Suffrage and Rights GapFill

Suffrage means the right to vote. This is also sometimes referred to as the franchise. When everyone in a society has the right to vote, it is known as  full turnouttotal suffrageextended franchiseuniversal suffrage. Although this term is often used to describe our modern society, there are still groups that cannot vote today. The most prominent of these groups are  under-18sunder-21sunder-16sbabies and  soldierspoliticiansprisonersjudges. However, suffrage has been widely extended in a gradual process over the past 150 years. The groups most prominently associated with expanding the franchise are the suffragists and suffragettes, who campaigned extensively in the early twentieth century to secure equal voting rights for   womenthe working classesunder-21sunder-30s.

Alongside the development of suffrage, an extensive culture of rights has also developed in the UK. This culture of rights can be traced back to documents such as the  Freedom of Information ActMagna CartaBill of RightsEquality Act, 1215, which for the first time codified the right to   votingprotesta free trialconstitutional monarchy, and the  Freedom of Information ActEquality ActMagna CartaBill of Rights, 1689, in which the principle of   votingprotestconstitutional monarchya free trial was established. Since 1997, a series of significant Acts of Parliament have deepened the UK's culture of rights. In 1998 the   Freedom of Information ActEquality ActHuman Rights ActEuropean Convention on Human Rights was passed, making it possible for British citizens to have human rights cases heard in UK courts. In 2000 the  European Convention on Human RightsFreedom of Information ActHuman Rights ActEquality Act provided a right of access to documents produced by public bodies, and in 2010 the   Freedom of Information ActHuman Rights ActEquality ActEuropean Convention on Human Rights enshrined into law greater protections against discrimination in the workplace.

Human rights are different from civil liberties because they are considered  universalEuropeancontroversialregional, whereas civil liberties are rights and protections that are legally enforced by the nation state. This can lead to constitutional tension when human rights are deemed to contradict other laws passed by nation states, such as those regarding  housingnational securitydemocracybusiness. As a result, the Conservative Party has frequently discussed introducing a British Bill of Rights to replace existing human rights legislation.