The Meiji Constitution was adopted on February 11, 1889 and the Imperial Diet first met on November 29, 1890 when the document entered into operation. The Diet consisted of a House of Representatives and a House of Peers. The House of Representatives was directly elected, if on a limited franchise; universal adult male suffrage was introduced in 1925. The House of Peers, much like the British House of Lords, consisted of high ranking nobles.
From 1869 to 1906 the Diet of Finland was composed as follows:
* Nobility: 201 seats; the heads of noble families had the right to sit in person or name a family member as a representative. * Clergy: 40 seats; included priests, university personnel and other senior teachers who elected their representatives. * Burghers: 30–70 seats; these were the representatives of the people living in cities, only men with taxable wealth were eligible to vote. The number of seats rose when the population of the cities grew. * Peasants: 70 seats; elected through indirect election in which only peasants that owned their own land (4.5% of the rural population in early 1900s) could vote.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2011-09-13 10:13 pm (UTC)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_of_Japan
From 1869 to 1906 the Diet of Finland was composed as follows:
* Nobility: 201 seats; the heads of noble families had the right to sit in person or name a family member as a representative.
* Clergy: 40 seats; included priests, university personnel and other senior teachers who elected their representatives.
* Burghers: 30–70 seats; these were the representatives of the people living in cities, only men with taxable wealth were eligible to vote. The number of seats rose when the population of the cities grew.
* Peasants: 70 seats; elected through indirect election in which only peasants that owned their own land (4.5% of the rural population in early 1900s) could vote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_of_Finland