Growth of Democracy in England

World History European History

Growth of parliamentary institution in England

Great Councils

Before the formation of Parliament in England there existed feudal system. The monarchs in case of major issues and decisions consulted the Great Councils which comprised of members of Nobility and Clergy only. The Nobles and the Clergy being almost equally powerful as the monarch, there were often contentions and differences between the Monarch and the Great Councils.The Monarch tried to curb powers of the nobels and the latter opposed these moves. In some instances there were even outright rebellions by nobles.

Magna Carta

Then in 1215, the rebellious nobles (or Barons) forced the monarch King John to issue a charter declaring certain rights of the nobility and clergy. These rights aimed at securing the privileges and status of these institutions of feudal system. Some of the rights were-

Rights against illegal imprisonment of nobles by monarch
Right to access to swift justice
Church Rights
Limitation on feudal payments to the crown

The charter enumerating these rights was called Magna Carta. To enforce these rights the Great Councils gradually evolved into Parliament manned only by nobles and clergy with commoners having no representation in it. Gradually the parliament started passing certain laws and statutes and the monarchs lost their absolute authority. This loss of absolute authority by monarchs and rise of alternate authority in form of Parliament often led to confrontations between the two as each tried to suppress the other.

During the course of next two three centuries there were confrontations between the monarchs and the Parliament and several strong monarchs often dissolved the parliament or did not convene it altogether. on a whole the Parliament was not a permanent institution in governance of Britain.

In the 14^thcentury the parliament apart from nobility and clergy got some representation from the commoners in the form of Third Estate. But less than three percent of adult males were allowed to choose their representatives to the third estate thereby ensuring that the nobility and clergy maintained influence over the affairs of Parliament.

in the 15^thcentury the Tudor Monarchs being powerful often did not convene the Parliament at all. But soon due to their needs for more taxation and revenue they convened the Parliament while retaining the absolute right to dissolve and convene it at will.

Hence we can see that Parliament despite its establishment in 1215 did not assume its modern form till very late and the tussle between monarchs and the Parliament continued.

Glorious Revolution

During seventeenth century, the Stuart House came to rule England and the powerful monarchs of this house did not convene the Parliament regularly. The Parliamentarians rebelled against the Stuart Monarchs and overthrew them in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and invited King William to assume the monarchy of England.

In 1689 the Bill of Rights was passed which ensured-

Permanency of Parliament
Freedom of speech in Parliament
Free Elections
Limits on the power of Monarchy.

The Bill of Rights ensured permanent status of parliament as an institution of governance in England.

Reform after the Glorious Revolution

The revolution of 1688 had resulted in the establishment of the supremacy of Parliament in England. However, Parliament at that time was not a truly democratic institution.
The right to vote was limited to a very small percentage of the population. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the demand for making Parliament’ a democratic institution grew. Campaigns to extend the right to vote to every citizen were waged. These campaigns were led by radical leaders who represented the interests of workers, and the city poor, and by those representing the industrialists.
Until 1832, representation in Parliament was based not on population but on election districts— counties and boroughs. Many of these were no longer populated excepted for a few houses, while new towns and cities with large populations had no representation (due to migration from rural to urban areas post Industrial Revolution). Under the Act of 1832, the old unpopulated areas or ‘rotten boroughs’, as they were called, were abolished and their seats were given to new towns and cities. At this time also, the right to vote was extended to those who owned or rented a house of a certain value in the towns or in villages. This formed only about 10 per cent of the population.
The Chartist Movement was launched to get the right to vote for workers. Though the movement declined in the 1850′s, it left its influence and through the Acts of 1867. 1882, 1918 and 1929, all adult citizens were enfranchised. Thus it was over 200 years after Parliament became supreme that it became also a truly representative body of the British people.