In 1838 a People’s Charter was drawn up for the London Working Men’s Association. It became the basis for a political reform movement that agitated to change some very undemocratic practices in Great Britain. The Charter had six points.
All men to have the vote.
Voting by secret ballot.
Parliamentary elections every year, not once every five years.
Constituencies should be of equal size.
Members of Parliament should be paid.
The property qualification for becoming a Member of Parliament should be abolished.
Eventually all of them were enacted except for a yearly election. It occurs to me that we don’t have the first one given the onerous registration requirements in some states. We have voting by secret ballot, but the ballots are sometimes complicated and the voting process is often made difficult. Our constituencies certainly are not of equal size–look at the population difference between California and Wyoming, each with two Senators. Even when districts are of equal population size in state legislatures, they are often so gerrymandered as to predetermine outcomes. The idea of paying legislatures is to allow lower income people to serve, but given the cost of campaigns, that’s definitely wanting. The cost of campaigning also negates number 6.
We need a Chartist movement in the U.S.
Unfortunately, I think to enact the Chartist ideals require the enactment of the Chartist ideals. For the moment we will have to wait until a leader appears who can inspire people that things can be better.
ReplyDeleteWe also have institutional roadblocks. We will never get rid of the U.S. Senate, and the Supreme Court is quite happy with gerrymandering. Incumbents have no incentive to change the election finance laws. Most legislators love the system that elected them.
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