When was the concept of electoral districts / constituencies with their own borders (as opposed to pre-existing towns/counties) invented?
Upvote:3
With the Ordinance for all cities of the Prussian monarchy (Ordnung für sämtliche Städte der Preußischen Monarchie) of 1808-11-19, the first common organisation of city administrations were made.
Depending on the size of the city, based on population (§10), without military, the number of electoral districts (Bezirke) each city would have (§70) and the minimal/maximal amount of persons (§11),independent as to whether they were allowed to vote or not, lived within each electoral district.
For:
- small cities (up to 3500 persons): 24-36 districts
- 400-1000 persons per district
- middle sized cities (up to 10000 persons): 36-60 districts
- 400-1000 persons per district
- large sized cities (10000 or more persons): 60-102 districts
- 1000-1500 persons per district
Each district should have a number and a name which should be based on the name of the main street, square or a well known place to distinguish it from other districts.
Each district sent one representative, who was directly elected (until 1862 when the three-class electoral system was introduced for cities) for a period of 3 years. Each year, one third of the representatives were replaced.
Berlin, which in 1808 had a population of 148500, required the maximun amount allowed: 102. On 1809-03-28 the first election took place as well as replacement elections in 1810 and 1811.
Since the city had to maintain these districts, adapting them when required due to population fluctuations, they were also used as administrative districts (Stadtbezirke). In 1811, the first map was published showing these boundries:
- below the number 51, is where Checkpoint Charlie was later situated.
Sources:
- 'Ordnung für sämmtliche Städte der Preußischen Monarchie'| MDZ
- download als PDF (images only, not searchable)
- Datei:Selter Grundriss von Berlin 1811.jpg – Wikipedia
- 1:5800
Upvote:5
A2
The concept of local representation is probably as old as democracy itself. In Athenian democracy, it seems to have developed out of, and maybe a bit in contrast to, tribal (phyle) representation. Each phyle sent its own representatives to the council (boule). This was a form of decentralization based on persons belonging to relevant groups, not living in a certain area. Another basic idea at the root of distributed representation was the concept of isonomia, the equality of each citizen before the law.
The reform of Cleisthenes in 508 BC introduced a quite sophisticated regional element. Attica was divided into three regions, representing city, interior and costal areas. Each of those was divided into ten smaller regions (trittys). The 139 communities (demes) were distributed to the trittys according to neighbourhood.
The next step was a bit suprising from a modern viewpoint: one trittys from each larger region was combined, forming a total of ten artificial phyles, with each of these phyles sending 50 representatives to the Athenian boule, also known as Council of 500. The reasoning behind this is not that important in the context of the question, but what is important is that it seems there was a fixed number of representatives from each demos. While the numbers do not strictly represent the size of the local community, the idea was a representation proportional to the number of hoplites each of them could provide to the polis.
The German Wikipedia article tries to give a complete list of the demes with the number of representatives, citing the following sources:
- S. Traill: Demos and Trittys: Epigraphical and Topographical Studies in the Organization of Attica. Athenians, Toronto 1986
- Kurt Raaflaub: Einleitung und Bilanz: Kleisthenes, Ephialtes und die Begründung der Demokratie. (1992); in Kinzl (Hrsg.) Demokratia. Der Weg zur Demokratie bei den Griechen. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1995. Raaflaub also published a related work in English, together with Ian Morris: Democracy 2500? Questions and Challenges. Dubuque, Iowa 1998
Another article says that each of the ten phyles was made up of approx. 3500 citizens, but there is no source given for the number.
More post
- 📝 Was the pigment minium (lead oxide) named after the river Minus in Iberia?
- 📝 What happened first? The law that authorized the Cuban government to nationalize US firms or Eisenhower's Cuban sugar quota?
- 📝 Is Josephus' account for the length of the Jewish War generally accepted as correct?
- 📝 What Was the Political Condition of the Region that Encompasses the Modern Russian State in the time of the Roman empire?
- 📝 What wars were there which were contemporaneous with but unconnected to ww2?
- 📝 Why were countries which were clearly aligned to one of the two power blocs during cold war a part of the non-aligned movement?
