universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also universal adult suffrage, general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to all adults, without distinction as to race, sex, belief, intelligence, or economic or social status.
may seem like a minor point to add that suffrage applies only to citizens; for example, citizens of France do not necessarily have the right to vote in Germany. Although the relationship to citizenship may seem obvious, it is not such a minor point, because there are countries in the world that deny citizenship to their own residents based on race, belief, or class. Thus, some claims of universal suffrage may be technically or legally true but practically false.
In the first modern democracies only a limited number of people had a say in the running of the government - for example in the United Kingdom only Protestant, male landowners with relatively large holdings had the right to vote. Suffrage depended on local custom before 1832, so there were exceptions. In all modern democracies the number of people who could vote increased gradually with time. The 19th century featured movements advocating universal male suffrage - the extension to all males regardless of social standing or race. The democratic movement of the late 19th century, unifying Liberals and Social Democrats, particularly in northern Europe, used the slogan Equal and Common Suffrage.
The Movement for Universal Suffrage consisted of a social, economic and political movement aimed at extending suffrage to people of all races.
Expanding suffrage
The first movements toward universal suffrage (or manhood suffrage) occurred in the early 19th century, and focused on removing property requirements for voting. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the focus of universal suffrage movement became the removal of restrictions against women having the right to vote.
Several countries which had enacted universal suffrage had their normal legal process, or their existence, interrupted during the Second World War.
Many societies in the past have denied people the right to vote on the basis of race or ethnicity. For example, non-white people could not vote in national elections during apartheid-era South Africa, until the system came to an end with the first free multi-party elections in 1994. In the pre-Civil Rights Era American South, black people often technically had the right to vote, but various means prevented many of them from exercising that right. The Ku Klux Klan formed after the American Civil War, largely to intimidate black people and to prevent them from voting.
Some so-called "universal" suffrage systems still exclude some potential voters. For example, some jurisdictions deny the vote to various categories of convicted criminals or the mentally ill, and almost all jurisdictions deny the vote to non-citizen residents and citizens under the age of 18. Many states within the USA used to disenfranchise paupers, persons who either paid no direct taxes or those receiving public assistance.
There are also differing degrees of legal recognition of non-resident citizens: non-resident Italians have a representative at-large in the Italian parliament; U.S. citizens voting abroad vote as residents of the last state where they (or their parents) lived; Britons, however, can not vote for their national parliament unless they have lived in the U.K. in the last five years. A few nations also restrict those who are involved in the military or police forces, as it is in the case of Kuwait.[CIA - The World Factbook - Kuwait]
The development/integration of the European Union has changed a few matters. Citizens of an EU Member-State are allowed to vote in E.U. parliamentary elections, as well as some local elections. For example, a Briton living in Graz, Austria, would be able to vote in for the European Parliament as a resident of the "electoral district" of Austria, and to vote in Graz municipal elections. He would, however, not be able to vote in Austrian (federal) elections, or Styrian (state) elections. On the other hand, all residents of a municipality in the UK are allowed to vote for representatives of the local council, regardless of citizenship.
Universal suffrage in the world
States have granted and revoked universal suffrage at various times, including Brunei since 1962.
Note: The table can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the icon.
Women suffrage
The first women's suffrage was granted in Corsica in 1755 and lasted until 1769.
Women's suffrage (with the same property qualifications as for men) was next granted in New Jersey in 1776 (the word "inhabitants" was used instead of "men") and rescinded in 1807.
The Pitcairn Islands granted restricted women's suffrage in 1838. Various other countries and states granted restricted women's suffrage in the latter half of the nineteenth century, starting with South Australia in 1861.
The first unrestricted women's suffrage in terms of voting rights (women were not initially permitted to stand for election) in a major country was granted in New Zealand. The women's suffrage bill was adopted mere weeks before the general election of 1893.
South Australia first granted women suffrage and allowed them to stand for parliament in 1894.
In 1931, the Second Spanish Republic allowed women the right of passive suffrage with three women being elected.
During the discussion to extend their right to active suffrage, the Radical Socialist Victoria Kent confronted the Radical Clara Campoamor. Kent argued that Spanish women were not yet prepared to vote and, since they were too influenced by the Catholic Church they would vote for right-wing candidates. Campoamor however pleaded for women's rights regardless of orientation. Her point finally prevailed and, in the election of 1933, the political right won with the vote of citizens of any sex over 23. Both Campoamor and Kent lost their seats.
See also
 Suffragette
External links
Limited suffrage in England prior to the 1832 reforms
Finnish centennial celebration
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