The Rotten Boroughs of EnglandRotten boroughs were representative districts of the British Parliamen

The Rotten Boroughs of EnglandRotten boroughs were representative districts of the British Parliament that had decreased in size to the point that a single person could often maintain control over it through bribery or force.  Today most countries have some sort of redistricting system.  When a state or province decreases in population it loses representatives, if it increases in population then it gains representatives.  This system ensures that representation fairly reflects a regions changing population.In England and the United Kingdom, before 1832, there was no such system.  Many boroughs, established as large towns or cities during the Middle Ages, were small hamlets by the 18th and 19th century, but they still received the same representation.  Often, many of these rotten boroughs were so small that a wealthy gentleman could bribe his way into office, paying all the borough’s constituents to vote for him.  Generations of a family would come to dominate the office, as all the voters would vote for one person, then his son, then his grandson, and so forth.  Some notable examples of rotten boroughs were Bramber, Dunwich, and Old Sarum.  In 1831 Bramber only had 20 eligible voters and two representatives.  Due to coastal erosion, most of Dunwich was underwater, yet still sported two representatives.  Old Sarum only had 11 eligible voters, represented by two Parliament Ministers.Similar to rotten boroughs, pocket boroughs were districts in which the representatives happened to be the lord of the manor (owned most of the land).  There was no such thing as a secret ballot and candidates had full knowledge of who voted for whom.  Since the representative owned most of the land and his constituents were mostly renters or leaseholders, he would simply evict those who didn’t vote for him.  As one can imagine, the lord of the manor tended to receive near unanimous support of the electorate.Obviously it was a problem that these tiny little districts should have such disproportional amount of representative power, but there was another issue with this system.  By the late 18th century Britain was beginning to industrialize.  Many small towns became large industrial cities as the rural population emigrated to urban centers looking for factory and workshop jobs.  Since again there was no redistricting policy, these cities often had little to no representation.  In 1832, the Reform Act was passed, eliminating the rotten boroughs and setting up a fair system of redistricting.  Women and those who owned no property still did not have the vote. -- source link
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