,
564-569: A short-lived "Order of Saint-Devote" in 1757 in honour of the patron saint of the island, Saint Devota . The Republic minted its own coins at Murato in 1761, imprinted with the Moor's Head , the traditional symbol of Corsica. Paoli's ideas of independence, democracy and liberty gained support from such philosophers as Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Voltaire , Raynal , and Mably . The publication in 1768 of An Account of Corsica by James Boswell made Paoli famous throughout Europe. Diplomatic recognition
658-743: A specified acreage or monetary value could vote or participate in elections. Similarly, in Brazil, the Constitution of 1824 established that, in order to vote, citizens would need to have an annual income of 200,000 milréis and, to be voted, their minimum annual income would need to be 400,000 milréis. Where compulsory suffrage exists, those who are eligible to vote are required by law to do so. Thirty-two countries currently practise this form of suffrage. In local government in England and some of its ex-colonies, businesses formerly had, and in some places still have,
752-411: A system where everyone was presumed to have the right to vote unless a government can prove beyond a reasonable doubt the need to revoke voting rights. The trend towards universal suffrage has progressed in some democracies by eliminating some or all of the voting restrictions due to gender, race, religion, social status, education level, wealth, citizenship , ability and age . However, throughout history
846-621: A vote in the urban area in which they paid rates . This is an extension of the historical property-based franchise from natural persons to other legal persons . In the United Kingdom, the Corporation of the City of London has retained and even expanded business vote, following the passing of the City of London (Ward Elections) Act 2002 . This has given business interests within the City of London , which
940-490: A woman's place was in the home, not polls. Political cartoons and public outrage over women's rights increased as the opposition to suffrage worked to organize legitimate groups campaigning against women's voting rights. The Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women was one organization that came out of the 1880s to put down the voting efforts. Much anti-suffrage propaganda poked fun at
1034-612: Is a major financial centre with few residents, the opportunity to apply the accumulated wealth of the corporation to the development of an effective lobby for UK policies. This includes having the City Remembrancer , financed by the City's Cash , as a parliamentary agent , provided with a special seat in the House of Commons located in the under-gallery facing the Speaker 's chair. In a leaked document from 2012, an official report concerning
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#17331141254001128-407: Is known as the iron law of oligarchy . Representative democracies which are stable have been analysed by Adolf Gasser and compared to the unstable representative democracies in his book Gemeindefreiheit als Rettung Europas which was published in 1943 and a second edition in 1947. Adolf Gasser stated the following requirements for a representative democracy in order to remain stable, unaffected by
1222-513: Is lower than a given amount are barred from voting; or people with higher education have more votes than those with lower education; stockholders who have more shares in a given company have more votes than those with fewer shares). In many countries, census suffrage restricted who could vote and be elected: in the United States, until the Jacksonian reforms of the 1830s, only men who owned land of
1316-521: Is sometimes called full suffrage . In most democracies, eligible voters can vote in elections for representatives. Voting on issues by referendum may also be available. For example, in Switzerland, this is permitted at all levels of government. In the United States, some states such as California, Washington, and Wisconsin have exercised their shared sovereignty to offer citizens the opportunity to write, propose, and vote on referendums; other states and
1410-480: The 2004 Canadian federal election . Under certain electoral systems elections are held within subnational jurisdictions, thus preventing persons from voting who would otherwise be eligible on the basis that they do not reside within such a jurisdiction, or because they live in an area that cannot participate. In the United States, license plates in Washington, D.C. read "TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION," in reference to
1504-573: The 2015 local elections (and from then on) and be appointed to the Consultative Assembly . In the aftermath of the Reformation it was common in European countries for people of disfavored religious denominations to be denied civil and political rights, often including the right to vote, to stand for election or to sit in parliament. In Great Britain and Ireland , Roman Catholics were denied
1598-517: The Comte de Vaux , and obliged to take refuge in the Kingdom of Great Britain . French control was consolidated over the island, and in 1770 it became a province of France. Under France, the use of Corsican (a regional language closely related to Italian ) has gradually declined in favour of the standard French language . Italian was the official language of Corsica until 1859. The fall of Corsica to
1692-519: The Convention on the Political Rights of Women , which went into force in 1954, enshrining the equal rights of women to vote, hold office, and access public services as set out by national laws. One of the most recent jurisdictions to acknowledge women's full right to vote was Bhutan in 2008 (its first national elections). Most recently, in 2011 King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia let women vote in
