Category: Politics & Parliaments

            The parliament or the Central Legislature of India consists of the President and the two Houses: The Rajya Sabha (the Upper House) and The Lok Sabha (the Lower House).             The President is an integral part of our parliamentary democracy, but it is still…

 The Labour Party grew out of the trade union movement and socialist political parties of the 19th century before the First World War. Although after 1825, workers were allowed to form associations, they could not strike for their cause, and unions were not protected by law. However, after 1850, with the entry of mass production…

The members of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) founded by Mrs. Pankhurst in 1904 were called Suffragettes. This was formed to fight for women’s right to vote and for equal status with men. The suffragettes at first, tried peaceful means, through speeches, pamphlets and demonstrations. Upon getting no attention from the parliament, they…

 The Lords always posed difficulties, whenever the Liberals tried to pass a bill to reform legislation. It got so bad that, at one point, the government decided to put an end to this. The Parliament Bill was thus a weapon to limit the powers of the Lords, especially in matters pertaining to finance and its…

Between 1832 and 1918, the British electoral system was transformed. Each electoral reform, by itself, may not seem very dramatic, but taken together, the series of reforms passed during the period was surely revolutionary. One reform led to another. After the First and Second Reform Acts, an act was passed in 1883 to limit the…

The 1867 Reform Act was the second major attempt to reform Britain’s electoral process. By this time, party names had changed. The Tories were now called the Conservative Party, and the Whigs changed their name to the Liberal Party. It was the Conservatives under Benjamin Disraeli who promoted the Second Reform Act, believing that it…

The First Reform Act of 1832 was one of the most important changes in the history of British politics. It was necessary because the electoral system had remained virtually unchanged since the late 1680’s, while the country’s economy, class system, and political methods had changed immeasurably in that time. The Industrial Revolution had created a…

 Till 1778, the common man did not know much about what happened inside parliament. However, that changed when journalists were allowed into the House of Commons in 1778. From 1783, newspapers began to print reports of the debates in parliament. This was a very important development, as Englishmen could now know what exactly their lawmakers…

George III ascended the throne in 1760, upon the sudden death of his grandfather, Georg II. He was a member of the House of Hanover, a noble German family that succeeded to the British throne in 1714. George wanted to play an active role in the government- and he wanted to get rid of the…

      In England, the king always had a small body of advisors or a council to help him to carry out his duties. This was known as the Privy Council. During the reign of Queen Anne, a new council emerged. It consisted of a group of men each of whom was entrusted with…