32. Should the national debt be paid? (See Bullock, Selected Articles on Public Finance, chapter xxiv.)
B. MAKING GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVE
CHAPTER XXXIII
WHO SHALL SHARE IN GOVERNMENT?
408. DISTINCTION BETWEEN CITIZENSHIP AND THE SUFFRAGE.—Citizenship implies membership in a nation. A citizen owes allegiance to his government, and in return is entitled to the fundamental advantages of organized government, such as the protection of life, liberty and property at home and abroad. Suffrage, on the other hand, is the privilege of sharing in government by the exercise of the vote. Most voters are also citizens, but less than a third of the citizens of the United States are voters. Citizenship is determined by the Federal authorities, the Constitution declaring that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens thereof. The suffrage is a privilege which is controlled by the individual states, subject to certain regulations imposed by the Federal government.
409. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SUFFRAGE.—In a representative democracy such as the United States, the question of the suffrage is of fundamental importance. Public officials are agents which have been chosen to administer the affairs of government. Every public official in the United States is either chosen directly by the people, or is chosen by agents who themselves have been selected at the polls. The right to vote is thus the right to share in the control of government. And not only are voters making rules and regulations for their own government, but they are governing those citizens to whom the suffrage has not been extended. It is because of this double responsibility resting upon the American voter that a fundamental problem of effective government is concerned with the suffrage.
410. SUFFRAGE IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.—In colonial times the American suffrage was narrowly restricted. Though the theory that all men were free and equal was known in political circles, the actual conduct of government was largely in the hands of the propertied classes. With a few exceptions, no Negro was allowed to vote. As a general rule, women were also debarred from the suffrage. Even white adults were denied the exercise of the suffrage unless they could meet certain property and religious qualifications.
The Declaration of Independence laid emphasis upon the principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Nevertheless this principle was not held to apply to the internal politics of the American states, and so there was at this time no widespread feeling that all adults had an equal right to share in government. In an important sense, the American Revolution was fought to maintain the principle that England could not govern the colonies without their consent. But here again it should be noted that none of the states that won independence interpreted that principle to mean that all of their free adult citizens had a right to govern themselves through the vote. Colonial standards of suffrage were largely carried over into our earlier national history, and in 1789 probably less than five per cent of the American people were voters. Interpreted in terms of the suffrage, American democracy was still very narrowly restricted.
411. SUFFRAGE AS A NATURAL RIGHT.—According to the doctrine of natural rights, all men are born free and equal, and are entitled to certain fundamental rights of which they may not be deprived. Many of the colonists were familiar with this theory, but not until after 1800 did it constitute an important basis for maintaining that all adult white males were entitled to the suffrage. After the opening of the nineteenth century, however, it was more common for propertyless men to maintain that just as they had a natural right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, so they had a natural right to the suffrage. The principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed was by many interpreted to mean that men possessing property had no right to govern men who could not meet the property qualifications accompanying the suffrage. The cry of "No taxation without representation," was also raised in the interests of white adult males who paid taxes, but who were not allowed to vote.
412. EXTENSION OF THE SUFFRAGE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.—During the first three quarters of the nineteenth century, the suffrage widened steadily. Religious qualifications practically disappeared before 1850. After a long drawn out struggle most of the eastern states practically eliminated the property qualification from their suffrage laws. This change was due, in large part, to the influence of the doctrine of natural rights. There were additional factors, of course. In many places along the Atlantic seaboard, for example, the extension of the suffrage was somewhat in response to the influence of the doctrine of natural rights, but it was also partly due to the economic pressure exerted by the increasing number of landless laborers who were crowding into the manufacturing cities and towns.