Democracy, extension of suffrage, and redistribution in nineteenth-century Europe

Abstract

The recent literature on democratization has traced this process back to the extension of suffrage. However, democratization concerns different aspects, not only the extension of suffrage, but also the extent of the powers of parliament. These two different dimensions of democracy are interdependent and can even be opposed. We show that the political elite may grant universal suffrage to counter pressure exerted by the bourgeoisie in favor of a widening of the powers of the parliament. By extending suffrage to the masses, the political elite makes it less advantageous for the bourgeoisie to seek a more powerful parliament. However, the entry, even in a parliament without powers, of representatives of the working class leads the political elite to ensure some form of redistribution. The historical experiences of some Western European countries during the nineteenth century and in the early twentieth century confirm this thesis.