Question

Universal adult franchise

Answer 1

Every adult citizen of a country has the right to vote. This is known as universal adult franchise. The voting rights are given to every person irrespective of their caste, creed, race, religion, gender and income.This is the essence of a democracy because it ensures equality. Universal adult franchise gives people the right to choose their own representatives and thereby, participate in the government. Initially, voting rights were denied to women and people who did not have property or wealth. With the passage of time and as the struggle for achieving voting rights progressed, these biases were removed. In India, this right was granted in the year 1950 with the adoption of the Indian Constitution. This went a long way towards bringing to power a government that had the mandate of all sections of society, particularly the disadvantaged groups.