Student Paper SP001-04
Spring 2000, Section I
Reviewer Comments

 

The Evolution of Democracy in England

 

Government in England has changed dramatically over the last four hundred years. In the last millennium, England has evolved from a country that had monarchs who wanted absolute rule to a monarchy that has little involvement with its country. The idea of human progress in Western Europe has had an impact on the development of England becoming a country voiced by the people and not the monarch. Because England took moderate steps in becoming a true democracy, the people were able to achieve their goal of representation and having a voice in government without the result of a revolution.

 

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, England was ruled by kings who admired and wanted absolute rule.  James I wanted to reign with minimum consultation of Parliament.' The ideology of an absolute monarchy is expressed in the True Law of Free Monarchies.  James I expressed that kings were above the law for the reason that they were the authors and makers of the laws.2  By the end of his reign, members of Parliament started to resent James I's powers and the need to change became more apparent during the rule of his son Charles I.

 

Charles I shared the same beliefs with his father and tried to impose new taxes on the people. He forced the English to pay a forced loan, and failure to pay would lead to imprisonment. This made Parliament furious and when they gathered in 1628, they created The Petition of Right.3 This document declared that, no person should be compelled to make any loans to the king against his will" and "no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, of such like charge, without common consent by act of parliament".4  The king agreed to the rights in the document, but Charles I was an untrusting ruler, and ignored the people's rights.  During England's war with Scotland, Charles was forced to reconvene Parliament and the only way Parliament would compromise with the king was that he had to respect Parliament's regulations. The regulations included were that new taxes without consent of Parliament were illegal, no more than three years would pass between Parliament meetings and any future king could not govern without consulting Parliament.5  After Charles I's execution, the Independent Rump Parliament's leader, Oliver Cromwell ruled in a dictatorship style, and abolished the monarchy, the House of Lords and the Anglican Church.  After Cromwell's death, the English people wanted to return to their traditional institutions of government and restored Charles II to the throne.6

 

The English people believed that Charles II would give more freedom to his subjects, but Charles II did the opposite. Charles II was a Roman Catholic sympathizer, and this put fear into the English because the majority of the population was Protestant.  In reaction to their monarch, Parliament passed laws that imposed penalties for attending non-Anglican services. Parliament also passed the Test Act, which required all officials of the crown, civil and military to not believe in Roman Catholic ideologies.  This act was ignored during the rein of James II.  James II, a devout Roman Catholic, appointed Catholics to high positions in both his court and the army. When James II had a male heir, who was Roman Catholic, the people of England decided that they wanted a change in the monarchy and wanted a Protestant ruler.7

 

The "Glorious Revolution" was the successful and bloodless manner to bring the throne back in the hands of Protestant rulers.  William of Orange and his wife and James II's daughter, Mary, shared joint rule on the grounds that they agree to follow an English Bill of Rights.  The Bill of Rights, "Limited the powers of the monarchy and guaranteed the civil liberties of the English privileged class".8  Some of the civil liberties included were that no law would be passed without the consent of Parliament, the presence of a permanent army only with the consent of Parliament, and the basis of free speech in Parliamentary debates.9  The framework of the government in England and the English Bill of Rights were influenced by the philosopher John Locke and his Second Treatise on Government.10 Locke believed in a social contract between the king and his people, and to, "preserve the members of that society in their lives, liberties, and possessions."11 The reign of William and Mary finally gave members of the privileged class a voice in the government.

 

It was not until the nineteenth century that the common people in England had an active role in the government.  In the mid 1800's, "the prosperity and social responsibility of the working class convinced many politicians that the workers deserved the vote."  When the reform bill of 1867 passed, the number of voters had increased by a million votes and for the first time, large members of the male working class had been admitted to the electorate. Because a majority of males could vote, England had evolved closer toward becoming a democracy.12

 

England's government in the twentieth century brought change in the parliamentary system.  Of the two houses in Parliament, the House of Lords had members who were hereditary nobles.  The Parliament Act of 1911 abolished the Lords' veto power, and the Lords cannot claim to represent the nation because they are not voted by the public. The 1990's led to the end of having members of the House of Lords be solely hereditary, and because of this, The House of Commons had the most control over the government in England, and still remain powerful today.13

 

The evolution toward democracy was a slow process.  The people's desire to progress and change in England were the motivations to have a representative voice in the government. By the creation of documents whose purpose was to achieve certain rights and liberties, the government went from a powerful presence of a monarchy to a government represented by the people.  The idea of human progress shaped modern Europe, and England was an example of how to achieve the idea.

 

1 Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, Frank M. Turner, The Western Heritage vol. II: since 1648 6th Edition (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998), pp. 451.

 

2 James I, True Law of Free Monarchies. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/james1-trew2.html

 

3 Kagan, et al., 454.

 

4 The Petition of Right http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1601-1650/england/por.htm

 

5 Kagan, et al., 456.

 

6 Kagan, et al., 458.

 

7 Kagan, et al., 458-461.

 

8 Kagan, et al., 461-462.

 

9 English Bill of Rights, http://www.yale.edu/lawweh/avalon/eng1and.htm

 

10 Kagan, et al., 462.

 

11 John Locke, Second Treatise on Government. http://campus.northpark.edu/history/classes/sources/1ocke-2ndtreatsie.html

 

12 Kagan, et al., 828.

 

13 Richard Rose, Politics in England. Pols. 3371 reader.

 

Bibliography 

 

English Bill of Rights. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/england.html

 

James I.  True Law of Free Monarchies. http://www.fordham.edu/halasll/mod/james1-trew2.html

 

Kagan, Donald, Steven Ozment, and Frank M. Turner.  The Western Heritage.  Vol. II: since 1648 6th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998.

 

Locke, John.  Second Treatise on Government. http://campus.northpark.edu/history/classes/sources/locke 2ndtreatsie.html

 

The Petition of Right. http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1601-1650/england/por.htm

 

Rose, Richard.  Politics in England.  Political Science 3371 reader.