Question

What changes have been made in the right to vote that have made the process more democratic?

Answer 1

Nothing. This question is badly posed A system becomes more democratic when the votes of the people -- whover can vote -- are more directly tied to specific policy decisions by the government. For example, the government of California became more democratic in the early 1900s because of the introduction of the initiative and recall. The initiative is a process where, if enough voter signatures are gathered, a proposed law or constitutional amendment is placed on a the ballot and, if ratified in an election, becomes law WITHOUT passing through the Legislature or Governor. It's direct rule by the people. The text of the law is written and approved by the people directly. That's mroe democratic than the usual process, where the people elect legislators, and these legislators then write the text of new laws, and approve them or don't, and the remedy of the people for laws they don't like is only to defeat the legislators at the next election.

The degree of democracy is how directly the people rule. Do they vote for representatives, who the make law in their name? Or do they vote for the law directly? The most democratic possible government is a small New England town meeting, where the citizens just gather every now and then and directly decide what will happen, what the city rules are, and even how they'll be enforced.

What the person who wrote this question might have meant to say is what changes have been made to the right to vote that have made the base of American democratic government broader -- that is, have involved more people in the process. That doesn't change how democratic the process is, any more than changing the number of people at a party changes whether it's a slumber party or a Superbowl party.

The most important such changes are several amendments to the US Constitution:

* The 15th, ratified in 1870, prohibits denying the vote on account of race or previously having been a slave.

* The 19th, ratified in 1920, prohibits denying the vote on account of sex.

* The 23rd, ratified in 1961, allows residents of the District of Columbia, who are not citizens of any state, to vote in the Presidential election.

* The 24th, ratified in 1964, prohibits denying the vote to people who can't or won't pay a poll tax.

* The 26th, ratified in 1971, prohibits denying the vote on account of age over 18.

Each of these extended the number of people eligible to vote, and therefore the number that could participate in the democratic institutions of the United States.

By the way, there is also an amendment that *did" make American governance more democratic: the 17th, ratified in 1913, which said Senators must be elected directly by the people. Prior to this, how a state chose its Senators was up to the state legislature, and many state legislatures simply appointed their Senators directly. Having the Senators directly elected by the people, instead of having the people vote for state legislators who then pick the Senators, makes that part of the federal government more democratic -- close to direct rule by the people.

Answer 2

Thank you so much .