4 ms·

This made me wonder if the progressive breadth of enfranchisement over the last 200 years or so is related to increases in literacy. Essentially, nobody with p

This made me wonder if the progressive breadth of enfranchisement over the last 200 years or so is related to increases in literacy. Essentially, nobody with power trusted the mob with a vote until they could write convincingly. Apply that to each minority as they gained the right.

dredmorbius 4y ago
There's probably some relationship there, yes. The history of the Long 19th Century (1789--1914) strongly suggests this, and it's a theme I'd noted in other histories of the period, e.g., John R. Gillis, The Development of European Society, 1770-1870. Notably chapter 10, "Europe's Cultural Revolution", concerning literacy, freedom of the press, schooling, changing roles of intellectuals, and so on. I've noted in earlier HN comments that the 19th century saw a tremendous increase in the productivity of the press and a corresponding fall in the cost of printed materials. Hand-operated wooden "wine press" printing might reach 120 impressions or so per hour. An electrically-powered rotary web offset-lithographic press could reach 1 million impressions per hour --- that's a four-order-of-magnitude increase. See: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21679745 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21679745> If you look at the history of Britain, there's a near-continuous devolution of power to an ever-growing and expansive set of the population. Initially singular monarchs, then a nobility (Magna Carta), then a growing bourgeois class (~15th -- 18th centuries or so), then the working class (19th century) and women, arguably jews (Disraeli). In the past fifty years, a growing, if not monotonic, inclusion of former colonial subjects and people, to the point that London's mayor and in fact some nobility are no longer exclusively white. There are multiple factors at play, though literacy all but certainly plays some role.

dredmorbius 4y ago

There's probably some relationship there, yes. The history of the Long 19th Century (1789--1914) strongly suggests this, and it's a theme I'd noted in other histories of the period, e.g., John R. Gillis, The Development of European Society, 1770-1870. Notably chapter 10, "Europe's Cultural Revolution", concerning literacy, freedom of the press, schooling, changing roles of intellectuals, and so on. I've noted in earlier HN comments that the 19th century saw a tremendous increase in the productivity of the press and a corresponding fall in the cost of printed materials. Hand-operated wooden "wine press" printing might reach 120 impressions or so per hour. An electrically-powered rotary web offset-lithographic press could reach 1 million impressions per hour --- that's a four-order-of-magnitude increase. See: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21679745 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21679745> If you look at the history of Britain, there's a near-continuous devolution of power to an ever-growing and expansive set of the population. Initially singular monarchs, then a nobility (Magna Carta), then a growing bourgeois class (~15th -- 18th centuries or so), then the working class (19th century) and women, arguably jews (Disraeli). In the past fifty years, a growing, if not monotonic, inclusion of former colonial subjects and people, to the point that London's mayor and in fact some nobility are no longer exclusively white. There are multiple factors at play, though literacy all but certainly plays some role.