- 📝 Why did Khadafi chose to support Idi Amin?
- 📝 How has Chinese GDP as a percentage of world GDP changed over time and why?
- 📝 How much protection did Fort Warren afford Boston?
- 📝 What regiment is this (~1826-1861) French cuirass cavalry uniform?
- 📝 "More Frenchmen bore arms for the Axis than for the Allies during the Second World War"?
- 📝 Is today's Old City of Jerusalem the Jerusalem of the Crusades' period?
- 📝 What is the oldest graphic depiction of Attila?
- 📝 Were there established "denominations" for coins of different metals in ancient times?
- 📝 Did Japan ever pay Russia war reparations after WW2? Why or why not?
- 📝 How was planning done before computers?
- 📝 Why did the July Monarchy dispense with Montgaillard's services?
- 📝 Did Averroes really try to bury light in an attempt to create gold, or was that invented by Victor Hugo?
- 📝 Why did Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia remain loyal to France during and after World War II?
- 📝 How did the ancestors of proto-Malagasy in South Borneo reach Madagascar?
- 📝 When and by whom was the Tirupati Tirumala temple in India built?
- 📝 Was there any empire that was destroyed while still expanding?
- 📝 The US founding fathers and Canada
- 📝 Do most historians consider the enlightenment belief about human reason a precondition for democracy to emerge?
- 📝 Origin of French electoral tie-breaking mechanism (oldest candidate wins)
- 📝 What is the exact date and year when the first car got invented?
- 📝 What group is identified by the term "Egyptians" in the Flushing Remonstrance?
- 📝 Could the Soviet Union have supported Czechoslovakia primarily by air in 1938?
- 📝 How did Muslim traders raise investments given Islam's prohibition of usury?
- 📝 Could h*m* erectus have migrated to North America?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 When was the concept of electoral districts / constituencies with their own borders (as opposed to pre-existing towns/counties) invented?
- 📝 When was the concept of "weekly day off" first introduced in Indian Subcontinent?
- 📝 When was the concept of the "border wall" between the United States and Mexico first proposed?
- 📝 When was the earliest recorded battle with the usage of gunpowder as an offensive weapon?
- 📝 Was Marc Antony with Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon?
- 📝 When did the US colonies/states stop making their own currencies?
- 📝 What was the first instance of native Americans using gunpowder weapons in battle and did they ever make their own powder?
- 📝 Why didn't the English overrun France when the king was their captive?
- 📝 When was the concept of "art criticism" first seen?
- 📝 When the king was away, did their queens sign Acts of Parliament on their behalf?
- 📝 How many men were lost on the USAT Arcata and was she loaded with troops when she was hit?
- 📝 When was the concept of Europe as a singular political unit conceived?
- 📝 When was the term "Dravida" first used and what is the context with which it was presented?
- 📝 What incentives were there for Soviet and Chinese politicians to try climb to the top when there was so much history of deposing their own?
- 📝 When was the ligature (æ) removed from daemon and replaced with "ae"?
- 📝 Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
- 📝 Did Adolf Hitler ever address the fact that his own appearance was almost an exact opposite of what he considered the ideal Aryan appearance?
- 📝 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 📝 Did it take 3 minutes to reload a musket when the second amendment to the US constitution was ratified?
- 📝 Where did Hitler get the funds to invest in economic development programs such as the autobahn when the German economy was in a depression?
- 📝 Was there ever a treaty between 2 entities with significantly different translations to the detriment of one party?
- 📝 How did the ancient Romans count with their fingers?
- 📝 How and when was the modern company ownership structure invented?
- 📝 When the Portuguese began the exploration of the West African Coast, did they believe the Indian Ocean was an enclosed sea?
- 📝 When was the last time a reigning monarch personally participated in battle?
- 📝 Was the Dutch State independent when the Dutch East India Company was founded?
- 📝 How likely is it that any non-Celtic language was spoken in the British Isles when the Romans invaded?
- 📝 When and why was the samurai class abolished?
- 📝 What / When was the first use of concentration camps in history?
- 📝 How were diplomats and their staffs treated when World War II was declared?