No taxation without representation
"No taxation without representation" (often shortened to "taxation without representation") is a political slogan that, though rooted in the Magna Carta, originated in its present form during the American Revolution and which expressed one of the primary grievances of the American colonists for Great Britain. In short, many colonists believed that as they were not represented in the distant British parliament, any taxes it imposed on the colonists (such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts) were unconstitutional and were a denial of the colonists' rights as Englishmen.
The firm belief that the government should not tax a populace unless that populace is represented in some manner in the government developed in the English Civil War, following the refusal of parliamentarian John Hampden to pay ship money tax.[1] In the context of British taxation of its American colonies, the slogan "No taxation without representation" appeared for the first time in a headline of a February 1768 London Magazine printing of Lord Camden's "Speech on the Declaratory Bill of the Sovereignty of Great Britain over the Colonies," which was given in parliament.[2] The British government argued for virtual representation, the idea that people were represented by members of Parliament even if they didn't get to vote for them.
The term has since been used by various other groups advocating for representation or protesting against taxes, such as the women's suffrage movement, advocates of District of Columbia voting rights, students seeking to be included in governance in higher education, the Tea Party movement, and others.
In other countries[edit]
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Use in Australia[edit]
The first government of South Australia was by a legislative council, whose members were chosen by the Crown and from which office-bearers "Official Members" were selected by the Governor. John Stephens and his South Australian Register were among those who campaigned for democratic reform.[105] Partial reform took place in 1851, when a majority of Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1851–1855 were elected.
Modern use in Canada[edit]
In Canada, Québec politician Gilles Duceppe, former leader of the Bloc Québécois, has repeatedly cited this phrase in defending the presence of his party in Ottawa. The Bloc is a Québec sovereigntist party solely running candidates in Canadian Federal elections in the province of Québec. Duceppe's evocation of the phrase implies that the proponents of Quebec's sovereigntist movement have the right to be represented in the body (which they are), the Canadian Parliament, which levies taxes upon them.[106] He will usually cite the sentence in its original English.[107]
Modern use in the United Kingdom[edit]
British Prime Minister John Major used a modified version of the quote, with the order reversed, in October 1995, when at the United Nations's 50th Anniversary celebrations he said, "It is not sustainable for states to enjoy representation without taxation," in order to criticize the billion-dollar arrears of the United States' payments to the UN, echoing a statement made the previous month at the opening session of the UN General Assembly by UK Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind.[108]
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