Franchise
The franchise is another name for the eligibility to vote. Conditions attached
to such ability have varied both over time and within countries. In the United
Kingdom the franchise was gradually extended during the 19th century until
in 1918 all men could vote, regardless of whether or not they were property
holders. In 1918 also, some women obtained the vote and all women were
allowed to vote by 1928. The age of voting has generally been reduced in
Western democracies so that it is now 18 years in both the United Kingdom
and the USA; only Switzerland and Liechtenstein for long held out against
extending the franchise to women (until 1971 and 1984 respectively).
Some countries place severe residence, nationality and citizenship restric-
tions on the franchise. In the UK people deemed to be represented directly
elsewhere may not be allowed to vote; peers, for example, cannot vote in
elections for representatives to the House of Commons—they can, however,
vote in elections to the European Parliament. Criminals serving sentences of
more than a year and inmates of mental institutions are disbarred from voting in
the UK.
Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde (1892–1975) was a Spanish army officer, the
youngest general in Europe, when he joined a group of officers in rebellion
against the short-lived Second Republic in 1936. During the course of the
ensuing Spanish Civil War (1936–39) he rose to pre-eminence among the
senior officers of the nationalist army, and was made head both of the army and
of the provisional government. His success in these roles, and also his ability to
unify the disparate elements, made him the supreme power in Spain once the
nationalists had won the Civil War. He ruled Spain as an absolute dictator, as
head of state, as prime minister (until 1973), as head of the only legal political
party and as supreme commander of the armed forces until his death.
Although he took increasingly less interest in most detailed policies, his
ruthless use of well-picked subordinates and his skilful control of mass support
allowed him to remain virtually unchallenged, and ensured that his ideology
prevailed. He was more or less committed to acorporatismin the style of
Mussolini, though much closer both to the Roman Catholic Church and the
military which became major supporting institutions to his rule asCaudillo.
Over the nearly 40 years of his rule he changed somewhat both the actual
policies and the justifying ideology of his system, allowing Spain slowly to
modernize economically and, to a lesser extent, to liberalize socially. There was
never a clear theory or ideology, never a substantive ‘Francoism’, but always a
firm adherence to a conservative, religious, anti-communist and authoritarian
orientation, with the ultimate appeal being to a glorious Spanish past sanctified
Franco