The Evolution of the Right to Vote: From Limited to General Right to Vote

Abstract

The phenomenon of political administration is a phenomenon that has always maintained its importance since ancient times. The phenomenon of political administration is always a prominent issue, whether in a small community or in a country with large lands. It is known that this phenomenon, which has a history as long as human’s, contains many models. It is known that the most preferred form of government in today's world is democracy. Here, consent is at the forefront in the management phenomenon. The basis of the understanding of democracy born in ancient Greece is that the person or persons who will govern the state are determined by the people through elections. In this way, the legitimacy of the government rests on the people. In a government whose legitimacy is based on the nation, it is more difficult for administrators to display arbitrary attitudes. Because it cannot ignore the wishes of the people in order to come to power again in the next election. For this reason, the democracy model is a highly preferred model today. However, with the increasing population, it is almost impossible to implement the direct democracy model. In representative democracy, citizens take political action through their elected representatives. Representatives elected by the people represent the people in parliament. For this reason, the representative democracy model is applied. Representative democracy includes the concepts of voting and being elected. The right to vote allows individuals to choose from a list of candidates those who are inclined to their views and opinions. The right to be elected is a right determined within the framework of the laws of the country in which it is located, allowing the use of certain powers in line with the interests of the people. Although voting in elections is considered a civic duty in representative democracies today, this situation was much different in the past. Having the right to speak in the administrative mechanism of the state was not a right that ordinary people can access, but a right granted to people with certain qualifications. In the past, this right was given different meanings and was approached from an elitist perspective. For this reason, some restrictions have been introduced. While some of the restrictions are based on innate characteristics, some are based on the social status of individuals. People with these characteristics see themselves as privileged in society. These limitations; Consists of restrictions based on wealth, education, race and gender. As time passes, the restrictions, imposed lead to separation in society and exclusion of the individual. Over time, as the representation system became widespread and the essence of the concept of democracy was reached, such restrictions were put to an end. As a result of the removal of restrictions, universal suffrage was achieved. The concept of universal suffrage emerged as a result of the idea of evaluating the people as a whole, regardless of the differences between individuals. In this way, citizens within the country gained the right to political participation without being subjected to discrimination. The subject to be discussed in this study aims to reveal the process leading to universal suffrage by touching on the stages of the right to vote, before it gained its current meaning.