Suffrage

Suffrage, right or privilege of voting to elect public officials and to adopt or reject legislation. Suffrage is a political institution dating from ancient times. In the city-states of Greece, all freemen (who constituted a minority of the population) were expected to take part in the government of their city. In Rome the common citizens, called plebeians, were granted the right to elect tribunes to intercede for them when they felt that they had been unjustly treated by the government.

The idea that the people under a government should have a voice in selecting its leaders did not gain substantial support until the 17th and 18th centuries when philosophers of the Enlightenment argued that self-government is a natural right of every person and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. This idea has influenced the modern view of suffrage but has not entirely superseded the competing view that suffrage is a political privilege that is granted by law and properly is subject to qualifications. Although the trend of modern governments has been to liberalize the qualifications for suffrage, many still apply some restrictions besides the obvious standards of citizenship and an age limit, which usually ranges between 18 and 21 years. In a few countries women do not vote. Literacy is often a qualification, and in many countries people convicted of a serious crime are deprived of voting rights.