1786-609: The Paris Commune of 1871 and the island republic of Franceville (1889). From 1840 to 1852, the Kingdom of Hawai'i granted universal suffrage without mention of sex. In 1893, when the Kingdom of Hawai'i was overthrown in a coup , New Zealand was the only independent country to practice universal (active) suffrage, and the Freedom in the World index lists New Zealand as the only free country in
1880-507: The Reform Act 1832 with launching modern representative democracy in the United Kingdom. Globally, a majority of governments in the world are representative democracies, including constitutional monarchies and republics with strong representative branches. Separate but related, and very large, bodies of research in political philosophy and social science investigate how and how well elected representatives, such as legislators, represent
1974-807: The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 , which extended the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 ), and Jews in 1858 (with the Emancipation of the Jews in England ). Benjamin Disraeli could only begin his political career in 1837 because he had been converted to Anglicanism at the age of 12. In several states in the U.S. after the Declaration of Independence , Jews, Quakers or Catholics were denied voting rights and/or forbidden to run for office. The Delaware Constitution of 1776 stated that: Every person who shall be chosen
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#17331141254002068-1063: The United Kingdom (a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy ), Germany (a federal parliamentary republic ), France (a unitary semi-presidential republic ), and the United States (a federal presidential republic). This is different from direct democracy , where the public votes directly on laws or policies, rather than representatives. Political parties often become prominent in representative democracy if electoral systems require or encourage voters to vote for political parties or for candidates associated with political parties (as opposed to voting for individual representatives). Some political theorists (including Robert Dahl , Gregory Houston, and Ian Liebenberg) have described representative democracy as polyarchy . Representative democracy can be organized in different ways including both parliamentary and presidential systems of government . Elected representatives typically form
2162-447: The federal government have not. Referendums in the United Kingdom are rare. Suffrage continues to be especially restricted on the basis of age , residency and citizenship status in many places. In some countries additional restrictions exist. In Great Britain and the United States a felon might lose the right to vote. As of 2022, Florida felons with court debts may not vote. In some countries being under guardianship may restrict
2256-400: The homeless may not be able to register because they lack regular addresses. In the United Kingdom , until the House of Lords Act 1999 , peers who were members of the House of Lords were excluded from voting for the House of Commons as they were not commoners. Although there is nothing to prevent the monarch from voting, it is considered improper for the monarch to do so. Throughout
2350-477: The marginalized . Proponents of direct democracy criticize representative democracy due to its inherent structure. As the fundamental basis of representative democracy is non inclusive system, in which representatives turn into an elite class that works behind closed doors, as well as the criticizing the elector system as being driven by a capitalistic and authoritarian system. The system of stochocracy has been proposed as an improved system compared to
2444-643: The 1727 Disenfranchising Act took away Catholics' voting rights in Ireland, which were restored only in 1788. Jews could not even be naturalized. An attempt was made to change this situation, but the Jewish Naturalization Act 1753 provoked such reactions that it was repealed the following year. Nonconformists ( Methodists and Presbyterians ) were only allowed to run for election to the British House of Commons starting in 1828, Catholics in 1829 (following
2538-559: The 19th and 20th centuries, many nations made voters pay to elect officials, keeping impoverished people from being fully enfranchised. These laws were in effect in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Sometimes the right to vote has been limited to people who had achieved a certain level of education or passed a certain test. In some US states, " literacy tests " were previously implemented to exclude those who were illiterate. Black voters in
2632-627: The 20th century, many countries other than the US placed voting restrictions on illiterate people, including: Bolivia , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Ecuador , and Peru . Various countries, usually countries with a dominant race within a wider population, have historically denied the vote to people of particular races, or to all but the dominant race. This has been achieved in a number of ways: All modern democracies require voters to meet age qualifications to vote. Worldwide voting ages are not consistent, differing between countries and even within countries, though
2726-656: The British side during the American Revolutionary War , serving with particular distinction during the Great Siege of Gibraltar in 1782. Conversely, at the beginning of the same war, the New York militia later named Hearts of Oak - whose membership included Alexander Hamilton and other students at New York's King's College (now Columbia University) - originally called themselves " The Corsicans ", evidently considering
