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The development of British democracy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Democracy is a system of government where the whole adult o ulation gets a say! "his might #e #y direct voting or #y choosing re resentatives to ma$e decisions on their #ehalf! %t the turn of the 19th century& 'ritain was not a democracy as we $now it today! %lthough there were elections to select mem#ers of (arliament )*(s+& only a small grou of eo le could vote! "hey were men who were over 21 years of age and who owned a certain amount of ro erty! "he franchise )that is& the num#er of eo le who had the right to vote+ grew over the course of the 19th century and olitical arties #egan to involve ordinary men and women as mem#ers! ,n the 1830s and 1840s& a grou called the -hartists cam aigned for reform! "hey wanted si. changes/ 0 for every man to have the vote 0 elections every year 0 for all regions to #e e1ual in the electoral system 0 secret #allots 0 for any man to #e a#le to stand as an *( 0 for *(s to #e aid!
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%t the time& the cam aign was generally seen as a failure! 2owever& #y 1918 most of these reforms had #een ado ted! "he voting franchise was also e.tended to women over 30& and then in 1928 to men and women over 21! ,n 1969& the voting age was reduced to 18 for men and women! The British constitution % constitution is a set of rinci les #y which a country is governed! ,t includes all of the institutions that are res onsi#le for running the country and how their ower is $e t in chec$! "he constitution also includes laws and conventions! "he 'ritish constitution is not written down in any single document& and therefore it is descri#ed as 3unwritten4! "his is mainly #ecause the 56& unli$e %merica or 7rance& has never had a revolution which led ermanently to a totally new system of government! 8ur most im ortant institutions have develo ed over hundreds of years! 9ome eo le #elieve that there should #e a single document& #ut others #elieve an unwritten constitution allows for more fle.i#ility and #etter government!

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Constitutional institutions ,n the 56& there are several different arts of government! "he main ones are/ 0 the monarchy 0 (arliament )the 2ouse of -ommons and the 2ouse of :ords+ 0 the (rime *inister 0 the ca#inet 0 the ;udiciary )courts+ 0 the olice 0 the civil service 0 local government! ,n addition& there are devolved governments in 9cotland& <ales and =orthern ,reland that have the ower to legislate on certain issues!

"his te.t is ta$en from :ife in the 5nited 6ingdom& a >uide for =ew ?esidents& 3rd edition& (age 119 @ -rown -o yright 2013

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