Development of the People Power in England

Throughout the culture and civilization class, we have seen that English people have not had many things to say regarding their country which is shocking if we consider that England is a developed country. Every single issue England has had to face had not been discussed by English people. Therefore, English people have not had power until the Victorian age when more and more laws and acts were passed to give rights to the people. Voting and having opinions is extremely relevant if we want to build a country where people are happy and well. Voting in our country, although the citizens have been given the right to vote a long time ago, is not well executed. People vote mainly for the candidate with more charisma without caring if his/her politics and promises address their problems. This is the consciousness I would like to change in our society. The development of the people power in England and how to create awareness in our students concerning voting will be discussed in this paper.

First of all, almost all the time in England there have been monarchies which were and are not chosen by the people. Therefore, Kings and Queens had two choices: being loved or feared. Whenever a King or Queen was not able to enchant people, reigning became really hard. Second of all, along the Royalty, there were Members of Parliament. These members were not chosen by the people either; they paid for their membership, However, many advisors were selected by their skills and capacity; they were selected by the King or Queen. Yet, Members of Parliament were only called when the King or Queen pleased. Thus, although they paid, they did not have much opinion concerning different issues in the country such as justice, war, religion, allies, welfare and economy. For instance, when King Henry VII raised money from everybody, people had no opportunity to say their opinions; neither did the Members of Parliament. Finally, we have common people that had no rights of expressing their opinion or ideas. This lack of “democracy” was so strong that if somebody disagreed with the King or Queen he/she would go to the scaffold. In short, we have a monarchy which was not chosen by the people, Members of Parliament who paid for the membership and advisors who were chosen by the King. People just obeyed as subjects of the Crown.

As seen above, one reason why people did not have the power to make decisions about the country they were living in is lack of money. In those times, if you had money, you could decide the future of your land; although, not always, if you did not, poor you! Another reason is lack of communication between cities. If the King or Queen lived in London and you lived in Lancaster news arrived months later. Therefore, people could not complain about certain issues that were directly affecting them.

Nowadays, three parts form the Parliament of England: the House of Lords, the House of Commons and the Queen. People do have more rights because they have the power of electing different members of parliament of the House of Commons. These elections are made every five years and people can express their opinions and decide which candidate is better and which candidate would help them the most.

Relating this to education, it is of extremely relevance to create and help create awareness in our students about the importance of elections and having the right to vote. Voting is not only marking a paper without considering what is best for our country. Voting is deciding about your future. Many times, adults vote without even knowing what they are doing. Fortunately, this is something we can change being teachers.

Although England is a developed country, people’s rights were given after many years of lack of democracy. Different reasons such as money and communication make people do not really act as individuals that had something to say. Nowadays, English people do have more rights regarding important decisions about the country. I feel a strong commitment to our society; therefore, it is really important to help our students care about how we are building it. I will definitely teach our students about their rights, and making comparisons between other countries will help me do it. We do have to “speak our minds” and make decisions for our future.