Abstract EN:

How can democratic politics {working; through competitive institutions) accommodate highly non egalitarian social classes? With this question, our thesis probes the problem of applying the institution of universal suffrage in 1848 to an undemocratic pro-slavery society, only a few months alter its adoption in France, already far advanced in the democratic process even in comparison with other European countries. Starting from the premise that democracy would not simply blossom at the orders of new legislation, our thesis supports the idea that the history of universal suffrage from 1848 to the present day shows, in the particular case of Guadeloupe, a discrepancy between the promises and actual practises of democracy, between its principles and the reality of the way it has been organised. In Guadeloupe, it was, in reality, dealing with the contradiction of trying to impose the rule of the people on an aristocratic and above all pro-slavery society. Indeed, the history of Guadeloupe has shown that democratic elections have long been beset with numerous problems.