Political corruption and electoral fraud: A comparative analysis of Spain and the United Kingdom through the legal texts of 1878 and 1883

  • María Antonia Peña Guerrero Universidad de Huelva
Keywords: Political corruption, electoral crime, electoral legislation, vote

Abstract

This research deals with the comparative study of electoral corruption in Spain and the United Kingdom during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, with special emphasis on its cultural aspects. For this purpose, two legal texts enacted in both countries against electoral crime are used as the main source: the Spanish electoral law of 1878 and the British Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act of 1883. The analysis of the different types of electoral crime to be sanctioned and the typology of the penalties applied makes it possible to determine which were the most common procedures to manipulate the vote and what seriousness was attributed to them from a political and social point of view. Similarly, the bibliography and newspaper sources allow us to reconstruct what effects these laws had on the eradication of corrupt practices and at what pace this occurred in both countries. The data obtained allow us to question some clichés frequently formulated in relation to the supposed purity of the British political system and the systemic nature of corruption in Spain. Finally, this reflection helps us to understand the phenomenon of electoral corruption at the end of the 19th century through the definition of the thresholds of tolerance of each society and its inclusion or not in the intellectual discourse on national prosperity or decadence.

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Published
2023-06-20
How to Cite
Peña Guerrero M. A. . (2023). Political corruption and electoral fraud: A comparative analysis of Spain and the United Kingdom through the legal texts of 1878 and 1883. Historia y Política, 49, 249-278. https://doi.org/10.18042/hp.49.09