Abstract

In many countries of the Western Hemisphere the nineteenth century witnessed the gradual expansion of the franchise. This development was made possible in the English-speaking world by the fact that the political creed of the power élite—liberalism—created a climate of opinion favourable to a belief in the inevitability of progress and the perfectability of man. The decision about who was to govern, and in general terms the way in which government was to be carried out, was to be made by the majority of the adult population. The necessity of deciding such important matters would, it was thought, induce the voters to rise to the occasion demanded by their new responsibilities: they would, on the whole, become politically educated, informed, and wise. In casting their ballots men were expected to bear in mind the public good, not private gain. John Stuart Mill, for example, in opposing the secret ballot, argued that a person's voteis not a thing in which he has an option; it has no more to do with his personal wishes than the verdict of a juryman. It is strictly a matter of duty; he is bound to give it according to his best and most conscientious opinion of the public good. Whoever has any other idea of it is unfit to have the suffrage; its effect on him is to pervert not to elevate his mind. Instead of opening his heart to an exalted patriotism and the obligation of public duty, it awakens and nourishes in him the disposition to use a public function for his own interest, pleasure, or caprice. … In any political election … the voter is under an absolute moral obligation to consider the interest of the public, not his private advantage.…

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