True Reform: Or Character A Qualification For The Franchise - Softcover

Sir John Maxwell, Baronet

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0461559633 ISBN 13: 9780461559637

Publisher: HardPress, 2016

Synopsis

True Reform: Or Character A Qualification For The Franchise by Sir John Maxwell, Baronet. This nineteenth-century political treatise argues that the electoral franchise should be broadened on grounds of character, education, and public service rather than tied to the rental value of a dwelling. Maxwell contends that the present £10 rent qualification excludes many industrious workers—soldiers, sailors, artisans, tenants in smaller housing, and others who contribute to the nation's wealth—from voting and thus weakens representation, education, and national welfare. He advocates treating labor as capital and linking franchise eligibility to moral and intellectual qualities such as temperance, frugality, honesty, and fidelity, rather than to high rents alone. The work surveys social costs of unemployment, poverty, crime, and the costs of policing, prisons, and poor relief, arguing that enfranchisement could promote better governance and reduce crime. Maxwell proposes gradual reform, including extension of votes to trusted workers, wage-earners, savings-bank depositors, and members of friendly societies, potentially via delegates. The volume includes prefatory reflections and appendices illustrating how character and industry may sustain a more equitable political system.

Edition details

• Publisher: HardPress
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0461559633
• ISBN 13: 9780461559637
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 54