I have always liked the Chartrists.
The People's Charter called for six reforms to make the political system more democratic:
-A vote for every man twenty-one years of age, of sound mind, and not undergoing punishment for a crime.
-The secret ballot to protect the elector in the exercise of his vote.
No property qualification for Members of Parliament in order to allow the constituencies to return the man of their choice.
-Payment of Members, enabling tradesmen, working men, or other persons of modest means to leave or interrupt their livelihood to attend to the interests of the nation.
-Equal constituencies, securing the same amount of representation for the same number of electors, instead of allowing less populous constituencies to have as much or more weight than larger ones.
-Annual Parliamentary elections, thus presenting the most effectual check to bribery and intimidation, since no purse could buy a constituency under a system of universal manhood suffrage in each twelve-month period.
The United States still does not have equal constituencies --- the very word "gerrymandering" takes its origin from the Massachusetts political slicker, Elbridge Gerry (a type woefully common in US history), who invented this US version of "rotten boroughs".
People have told me that Australia has improved. For instance, they say that outback roads are no longer lined by shoals of "tinnies" (is that the right word for "beer cans"?). It seems that all that was needed was a refund on returned containers. (An example of benign regulation which American "anti-regulation" cultists should take to heart)
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