How Everyday Britons Forced Their Government to Save Itself

During the 1832 “Days of May,” Citizens Threatened Outright Revolution Until Parliament Passed a Landmark Bill

The legislature had ground to a standstill on countless issues of national import. Special-interest dark money poured freely into the legislative process, and the public could never be sure whose interests were being served. Over a generation, as often-corrupt representatives from rural areas with shrinking populations found their power growing disproportionately to the rest of the country, everyday people became increasingly outraged at their lack of voice in government, taking to the streets and threatening to topple the system.

Such was the dangerous state of affairs in Great Britain nearly two …