A Critical Analysis of the Ups and Downs of the British 1832 'Great' Reform Act

Abstract

This work scrutinises the British struggle for the 1832 ‘Great’ Reform Act by exploring its ups and downs. It, in fact, aims at showing that that Reform Act does not deserve the qualifier ‘Great’ put in inverted commas. Through the historical perspective, the findings have revealed that the 1832 Reform Act took much time to be recognised and passed by Parliament, because political leaders at that time were tyrants and hated all sorts of change. In the long run of time, the bill was then adopted and became law under the masses’ pressure and upheaval. However, after its passage, the political system was slightly changed and the idea of democracy in Britain was, indeed, still a mere masquerade. There were no salaries of MPs, no secret ballot, no regular parliaments, no vote for women, no abolition of property qualification and no constituencies of the same size. It is evident that this appellation is but window dressing. So, this historical misconception should be reviewed and corrected.