Universal Adult Franchise

(Document B). In 1920, women were granted the right to vote through the nineteenth amendment after a long battle with society and the government. It took reformers and activists nearly 100 years to reach this point, and on

In most modern governments, such as the United States of America, give the right to vote to almost every responsible adult citizen. There were limiters on the right to vote when the US Constitution was written, and the individual states were allowed to setup their own rules governing who was allowed to vote. Women were denied the right to vote until the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution which was passed in 1920. In order to understand how women struggled to obtain the right to vote, some key factors must be looked at in further detail; why suffrage rights were not defined in the Constitution, the efforts that women put forth to obtain the right to vote, why there are present-day restrictions on

In 2017 all United States citizens can vote as long as their 18 years or older and registered. This has allowed thousands of more people to vote. How did this huge of a change happen? From amendments, acts, cases, and more. The first amendment gives everyone the right for petition, assembly, speech, religion, and press. This gives everyone the right to speak their opinion of their political views, religious beliefs, and ect. Only white men voting changed with the adding of the amendments 15th and 19th. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 lead to the 15th amendment. This amendment gave people of any race to be allowed to vote. All men of any race was given the rights to vote. Later on came the 19th amendment. The 19th amendment gave all women above the legal age of 21 the right to vote. Eventually the voting age got lowered to 18. Boys being drafted at age 18 were complaining which helped this amendment be ratified so quickly. They were mad because there was so many things they couldn’t do but after the draft maybe not come back or come back hurt.

3. 1840, changing voting qualifications changed and 90% of adult males over 21 could vote.

The Framers of the Constitution purposely left the power to set suffrage qualifications to each State. Suffrage means the right to vote. Franchise is synonym for the right to vote. The electorate is all of the people entitled to vote in given election. The right to vote was limited to white males that owned property in America in 1789 when Constitution can into effect. Today, the size of the American electorate is greater than 230 million people. Nearly all citizens at least 18 years of age can qualify to vote. The history of American suffrage since 1789 has been marked by two long term trends. The first growing federal control over suffrage and second the elimination of voting restrictions.

The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1969 during the Vietnam war, because it was only fair to those aged 18 - 20 dying for their country have a say in how the country is run. Therefore if 16 year olds are now capable of

Voting rights have been intertwined with every part of our history. The fight for the right to vote started evolving before the American Revolution and hasn’t completely stopped. Due to taxation and ruling from King George of England, many colonists were upset with how they were living in the new colonies. They wanted freedom from a king and independence so they could choose how to live. But the American Revolution did not bring as much freedom in government as the people may have hoped. The creation of the Constitution, and the then Bill of Rights, enabled the people to have the limited government they desired. It did not include policies for social welfare and justice, but it was open to be edited in the future. When certain policies, like voting, where brought to people’s attention, cultural differences impacted how some people voted throughout history. The founding fathers were smart to leave the Bill of Rights amendable. Through amendments

When our country was founded, only property-owning White men were granted the right to vote. After the Civil War, when slavery was finally abolished, the Constitution’s Fifteenth Amendment prohibited “the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Only in the last century did the Nineteenth Amendment give women the right to vote. And a little over 40 years ago, the Twenty-sixth Amendment was ratified to expand the franchise by lowering the voting age from 21 to

91. 26th: The provision to the 26th Amendment gave the right to vote to citizens over 18 years of age. March 1971

For example, in those days, only free men who owned a certain amount of property were allowed to vote. But since then, the requirement of owning property has been dropped. Women are allowed to vote. Slavery was abolished. Now all adult citizens of the United States (with the exception of those who have committed serious crimes) are allowed to vote. Expanding suffrage—the right to vote—to a greater number of people means that citizens have greater power over their own government.

In The Nineteenth Amendment of 1920 in Women's Suffrage Section 1: “The Right to Vote The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” This amendment was passed fifty years after black released slaves were granted the right to vote, and since before the creation of America when white male property owners were allowed to vote.1

By the late 1850s the belief of white male suffrage was largely accepted in the eastern states. Australia was the first nation in the world to use a secret ballot, guaranteeing that voters could follow their ethics without pressure. In 1902, Australia became the first nation in the world to allow women full citizenship rights, the right to vote and stand for parliament. Australia's commitment to democracy is symbolised today by the value of necessary voting. With these accomplishes achieved democratically under the monarch is significant, just imagine with how much we can succeed being independent nation and being our own

women over the age of 30 were allowed to vote for the first time. This

Voting is one of the most privileged rights anybody can have in America. Early in the years, women didn’t have the right to vote. According to the article Why Women Should Be Included in the Voting Rights Act, women had no right to elect representatives of their choice and they weren’t allowed to be elected. Women are the most under-represented people in the United States.

Through the study of human history it is evident authoritative and monarch governments prevailed as legitimate authorities but with careful considerations these political systems were seen as inaccurate by many. New political systems, functions and responsibilities soon began to surface. Democracy was among these new political systems and argues for the influence of citizens in politics and the protection of rights (Dahl, 1998, p. 44). Democracy can be found through many political systems around the world particularly in first world countries such as Canada and the United States of America. Fortunately the notions of democracy can also be found in some developing countries such as India. ¬¬¬Although democratic views and notions are found throughout Indian politics and its associated practices India does not prove to be completely democratic in relation to Robert Dahl’s criteria of democracy highlighted in his book, On Democracy. Robert Dahl, a political scientist and professor, sets up 5 criteria of democracy that includes effective participation, voting equality, enlightened understanding, inclusion and control of agenda (Dahl, 1998, p. 36-7). He argues that a sense of true democracy is founded when all 5 criteria of democracy are fulfilled (Dahl, 1998, p. 36). Unfortunately India is unable to accommodate the criteria of voting equality and effective participation due to its