2820-489: The City's Cash revealed that the aim of major occasions such as set-piece sumptuous banquets featuring national politicians was "to increase the emphasis on complementing hospitality with business meetings consistent with the City corporation's role in supporting the City as a financial centre". The first issue taken up by the Northern Ireland civil rights movement was the business vote, abolished in 1968 (a year before it
2914-669: The Corsican Republic as a model to be emulated in America. The aspiration for Corsican independence, along with many of the democratic principles of the Corsican Republic, were revived by Paoli in the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom of 1794–1796. On that occasion, British naval and land forces were deployed in defence of the island; however, their efforts failed and the French regained control. To this day, some Corsican separatists , such as
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3008-520: The Council and four members elected by the Diet. The Junta of War was in times of crisis authorized to condemn to prison and corporal punishment, and to confiscate and/or destroy property. It was able to mobilize local militias to enforce its sentences. It could also impose the death penalty in some cases. Suffrage was extended to all men over the age of 25, and those men over the age of 35 could become members of
3102-573: The Council of State, elected by the Diet initially for life and which met twice a year, in the absence of which powers were held by the General (chair of the Council) or in their absence, by the President General or by one president from each of the three magistracies of the Council (rotated monthly), one councilor (rotated between the three magistracies every 10 days), and the secretary of state. The General
3196-506: The Council. Provincial Magistratures were also established over time, able to judge minor criminal and civil offences. Minor civil cases were handled by the local judge in each of the 68 pieve (traditional administrative divisions). The Sindicato was a body that enabled the Diet to scrutinize the conduct of magistrates and officials except those from the Junta of War, being composed of the President of
3290-517: The Council. Traditionally, women had always voted in village elections for podestà (i.e. village elders ) and other local officials, and it has been claimed that they also voted in national elections under the Republic if they were head of the family. In 1758, the Diet reduced the Council from over 100 to 18 members (each of which had to live in Corte), and limited each of their terms to six months. In 1764
3384-402: The Diet had an opportunity to reconsider and pass it again with no opportunity for a veto. In the sane session, resolutions were changed such that they required a two-thirds majority to be passed, although those that gained at least 50% support were allowed to be brought up again in the same session (while those that did not were not allowed, and could only be re-introduced in a future session with
3478-444: The Diet passed legislation modifying the method of election of its members, where a reduced 68 members were to be indirectly elected. In this legislation, the number of clerical members were unchanged, as was the recently introduced practice of allowing the head of state to invite others to participate in the Diet. However, this legislation was never respected, de facto continuing under the old system. The following year elected members of
3572-588: The First World War, but was renewed for Doukhobors from 1934 (via the Dominion Elections Act ) to 1955. The first Constitution of modern Romania in 1866 provided in article 7 that only Christians could become Romanian citizens. Jews native to Romania were declared stateless persons. In 1879, under pressure from the Berlin Peace Conference , this article was amended, granting non-Christians
3666-643: The French was poorly received by many in Great Britain , which was Corsica's main ally and sponsor. It was seen as a failure of the Grafton Ministry that Corsica had been "lost", as it was regarded as vital to the interests of Britain in that part of the Mediterranean. The Corsican Crisis severely weakened the Grafton Ministry, contributing to its ultimate downfall. A number of exiled Corsicans fought on
3760-472: The French invader said: We are Corsicans by birth and sentiment, but first of all we feel Italian by language, origins, customs, traditions; and Italians are all brothers and united in the face of history and in the face of God ... As Corsicans we wish to be neither slaves nor "rebels" and as Italians we have the right to deal as equals with the other Italian brothers ... Either we shall be free or we shall be nothing... Either we shall win or we shall die (against
3854-518: The French), weapons in hand ... The war against France is right and holy as the name of God is holy and right, and here on our mountains will appear for Italy the sun of liberty Paoli was sympathetic to Italian culture and regarded his own native language as an Italian dialect (Corsican is an Italo-Dalmatian tongue closely related to Tuscan ). Paoli's Corsican Constitution of 1755 was written in Italian and
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3948-523: The Houses of Parliament. Historian Robert Poole has called the Peterloo Massacre one of the defining moments of its age. (The eponymous Peterloo film featured a scene of women suffragists planning their contribution to the protest.) At that time Manchester had a population of around 140,000 and the population totals of Greater Manchester were around 490,000. This was followed by other experiments in
