Democratizing from Within: British Elites and the Expansion of the Franchise

Original

Democratizing from Within: British Elites and the Expansion of the Franchise

Chitralekha Basu, Carles Boix, Sonia Giurumescu, Paulo Serôdio

Abstract

abstract: The authors develop a theory of democratization that relies on political and electoral calculations to explain the franchise choices of political actors in Great Britain. Given their location in the policy space, left-leaning (liberal) politicians are more likely to be supported by newly enfranchised voters, so they favor a broader franchise than conservative politicians do. The preferences of liberal politicians are conditional on the interests of both enfranchised and disenfranchised electors. As those interests become more heterogeneous, policymakers are more reluctant to expand the franchise because they may find it harder to attract new voters while keeping their current supporters. To evaluate this theory, the authors estimate the franchise preferences of British members of parliament (mps) based on their votes on franchise-related issues between 1830 and 1918. The authors then link these preferences to the mps’ personal and constituency characteristics. In line with their theory, the authors find that partisanship, declining inequality, and World War I were crucial factors in democratizing Britain.