Belgian general election, 1848

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Belgian general election, 1848
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←  1847 13 June 1848 (1848-06-13) 1850  →
All 108 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
55 seats needed for a majority

 First partySecond party
  Charlesrogier.jpg No image.png
Leader Charles Rogier
Party Liberal Catholic
Leader sinceCandidate for PM
Seats before55 seats53 seats
Seats won8325
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 28Decrease2.svg 28
Popular vote30,80613,122
Percentage69.52%29.61%
Government before election

Rogier I
Liberal

Elected Government

Rogier I
Liberal

Kingdom of Belgium
State Coat of Arms of Belgium.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Belgium
Constitution
Foreign relations

Full general elections were held in Belgium on 13 June 1848. [1] They followed an equalisation of the tax qualifications for voters, which widened the franchise from 1.0% of the population to 1.8%. [2] Unlike the previous rules which had favoured Conservatives and Catholics (as the requirements were lower in the countryside), [2] this benefitted the Liberal Party and damaged the Catholics, who lost more than half their seats. [2] [3]

Belgium Federal constitutional monarchy in Western Europe

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

The Liberal Party was a Belgian political party that existed from 1846 until 1961, when it became the Party for Freedom and Progress, Partij voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang/Parti de la Liberté et du Progrès or PVV-PLP, under the leadership of Omer Vanaudenhove.

Contents

Background

The existing electoral law differentiated in tax requirements between cities and countryside; cities (where Liberals were stronger) had to pay higher taxes in order to vote, compared to the countryside (where Catholics were stronger).

The Liberal Party held its founding congress two years earlier, on 13 June 1846, where it approved a proposal to lower the tax requirements in order to expand suffrage. By 1848, in the context of the Revolutions of 1848, reform was unavoidable. On the proposal of Liberal head of government Charles Rogier, the Parliament approved the law of 12 March 1848, which equalised and lowered the tax requirements to its constitutional minimum.

Suffrage right to vote

Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections. In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vote is called active suffrage, as distinct from passive suffrage, which is the right to stand for election. The combination of active and passive suffrage is sometimes called full suffrage.

Revolutions of 1848 Series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848

The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, People's Spring, Springtime of the Peoples, or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in European history.

Charles Rogier Belgian journalist, statesman

Charles Latour Rogier was a Belgian liberal statesman and a leader in the Belgian Revolution of 1830. He became Prime Minister of Belgium on two separate occasions: from 1847 to 1852, and again from 1857 to 1868.

The new law benefited the Liberals, leading them to victory in these elections. The Liberals would retain their dominant position for the most part until 1884.

Campaign

One Chamber seat was uncontested, and won by the Liberal Party. [4]

Results

Chamber of Representatives

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Liberal Party 30,80659.583+28
Catholics13,12229.625–28
Others3830.900
Invalid/blank votes8,644−−−
Total52,9551001080
Registered voters/turnout79,07656.0−−
Sternberger et al., Mackie & Rose

The vote figures do not include the constituency of Oudenaarde. [4]

Arrondissement of Oudenaarde Arrondissement in Flemish Region, Belgium

The Arrondissement of Oudenaarde is one of the six administrative arrondissements in the Province of East Flanders, Belgium. It is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement. However, the Judicial Arrondissement of Oudenaarde also comprises the municipalities of Geraardsbergen, Herzele, Sint-Lievens-Houtem and Zottegem in the Arrondissement of Aalst.

Senate

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Liberal Party 31+11
Catholics22–10
Others1–1
Total540
Sternberger et al.

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References

  1. ↑ Codebook Constituency-level Elections Archive, 2003
  2. 1 2 3 Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (31 May 2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. pp. 271–271. ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7.
  3. ↑ Sternberger, D, Vogel, B & Nohlen, D (1969) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa - Erster Halbband, p105
  4. 1 2 Thomas T Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) The International Almanac of Electoral History, Macmillan, p46
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