redistribution of seats on the basis of one member for seventy thousand (omitting Ireland), by abolishing very largely the grievance of plural voting by limiting the maximum votes to two,3 by having all elections on the same day, and by assuming the official expense of elections, thereby relieving the candidates of a large part of the expense of elections.

In the United States and France.-The American Colonies at the time of their Revolution also had a severely restricted suffrage, on the average about one person in thirty of the population having a vote at the time of the adoption of the national Constitution. Emphasizing, as the Americans did, the contract theory of human equality and having a virtual equality of economic conditions and opportunity, class distinctions based on property, religion, and social prestige little by little loosened their grip on special privileges and by 1870 the entire country with few exceptions had adopted manhood suffrage, including the enfranchised slaves. French Revolutionary democracy also favored manhood suffrage and from these two revolutionary centers influences spread throughout the Americas and the states of western Europe, sapping the old class distinctions in matters of suffrage.

Woman Suffrage. The movement towards suffrage for women began definitely about the middle of the nineteenth century and for over fifty years was chiefly a campaign of education. The rapid opening of the schools and of economic opportunity to women during the last fifty years finally put a new face on the matter

'A residence domicile and a business location, or a university vote if a graduate.

Under the Constitution of 1793, but permanently from the year 1852.

and the climax of the Great War and the important services rendered by women in the war gave the decision in favor of women's suffrage. Most of the states of Europe have adopted this reform and adult, or general, suffrage will shortly prevail throughout the English-speaking world, and in practically the whole of Europe, including Russia. The states of Latin-America, the Romance nations of Europe, and Japan are least forward in movements towards adult suffrage, owing to racial conditions. and traditions.

The Electorate as a Department of Government.— It is important to note that wherever an electorate exists it becomes ipso facto as truly a part of the government as any other department exercising political powers. The powers which an electorate may exert vary considerably in extent in different states, but the tendency in democracies is to bestow increasingly larger powers, as citizens attain greater intelligence and political capacity. The powers usually assigned are executive. That is, the electorate may be authorized to appoint candidates to certain designated offices through forms of election. These offices may be (a) executive or administrative, as in the election of a president, a governor, a mayor, or the head of an administrative department; or (b) judicial, as in the case of judges elected by popular vote, the system prevailing in about three-fourths of the commonwealths of the United States of America; or (c) legislative, as in the election of representatives to lawmaking bodies. The new aspect in the election of lawmaking representatives is that the legislatures in modern times regularly voice the will of the population as such, and hence are more demo

The term universal is often incorrectly used as applying to manhood, or to adult suffrage.

cratic than were the unrepresentative bodies of earlier centuries.

Occasionally the electorate is authorized to aid directly in legislation through the initiative and referendum. At times, also, the electorate secures the right to assist, through delegates chosen by lot, in judicial decisions by the performance of jury service, or in the indictment of persons charged with crime through the grand jury. These are direct powers and are important in proportion to their extent. If, for example, an electorate should have the power directly to appoint or to recall by election all important officers of the three historic departments of government, and should have a deciding voice in the formulation of the constitution, its power would be enormous. If, also, the electorate were composed of all adults in the nation, the people, expressing their will through the electorate, might well be said to be exercising full sovereign powers.

Restrictions on Electorates.-Electorates, however, rarely have so much power assigned to them by constitution and do not always include all capable adult persons, nor even adult males. Theories of social welfare may result in modifications of the principle of suffrage by introducing restrictions intended to discriminate in favor of the more intelligent and reputable classes. Such discriminations may be made by requiring a minimum standard of education or intelligence, by emphasis on economic capacity as shown by the possession of taxable property or the pursuit of an honorable occupation, or intellectual attainment as shown by the possession of a university degree, or, on the other hand, by disfranchisement of the pauperized and the criminal part of the population and by restrictions based on sex, religion, or serv

ice in certain branches of governmental administration. In aristocracies or oligarchies there may be an electorate composed of a small class of nobles only, or of persons of wealth. In any so-called democracy it is always important to note (a) whether the restrictions on suffrage are severe or light and (b) how numerous and how important are the direct powers placed in the hands of the electorate. The restrictions may be so great and the power so slight that the system is really a close oligarchy, as is the case in practically all of the states in Latin America.

Methods of Voting.-The most ancient method for the formulation of a decision through suffrage is that known to-day as viva voce. A question is submitted to the assembled voters for their approval or rejection, and by word of mouth, show of hands, or other sign they signify their decision. Ancient familiar examples of this may be found in Hebraic history, the Homeric Ecclesia, and in the Germanic Assembly of Tacitus. Modern examples are seen in the town meeting and in ordinary social organizations. The Athenians selected most of their officials by lot, selecting the candidates from the suffrage list made up of Athenians only, since resident aliens and freedmen were not citizens. The present usual form of suffrage is through the secret ballot. This device was regularly employed by the Athenians and the Romans, was revived in the period of the Renaissance, and is now in use in an improved form in practically all modern states. The English Ballot Act, superseding the ancient method of election, was not adopted until 1872. The improved method in use throughout the United

"Si displicuit sententia, fremitu aspernantur; sin placuit, fremeas concutiunt. Honoratissimum assensus genus est armis laudare."

States of America, popularly known as the Australian ballot system, was adopted in the last decade of the nineteenth century.

The Ballot.-There are many forms of ballot, or combinations of forms, in use and of these may be mentioned, for illustration, the circle form which permits of a straight party vote by inserting a cross in the center of the circle. This ballot, therefore, requires that the candidates of each party be arranged in a separate column under an appropriate heading. By contrast the several candidates for each office may be arranged under the title of that office, thereby compelling the voter to make a choice of the one he prefers by marking the cross opposite his name. This system favors independent voting. The "short ballot" reform (in the United States) advocates a larger use of appointment and other devices, so as to shorten the lengthy ballots in use by most commonwealths; these absurdly lengthy ballots are so complex as to be beyond the comprehension of the average voter, who, therefore, is tempted to vote a "straight ticket" by marking the party circle as the easiest way out of the difficulty.

The wide differences in results accomplished by variations in the form of the ballot make clear the fact that the mere adoption of adult suffrage does not of itself mean democracy. In states of great population it becomes equally essential that there be provided an adequate mechanism through which the electorate may express their choice intelligently and accurately. Failing this, bossism and political corruption prevail and democ

'Ballots are sometimes several feet in length. A New York City ballot some twelve years ago had 835 names on it; 250 to 400 names are not uncommon.