4042-450: The Kingdom of France when the island was taken over in 1769. The republic created an administration and justice system , and founded an army. After a series of successful actions, Pasquale Paoli drove the Genoese from the whole island except for a few coastal towns. He then set to work re-organizing the government, introducing many reforms. He founded a university at Corte and created
4136-783: The Rights of Man and of the Citizen and, although short-lived, the National Convention was elected by all males in 1792. Universal male suffrage was re-established in France in the wake of the French Revolution of 1848 . Representative democracy came into general favour particularly in post- industrial revolution nation states where large numbers of citizens evinced interest in politics , but where technology and population figures remained unsuited to direct democracy. Many historians credit
4230-578: The Roman than the Greek model, because it was a state in which supreme power was held by the people and their elected representatives, and which had an elected or nominated leader. Representative democracy is a form of democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives; as opposed to direct democracy, a form of democracy in which people vote on policy initiatives directly. A European medieval tradition of selecting representatives from
4324-466: The South were often deemed by election officials to have failed the test even when they did not. Under the 1961 constitution of Rhodesia , voting on the "A" roll, which elected up to 50 of the 65 members of parliament, was restricted based on education requirements, which in practice led to an overwhelming white vote. Voting on the "B" roll had universal suffrage, but only appointed 15 members of parliament. In
4418-497: The United States in 1787, with a national legislature based partly on direct elections of representatives every two years, and thus responsible to the electorate for continuance in office. Senators were not directly elected by the people until the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. Women, men who owned no property, and Black people, and others not originally given voting rights, in most states eventually gained
4512-458: The adoption of the succeeding constitution , which reverted to "all white male" suffrage restrictions. Although the Kingdom of Hawai'i granted female suffrage in 1840, the right was rescinded in 1852. Limited voting rights were gained by some women in Sweden, Britain, and some western U.S. states in the 1860s. In 1893, the British colony of New Zealand became the first self-governing nation to extend
4606-559: The birthplace of democracy, only adult, male citizens who owned land were permitted to vote. Through subsequent centuries, Europe was generally ruled by monarchs, though various forms of parliament arose at different times. The high rank ascribed to abbesses within the Catholic Church permitted some women the right to sit and vote at national assemblies – as with various high-ranking abbesses in Medieval Germany, who were ranked among
4700-512: The consent of the Council). In 1766, another attempt was made to change the method of election in each parish for its Diet representative(s), where he "was to be elected from a choice of three candidates proposed by the Podestats and 'Fathers of the Commune'; he had to win a two-thirds majority. Only heads of families had the right to vote. If none of the three won the required majority, another election
4794-524: The constituents do not fully agree with the decision, then the representative acts as a trustee. The Roman Republic was the first known state in the Western world to have a representative government, despite taking the form of a direct government in the Roman assemblies . The Roman model of governance would inspire many political thinkers over the centuries, and today's modern representative democracies imitate more
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#17331141254004888-490: The councils. They make decisions there like the men, and it is they who even delegated the first ambassadors to discuss peace." The Iroquois, like many First Nations peoples in North America, had a matrilineal kinship system . Property and descent were passed through the female line. Women elders voted on hereditary male chiefs and could depose them. The emergence of many modern democracies began with male citizens obtaining
4982-436: The diet were made to be equipped with an notarial affidavit, stating they also had a right to, with other members of the pieve, elect one or more of themselves to represent the pieve as a whole, allowing the election of more than one person to represent a pieve. In 1764, the Council of State was granted a suspensive veto, allowing them to suspend a resolution voted on by the Diet until it gave its motives for refusal, after which
5076-654: The district not holding a seat in either the House of Representatives or Senate , however residents can vote in presidential elections based on the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution adopted in 1961. Residents of Puerto Rico enjoy neither. Sometimes citizens become ineligible to vote because they are no longer resident in their country of citizenship . For example, Australian citizens who have been outside Australia for more than one and fewer than six years may excuse themselves from
5170-418: The duty of a representative is not simply to follow the wishes of the electorate but also to use their own judgment in the exercise of their powers, even if their views are not reflective of those of a majority of voters. A representative who chooses to execute the wishes of their constituents acts as a delegate. If the representative chooses to use their best judgment and knowledge in making decisions, even when
