universal suffrage
All citizens vote
Universal suffrage is the right of all adult citizens to vote in elections, regardless of wealth, property, race, or sex.
The term typically appears in historical contexts discussing the expansion of voting rights: The movement for universal suffrage gained momentum in the nineteenth century.
In practice, universal suffrage still excludes certain groups—children, non-citizens, and often felons.
Voting document
- electorateEligible voting body
- pollingSystematic opinion gathering
- referendumDirect vote on legislation
- plebisciteDirect vote by citizens
voter registration · polling station · secret ballot · turnout · absentee ballot · electoral roll · constituency · precinct
Rights limiting government power
- human rightsInalienable personal freedoms
- constitutional rightsLegally protected individual freedoms
- equal rightsIdentical legal protections
- political rightsEntitlements to participate civically
voting rights · civil rights · bill of rights · amendment · Fifteenth Amendment · right to vote · natural rights · inalienable rights
National legislative assembly
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
- republicState with elected leaders
- citizenshipStatus as state member
- governanceHow authority is exercised
sovereignty · representation · senate · democratization · electorate · legislative · political participation · self-governance
Voting rights advocate
- suffragetteMilitant women's voting advocate
- activismDirect effort for reform
- reformImprove by correcting faults
- advocacyPleading for a cause
protest · demonstration · petition · Seneca Falls · Susan B. Anthony · women's movement · abolitionism · civil rights movement
Philosophy of universal equality
- equityImpartial treatment or ownership value
- gender equalityEqual treatment regardless sex
- racial equalityEqual treatment regardless of ancestry
- equal treatmentUniform handling regardless of identity
ballot
Voting document
- electorateEligible voting body
- pollingSystematic opinion gathering
- referendumDirect vote on legislation
plebiscite · voter registration · polling station · secret ballot · turnout · absentee ballot · electoral roll · constituency · precinct · candidate
civil liberties
Rights limiting government power
- human rightsInalienable personal freedoms
- constitutional rightsLegally protected individual freedoms
- equal rightsIdentical legal protections
political rights · voting rights · civil rights · bill of rights · amendment · Fifteenth Amendment · right to vote · natural rights · inalienable rights · citizenship rights
parliament
National legislative assembly
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
- republicState with elected leaders
- citizenshipStatus as state member
governance · sovereignty · representation · senate · democratization · electorate · legislative · political participation · self-governance · majority rule
suffragist
Voting rights advocate
- suffragetteMilitant women's voting advocate
- activismDirect effort for reform
- reformImprove by correcting faults
advocacy · protest · demonstration · petition · Seneca Falls · Susan B. Anthony · women's movement · abolitionism · civil rights movement · campaigning
egalitarianism
Philosophy of universal equality
- equityImpartial treatment or ownership value
- gender equalityEqual treatment regardless sex
- racial equalityEqual treatment regardless of ancestry
equal treatment · non-discrimination · equal opportunity · inclusiveness
- democracyvote, voting, election, elections, ballot
- civil rightsequal protection, equal rights, Civil Rights Act, right to life, Voting Rights Act
- human rightshuman dignity, civil liberties, right to liberty, right to life, fundamental rights
- Belgian HistoryBelgium, independence movement, King Leopold, constitutional monarchy, national congress
- Caribbean historyJamaica, Haiti, Barbados, Cuba, Trinidad
- enlightenmentVoltaire, Rousseau, Locke, Kant, Montesquieu
universal suffragepoll taxes
Per-person voting levies
grandfather clauses · voter suppression · disenfranchisement · literacy tests · Jim Crow laws
universal suffrageautocracy
Rule by one
dictatorship · absolute monarchy · totalitarianism · authoritarianism · oligarchy
universal suffragedisenfranchisement
Removal of voting rights
aristocracy · oligarchy · plutocracy · autocracy · totalitarianism
universe, universal, franchise, voters, suffrage, universally, universality, enfranchise, enfranchisement