Everything about University Constituency totally explained
A
university constituency is a
constituency, used in elections to a
legislature, that represents a
university rather than a geographical area. University constituencies may involve
plural voting, in which eligible voters are permitted to vote in both a university constituency and a geographical constituency, or alternatively they may only be entitled to vote in one.
University constituencies originated in
Scotland, where the representatives of the
ancient universities of Scotland sat in the
unicameral Estates of Parliament. When
James VI inherited the
English throne in 1603, the system was adopted by the
Parliament of England. The system was continued in the
Parliament of Great Britain (from 1707-1800) and the
United Kingdom Parliament, until 1950. It was also used in the
Parliament of Ireland, in the
Kingdom of Ireland, from
1613 to
1800, and in the
Irish Free State from
1922 to
1936.
University constituencies have also existed in
Japan and in some countries of the
British Empire such as
India. Today in the
Republic of Ireland there are two university constituencies in
Seanad Éireann, the Irish senate.
Summary
Scotland, England, Ireland, Great Britain, United Kingdom
King
James VI of Scotland, on ascending the
English throne, brought to the
English Parliament a practice which had been used in the
Scottish Parliament of allowing the universities to elect members. The King believed that the universities were often affected by the decisions of Parliament and ought therefore to have representation in it. After the
Union the
Scottish universities lost their representatives in the new
Parliament of Great Britain at
Westminster.
The
University of Cambridge and the
University of Oxford were therefore given two seats each from 1603. The voters were the graduates of the university, whether they were resident or not, who had the vote for their University in addition to any other vote that they might have. After the
Act of Union 1800 with
Ireland, the
University of Dublin (
Trinity College), which had elected two MPs to the
Parliament of Ireland since 1613, was allowed one member from
1801 and two from
1832.
The
University of London was enfranchised with one member in
1868, along with the four
ancient Scottish universities -
Glasgow and
Aberdeen electing one member, and
St. Andrews and
Edinburgh electing another. The list of universities represented in Parliament was further enlarged in
1918, including the
Queen's University of Belfast and the
National University of Ireland. These both, as well the University of Dublin, also received four seats in the devolved
Stormont Parliament and the
Southern Ireland Parliament respectively that were established in
1920 and elected in
1921. Also in 1918, the Scottish universities switched to all electing three members jointly (see
Combined Scottish Universities).
In 1918, all the other
English universities (for example except for Cambridge, Oxford and London) were enfranchised with two seats, as
Combined English Universities. They were
Birmingham,
Bristol,
Durham,
Leeds,
Liverpool,
Manchester,
Reading (from August 1928), and
Sheffield.
The
University of Wales also received one seat in 1918.
1918 also saw the introduction of the
Single Transferable Vote for university constituencies.
The
Labour government in
1930 attempted to abolish the university constituencies but was defeated in the
House of Commons. Although the members for the university Constituencies were usually
Conservatives, in the later years, Independent candidates began to win many of the seats. In
1948, the Labour government abolished the university constituencies, with effect from the dissolution of Parliament in
1950, along with all other examples of
plural voting.
The Members for the university constituencies include many notable statesmen:
William Pitt the Younger and
Lord Palmerston both served as MPs for Cambridge University, and
Robert Peel and
William Gladstone each served as MP for Oxford University for portions of their careers. In his last years
Ramsay MacDonald was MP for Combined Scottish Universities after losing his seat in the
1935 general election. Many criticised this as he'd previously sought to abolish the seats when Labour Prime Minister, and many now felt the seats were being used to provide a failed politician with a seat he couldn't find elsewhere.
The
Queen's University, Belfast survived in the Northern Ireland Parliament until it was abolished in
1968 (with effect from the dissolution of Parliament in
1969) by the
Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1968 (1968 c. 20, Act of the
Stormont Parliament). This was part of a series of measures by the then Northern Ireland Prime Minister
Terence O'Neill to reform elements of the election franchise and deal with many long-standing civil-rights grievances.
Irish Free State, Republic of Ireland
Today there are no university constituencies in the Republic's lower house of parliament,
Dáil Éireann, but two constituencies are used for elections to
Seanad Éireann, the weak
upper house. These are University of Dublin and the National University of Ireland. The two electorates consist of the graduates of each university. Each is a three seat constituency elected under the
Single Transferable Vote.
The
Parliament of Ireland that existed until
1801 included the university constituency of
Dublin University. This constituency continued to exist when, in 1801, the Irish parliament was abolished and Ireland became part of the United Kingdom. When the
Irish Free State seceded from the UK in 1922, its new lower house of parliament, the
Free State Dáil, continued the use of the two university constituencies already in existence, Dublin University, and the
National University of Ireland constituency, which had been established in
1918. However, under the
Electoral Act, 1923 voters registered in a university constituency were not permitted to also vote in a geographical one. Both university constituencies were ultimately abolished by the
Constitution (Amendment No. 23) Act, 1936 and the
Electoral (University Constituencies) Act adopted later in the same year, which took effect on the dissolution of the Dáil in 1937. Later the two constituencies were recreated as senatorial constituencies when the modern Seanad was established in
1937, under the
Constitution of Ireland. The first Seanad election under the constitution took place in 1938.
Since the 1970s there has been controversy in the Republic of Ireland about the university constituencies.
In 1979 the constitution was amended to permit the
Oireachtas to legislate on university constituencies. It was intended to enable graduates of all Irish tertiary education institutions to elect Seanad representatives (probably in a single six member university constituency, replacing the existing two three-member seats). No legislation has so far (as at April 2006) been passed to implement the amendment. See
Seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland for more details.
Some politicians have called for university representation to be abolished, on the ground that it's unacceptable that possession of a degree should confer greater electoral rights than those available to other voters. An example of this view can be found in the
Green Party submission on Seanad reform in 2004. The
Socialist Party also stand for the abolition of these constituencies.
(External Link
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Other countries
- India: India had university constituencies before independence, but these were abolished with the adoption of the modern Constitution of India. Nevertheless, today the President of India has the authority to appoint not more than twelve scientists, artists, or other persons who have special knowledge in similar fields, to the Rajya Sabha.
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