5264-663: The electoral system or corruption of public officials. In the Republic of Ireland , prisoners are allowed the right to vote, following the Hirst v UK (No2) ruling , which was granted in 2006. Canada allowed only prisoners serving a term of less than 2 years the right to vote, but this was found to be unconstitutional in 2002 by the Supreme Court of Canada in Sauvé v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer) , and all prisoners have been allowed to vote as of
5358-465: The full Council for a vote. The head of the Council received two votes while other members received one. In the case of a tie, the secretary of state would vote to break it. Other than the most serious crimes, other business was delegated to various tribunals. The chief civil court, the Rota Civile (from 1763 also entrusted with criminal cases), was composed of three doctors of law nominated for life by
5452-406: The idea of women in politics. Political cartoons displayed the most sentiment by portraying the issue of women's suffrage to be swapped with men's lives. Some mocked the popular suffrage hairstyle of full-upward combed hair. Others depicted young girls turning into suffragettes after a failure in life, such as not being married. Equal suffrage is sometimes confused with Universal suffrage , although
5546-403: The independent princes of the empire. Their Protestant successors enjoyed the same privilege almost into modern times. Marie Guyart, a French nun who worked with the First Nations peoples of Canada during the seventeenth century, wrote in 1654 regarding the suffrage practices of Iroquois women, "These female chieftains are women of standing amongst the savages, and they have a deciding vote in
5640-410: The interests or preferences of one or another constituency. The empirical research shows that representative systems tend to be biased towards the representation of more affluent classes to the detriment of the population at large. In his book Political Parties , written in 1911, Robert Michels argues that most representative systems deteriorate towards an oligarchy or particracy . This
5734-418: The iron law of oligarchy: A drawback to this type of government is that elected officials are not required to fulfill promises made before their election and are able to promote their own self-interests once elected, providing an incohesive system of governance. Legislators are also under scrutiny as the system of majority-won legislators voting for issues for the large group of people fosters inequality among
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#17331141254005828-434: The meaning of the former is the removal of graded votes, wherein a voter could possess a number of votes in accordance with income, wealth or social status. Also known as "censitary suffrage", it is the opposite of equal suffrage, meaning that the votes cast by those eligible to vote are not equal, but weighed differently according to the person's income or rank in society (e.g., people who do not own property or whose income
5922-505: The number of Council members was reduced again to 9, each elected for a year. From 1763, members of the clergy were allowed to send around 137 members to the Diet, and their influence grew such that by the following year the elected speaker of the diet until the dissolution of the republic was always a member of the clergy. Prior to 1763, members of the clergy were not allowed (by legislation) to be judged by canon law, and de facto were not allowed to give asylum to criminals. In December 1763,
6016-403: The only tax for such countries was the property tax), or the voting rights were weighted according to the amount of taxes paid (as in the Prussian three-class franchise ). Most countries abolished the property qualification for national elections in the late nineteenth century, but retained it for local government elections for several decades. Today these laws have largely been abolished, although
6110-403: The range usually varies between 16 and 21 years. The United Kingdom was the first major democratic nation to extend suffrage to those 18 and older in 1969 . The movement to lower the voting age is one aspect of the Youth rights movement. Demeny voting has been proposed as a form of proxy voting by parents on behalf of their children who are below the age of suffrage. Some countries restrict
6204-404: The requirement to vote in Australian elections while they remain outside Australia (voting in Australia is compulsory for resident citizens). Danish citizens that reside permanently outside Denmark lose their right to vote. In some cases, a certain period of residence in a locality may required for the right to vote in that location. For example, in the United Kingdom up to 2001, each 15 February
6298-403: The residents in each county (...) and they shall be of the Protestent (sic) religion". In Maryland , voting rights and eligibility were extended to Jews in 1828. In Canada , several religious groups ( Mennonites , Hutterites , Doukhobors ) were disenfranchised by the wartime Elections Act of 1917, mainly because they opposed military service. This disenfranchisement ended with the closure of
6392-508: The right to become Romanian citizens, but naturalization was granted on a case-by-case basis and was subject to Parliamentary approval. An application took over ten years to process. Only in 1923 was a new constitution adopted, whose article 133 extended Romanian citizenship to all Jewish residents and equality of rights to all Romanian citizens. Until the nineteenth century, many Western proto-democracies had property qualifications in their electoral laws; e.g. only landowners could vote (because
