Prussian three-class franchise
프로이센 3계급 선거권
The electoral system for the Prussian lower house introduced in 1849 and kept until 1918. Voters were divided by taxes paid into three classes, each choosing the same number of electors, so that more than 80 percent of the electorate controlled only one third of the seats. Created by the reaction that defeated the revolution of 1848 to secure the dominance of the propertied, it blocked the democratisation of Prussia until the November Revolution of 1918.
In depth
The constitution imposed on 5 December 1848 at first provided for manhood suffrage, but at the end of May 1849 the king replaced it with the three-class franchise, which was written into the revised constitution of 31 January 1850; the upper house was an appointed, aristocratic chamber. Otto von Bismarck was a member of the first Landtag elected under this constitution.