Expanding the Electorate in Habsburg Austria, 1860s–1918: (Dis)Integrations of Economic and Educational Qualifications, Gender, and “Universal” Suffrage

Abstract

AbstractWhen constitutional reform commenced in the early 1860s in the Habsburg Monarchy, economic independence and higher education were the fundamental pillars upon which enfranchisement was built. The vote was not considered to be an individual right. Rather, elections should ensure that certain interests, based especially on property and wealth as well as learning, found adequate representation. Social change and political crises led to various electoral reforms early on. These included the introduction in Habsburg Austria of so-called universal suffrage for men over twenty-four, however, at the same time leaving economic qualifications in effect within a system of unequal representation. At the level of the Habsburg Austrian parliament electoral reform finally consented to equal representation of voters in 1907. Despite the principle of “universal” suffrage, however, it continued to exclude recipients of public poor relief, among others. This chapter will outline the complex developments of voting qualifications both on the parliamentary level and for crownland diets and local government bodies, highlighting integrations and disintegrations of economic and educational qualifications. It will also focus specifically on women voters in Habsburg Austria and discuss in which way their inclusion was specifically based on economic factors, rather than educational qualifications.