6486-481: The right to vote from 1728 to 1793, and the right to sit in parliament until 1829. The anti-Catholic policy was justified on the grounds that the loyalty of Catholics supposedly lay with the Pope rather than the national monarch. In England and Ireland, several Acts practically disenfranchised non-Anglicans or non-Protestants by imposing an oath before admission to vote or to stand for office. The 1672 and 1678 Test Acts forbade non-Anglicans to hold public offices, and
6580-414: The right to vote in advance of female citizens, except in the Kingdom of Hawai'i , where universal suffrage without mention of age or sex was introduced in 1840; however, a constitutional amendment in 1852 rescinded female voting and put property qualifications on male voting. Voting rights for women were introduced into international law by the United Nations' Human Rights Commission, whose elected chair
6674-420: The right to vote to all adult women. In 1894, the women of South Australia achieved the right to both vote and stand for Parliament . The autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire was the first nation to allow all women to both vote and run for parliament. Those against the women's suffrage movement made public organizations to put down the political movement, with the main argument being that
6768-410: The right to vote was more restricted, for example by gender, race, or wealth. The word suffrage comes from Latin suffragium , which initially meant "a voting-tablet", "a ballot", "a vote", or "the right to vote". Suffragium in the second century and later came to mean "political patronage, influence, interest, or support", and sometimes "popular acclaim" or "applause". By the fourth century
6862-427: The right to vote. Non-resident citizen voting allows emigrants and expats of some countries to vote in their home country. Resident non-citizens can vote in some countries, which may be restricted to citizens of closely linked countries (e.g., Commonwealth citizens and European Union citizens ) or to certain offices or questions. Multiple citizenship typically allows to vote in multiple countries. Historically
6956-434: The same, and have resided within the county in which they claim a vote for twelve months immediately preceding the election, shall be entitled to vote for Representatives in Council and Assembly; and also for all other public officers, that shall be elected by the people of the county at large. New Jersey 1776 However, the document did not specify an Amendment procedure, and the provision was subsequently replaced in 1844 by
7050-532: The short-lived university he founded in the city of Corte in 1765 used Italian as the official language. According to the constitution, the legislature, the Corsican Diet (or Consulta Generale), composed of over 300 members, met once a year on call of the head of state and was composed of delegates elected by acclamation from each parish for three-year terms. The Diet enacted laws, regulated taxation, and determined national policy. Executive powers were handled by
7144-497: The system of representative democracy, where representatives are elected. Stochocracy aims to at least reduce this degradation by having all representatives appointed by lottery instead of by voting. Therefore, this system is also called lottocracy. The system was proposed by the writer Roger de Sizif in 1998 in his book La Stochocratie . Choosing officeholders by lot was also the standard practice in ancient Athenian democracy and in ancient India . The rationale behind this practice
7238-454: The term 'universal suffrage' has meant different things with the different assumptions about the groups that were or were not deemed desirable voters. The short-lived Corsican Republic (1755–1769) was the first country to grant limited universal suffrage to all citizens over the age of 25. In 1819, 60–80,000 women and men from 30 miles around Manchester assembled in the city's St. Peter's Square to protest their lack of any representation in
7332-563: The towns . Later, in the 17th century, the Parliament of England implemented some of the ideas and systems of liberal democracy , culminating in the Glorious Revolution and passage of the Bill of Rights 1689 . Widening of the voting franchise took place through a series of Reform Acts in the 19th and 20th centuries. The American Revolution led to the creation of a new Constitution of
7426-443: The various estates ( classes , but not as we know them today) to advise/control monarchs led to relatively wide familiarity with representative systems inspired by Roman systems. In Britain, Simon de Montfort is remembered as one of the fathers of representative government for holding two famous parliaments. The first , in 1258, stripped the king of unlimited authority and the second, in 1265, included ordinary citizens from
7520-577: The vote through changes in state and federal law in the course of the 19th and 20th centuries. Until it was repealed by the Fourteenth Amendment following the Civil War , the Three-Fifths Compromise gave a disproportionate representation of slave states in the House of Representatives relative to the voters in free states. In 1789, Revolutionary France adopted the Declaration of
7614-467: The voting rights of convicted criminals. Some countries, and some U.S. states , also deny the right to vote to those convicted of serious crimes even after they are released from prison. In some cases (e.g. in many U.S. states ) the denial of the right to vote is automatic upon a felony conviction; in other cases (e.g. France and Germany) deprivation of the vote is meted out separately, and often limited to perpetrators of specific crimes such as those against
