Forging the Franchise: The Political Origins of the Women's Vote

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Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 06 October 2020
Publisher: Princeton University Press

The significant political motivations that led to women's eventual attainment of the right to vote are explored in the following text, which has been expanded by 130% to 150%:

In the 1880s, women were prohibited from voting in all national-level elections, but by 1920, they were casting their ballots in nearly thirty countries. What sparked this enormous shift? Why did male politicians agree to extend voting rights to women? Contrary to popular belief, it was not because of progressive ideas about women or suffragists' efforts. In most countries, elected politicians fiercely resisted enfranchising women, preferring to extend such rights only when it seemed electorally prudent and, in fact, necessary to do so.

Through a meticulous examination of the tumultuous path to women's political inclusion in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, Forging the Franchise reveals that the formation of a broad movement across social divides and strategic alliances with political parties in competitive electoral conditions provided the leverage that ultimately transformed women into voters.

As Dawn Teele demonstrates, in competitive environments, politicians had incentives to seek out new sources of electoral influence. A broad-based suffrage movement could reinforce those incentives by providing information about women's preferences and an infrastructure with which to mobilize future female voters. At the same time, politicians wanted to enfranchise women who were likely to support their party, while suffragists also wanted to enfranchise women whose political preferences were similar to theirs. In contexts where political rifts were too deep, suffragists who were in favor of the vote in principle mobilized against their own political emancipation.

Exploring tensions between elected leaders and suffragists and the uncertainty surrounding women as an electoral group, Forging the Franchise sheds light on the complex dynamics that shaped women's political participation and the ongoing struggle for gender equality.

Weight: 382g
Dimension: 156 x 234 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691211763