Replication Data for: The Political Economy of Suffrage Reform: The Great Reform Act of 1832

We argue that the Great Reform Act’s suffrage provisions were part of a broader effort to constrain the executive, thereby enabling an expansion in the state’s repressive capacity. When they came to power, the Whigs first increased parliament’s power over the purse; and then bolstered its independence from the monarch and allied patronal peers by reforming parliamentary elections. These reforms to constrain the executive were followed almost immediately by substantial investments in the state’s policing capacity. Professional police forces had been stoutly opposed by the gentry since the Glorious Revolution on the grounds that they would unreasonably increase royal power. Once budgets and elections had been reformed at all levels of governance (national, municipal and county), taxpayers could be confident that their elected representatives would control the finances, and hence the behavior, of the new forces.

本文认为，《1832年议会改革法案》（Great Reform Act）中的选举权条款，乃是一场旨在制约行政权的系统性改革的组成部分，此举实则推动了国家镇压能力的扩张。辉格党（Whigs）上台后，首先强化了议会的财政掌控权；随后通过议会选举改革，增强议会独立于君主与结盟庇护贵族的地位。此番制约行政权的改革甫一完成，国家便随即大幅投入以强化警务能力。自光荣革命（Glorious Revolution）以来，职业警察部队始终遭到乡绅阶层的坚决反对，他们认为此举会无端扩大王权。当全国、市政及郡级各级治理层级的预算与选举制度均完成改革后，纳税人便可确信，民选代表将掌控新警务力量的财政乃至行为。