7708-467: The word may be related to suffrago , signifying an ankle bone or knuckle bone. In the 17th century the English suffrage regained the earlier meaning of the Latin suffragium , "a vote" or "the right to vote". The word franchise comes from the French word franchir , which means "to free." Other common uses of the term today have less resemblance to the original meaning as they are associated with
7802-520: The word was used for "an intercession", asking a patron for their influence with the Almighty. Suffragium was used in the fifth and sixth centuries with connection to buying influence or profiteering from appointing to office, and eventually the word referred to the bribe itself. William Smith rejects the connection of suffragium to sub "under" + fragor "crash, din, shouts (as of approval)", related to frangere "to break"; Eduard Wunder writes that
7896-613: The world in 1893. Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote. This was the goal of the suffragists, who believed in using legal means, as well as the suffragettes , who used extremist measures. Short-lived suffrage equity was drafted into provisions of the State of New Jersey's first, 1776 Constitution, which extended the Right to Vote to unwed female landholders and black land owners. IV. That all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds proclamation money, clear estate in
7990-686: Was Eleanor Roosevelt . In 1948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ; Article 21 states: "(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures." The United Nations General Assembly adopted
8084-620: Was a short-lived state on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea. It was proclaimed in July 1755 by Pasquale Paoli , who was seeking independence from the Republic of Genoa . Paoli created the Corsican Constitution , which was the first constitution written in the Italian language . The text included various Enlightenment principles, including female suffrage , later revoked by
8178-719: Was abolished in Great Britain outside the City of London). In the Republic of Ireland , commercial ratepayers can vote in local plebiscites , for changing the name of the locality or street , or delimiting a business improvement district . From 1930 to 1935, 5 of 35 members of Dublin City Council were "commercial members". In cities in most Australian states, voting is optional for businesses but compulsory for individuals. Some municipalities in Delaware allow corporations to vote on local matters. In ancient Athens , often cited as
8272-466: Was divided into three magistracies: the Chamber of Justice (in charge of political affairs and the most serious criminal cases), the Chamber of War (in charge of military affairs), and the Chamber of Finance (in charge of economic affairs). Petitions made to the Council were addressed to the General, who according to importance, passed them to the applicable magistracy. From there, once studied, it would pass to
8366-491: Was elected by the Council and had to maintain their confidence in order to remain in the position, although there were no term limits. The General also had a right to summon particular congresses on specific issues separate from the Diet. In the council, two-thirds of its members were to come from Deçà des Monts , while the remainder were to come from Delà des Monts . The members were also split into two tiers: 36 first class Presidents, and 108 second class Councillors. The Council
8460-499: Was extended to Corsica by the Bey of Tunis . The Corsican revolutionary Pasquale Paoli was called "the precursor of Italian irredentism " by Niccolò Tommaseo because he was the first to promote the Italian language and socio-culture (the main characteristics of Italian irredentism) in his island; Paoli wanted the Italian language to be the official language of the newly founded Corsican Republic. Pasquale Paoli's appeal in 1768 against
8554-513: Was repealed by article I, section 2 of the 1792 Constitution : "No religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, under this State". The 1778 Constitution of the State of South Carolina stated that "No person shall be eligible to sit in the house of representatives unless he be of the Protestant religion", the 1777 Constitution of the State of Georgia (art. VI) that "The representatives shall be chosen out of
8648-638: Was seldom followed. In 1767, Corsica took the island of Capraia from the Genoese who, one year later, despairing of ever being able to control Corsica again, sold their claim to the Kingdom of France with the Treaty of Versailles . France invaded Corsica the same year, with Paoli's forces fighting to keep the republic intact. However, in May 1769, at the Battle of Ponte Novu they were defeated by vastly superior forces commanded by
8742-408: Was to avoid lobbying and electioneering by economic oligarchs. The system of deliberative democracy is a mix between a majority-ruled system and a consensus-based system. It allows for representative democracies or direct democracies to coexist with its system of governance, providing an initial advantage. Corsican Republic The Corsican Republic ( Italian : Repubblica Corsa )
8836-412: Was to take place. In this case, candidates were to be proposed by the heads of families. Three were to be selected by majority vote in a primary election; one of the three was to be elected in a secondary election by a two-thirds majority. If none of them won this majority, the parish forfeited its representation in that session of the Diet." This attempted change, similar to the prior one attempted in 1763,
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