Workers of the world, unite! Franchise extensions and the threat of revolution in Europe, 1820-1938

Toke Aidt and Peter Jensen

No 7/2010, Discussion Papers on Economics from University of Southern Denmark, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper tests the hypothesis that the extension of the voting franchise was caused by the threat of revolution, as suggested by Acemoglu and Robinson (2000). We approximate the threat of revolution in a given country by revolutionary events happening in neighboring countries. We investigate the relationship between this new measure of the threat of revolution and measures of suffrage reform in two samples of European countries covering the period from 1820 to 1938. We find strong support for the ‘threat of revolution theory’. We also find some evidence that war triggered suffrage reform, whereas ‘modernization theory’ receives little support.

Keywords: The extension of the voting franchise; democracy; threat of revolution; suffrage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D70 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 pages
Date: 2010-10-18
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Workers of the world, unite! Franchise extensions and the threat of revolution in Europe, 1820–1938 (2014)
Working Paper: Workers of the World, Unite! Franchise Extensions and the Threat of Revolution in Europe, 1820-1938 (2011)
Working Paper: Workers of the World, Unite! Franchise Extensions and the Threat of Revolution in Europe, 1820-1938 (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:sdueko:2010_007

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