Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Theory of Colonial Electoral Institutions
- 3 Representation in Settler Colonies through 1850
- 4 Imperial Expansion and Restrictive Elections: 1850–1945
- 5 Mass Franchise Expansion after 1945
- 6 Postcolonial Persistence
- 7 Conclusion
- Appendix: Data and Regression Analysis
- References
- Index
2 - A Theory of Colonial Electoral Institutions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 May 2024
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Theory of Colonial Electoral Institutions
- 3 Representation in Settler Colonies through 1850
- 4 Imperial Expansion and Restrictive Elections: 1850–1945
- 5 Mass Franchise Expansion after 1945
- 6 Postcolonial Persistence
- 7 Conclusion
- Appendix: Data and Regression Analysis
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter develops a theoretical framework centered on three actors: metropolitan officials, white settlers, and non-Europeans. Colonists could pressure the colonial state through lobbying/agitation, nonparticipation, and revolt; and metropolitan officials could respond by offering electoral concessions. What mattered? (1) Metropoles with pluralistic institutions should be more responsive to demands for electoral representation. (2) Sizable white settlements should trigger early electoral institutions (prodemocratic effect), but resistance by smaller settler minorities to franchise expansion could undermine the democratic foundations created by early elections (antidemocratic effect). (3) Where local elites were weak, non-Europeans should not gain early elections. Instead, they would move rapidly to mass-franchise elections with high autonomy after World War II, when the threat of revolt spiked. In cases with a large non-white middle class, we expect early elections with small franchises and low autonomy, which should broaden peacefully over time. Finally, cases with a national monarch should correspond with high autonomy but without meaningful electoral bodies.
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- Colonial Origins of Democracy and Dictatorship , pp. 25 - 49Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024