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82-615: The organisation was formed on 6 May 1923 by Rotha Lintorn-Orman in the aftermath of Benito Mussolini 's March on Rome , and originally operated under the Italian -sounding name British Fascisti . Despite its name, the group had a poorly defined ideological basis at its beginning, being brought into being more by a fear of left-wing politics than a devotion to fascism. The ideals of the Boy Scout movement, with which many early members had also been involved in their younger days, also played

164-430: A lawn sign . Those who are wavering or undecided may be given a message of persuasion. If foot canvassing, the canvasser may also distribute flyers. During the canvass, the results will be entered into the voter database. This will update the campaign's list of voters, removing those who have moved or are deceased and adding new residents who may have been found. The data on the questions will be used for further contact,

246-407: A voter database . Some campaigns today have replaced paper sheets with tablet or smartphone apps. The canvasser will try to contact each of the households on their list, and deliver a script containing questions and persuasive messaging provided by the campaign. Almost all election canvassing includes asking how a person plans to vote. Supporters may then be asked themselves to volunteer, or to take

328-590: A central town, often some distance from their home, and polling could last several days. During this time voters would be away from their work and their fields. As an example of the challenges, one losing candidate had identified 639 supporters in Kent for the Short Parliament election of 1640, but only 174 voted, most going home after finding out the polling would take three days. A candidate would also make sure to knock on as many doors as possible to win over

410-651: A close friend of Lintorn-Orman, who hoped the BF could profit from the emergence of prominent Irish republican Éamon de Valera as President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State but the plan was scuppered when the policies of the Irish Free State towards Northern Ireland largely remained the same under de Valera. A small group did exist in the Irish Free State , claiming to have

492-511: A complex structure, being presided over by both an Executive Council and Fascist Grand Council of nine men, with County and Area Commanders controlling districts below this. Districts contained a number of companies, which in turn were divided into troops with each troop made of three units and unit containing seven members under a Leader. A separate structure existed along similar lines for the group's sizeable female membership. The group became notorious for its inflated claims of membership (including

574-411: A core practice performed by thousands of volunteers at each election there, and in many countries with similar political systems. Canvassing can also refer to a neighborhood canvass performed by law enforcement in the course of an investigation. This is a systematic approach to interviewing residents, merchants, and others who are in the immediate vicinity of a crime and may have useful information. In

656-570: A district. This system soon became a venue for gross corruption. Machine politics developed in the large cities of the eastern US. Winning candidates would reward their supporters with patronage appointments , and direct bribery was also common; one study estimated that 20% of New York voters were compensated for their votes during Gilded Age elections. In the United Kingdom, the Reform Act of 1832 attacked corruption and expanded

738-522: A few thousand people. I got sixty eight promises in Oundle and its neighbourhood today, and only one refusal. Some doubtful, but most not at home, with who I left printed cards requesting their votes. Lord Althorp describing his day of canvassing in Northamptonshire in the 1806 election , There were many reasons why candidates invested much time and money in canvassing. As in

820-660: A lasting persuasion effect." There are some studies that suggest that canvassing is less effective in certain European nations. In a article from the British Journal of Political Science , they found some evidence that the effectiveness in European canvasing activities is far less compared to the United States, compiling several studies of canvassing in Denmark. However, the paper did not come to one conclusion on

902-428: A long history of studying the effectiveness of canvassing beginning with a 1927 study by Harold Foote Gosnell . Through the 1980s, a series of both controlled and natural experiments created a consensus that canvassing had a small effect on turnout, and no observable persuasive effect on whom to vote for. In 1999, Gerber and Green published their first paper presenting a rigorously controlled experiment that produced

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984-445: A losing campaign. Building the list of voters was also important, as only some districts kept full poll books . Legal wrangling over who met the property requirements to vote was important in many campaigns, and canvassing was used to add supporters to the rolls, while investigating the claims of opponents. The growing list of supporters would also be essential to an election day operation. In early elections all voters had to travel to

1066-475: A more authoritarian government in which the monarch would take a leading role in government, as well as advocating the establishment of a Benito Mussolini -style corporate state . These policy changes were made possible by the departure of Blakeney, who was committed to representative democracy and whose main economic opinion was opposition to the gold standard . Even without Blakeney they retained some of their earlier Conservative-linked views, such as loyalty to

1148-648: A more prominent role in the run-up to the General Strike of 1926 , as it became clear that their propaganda predicting such an outcome was about to come true. They were, however, not permitted to join the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies (OMS), a group established by the government and chaired by Lord Hardinge to mobilise a non-striking workforce in the event of general strike, without first relinquishing any explicit attachment to fascism, as

1230-464: A poster in their window or deliver leaflets on their street and asks whether the individual would consider joining the party. The section for non-Labour voters asks the following questions: Local governments in the United States have passed local laws to limit Americans' ability to canvass. Many of these challenges escalated to the Supreme Court, which has ruled overwhelmingly on the side of

1312-656: A proper fascist ideology. Having been hit hard by the split from the General Strike, the British Fascists attempted to move gradually towards a more defined fascism, starting in 1927 by adopting a blue shirt and beret uniform in the style of similar movements in Europe. That same year they attempted to organise a Remembrance Day parade past Buckingham Palace where they requested the King should salute them from

1394-405: A relic of the past. Ivor Crewe argued that "constituency organizing counts for next to nothing in the television age." One political scientist wrote there was a belief that canvassing was an "elaborate ritual bringing some sense of gratification to the participants, but making no difference to election results." In the United States, canvassing hit its all-time low during the 1996 election, with

1476-587: A role on the Grand Council of the British Fascisti with that of Conservative Party MP for Torquay . Admirals Sir Edmund Fremantle and Sir Reginald Tupper , Brigadier-Generals Julian Tyndale-Biscoe and Roland Erskine-Tulloch , Rear Admiral William Ernest Russell Martin (BF's paymaster), Major-Generals James Spens , Thomas Pilcher and Colonel Daniel Burges were also members. Serving military personnel were eventually banned from joining

1558-615: A role, for the British Fascisti wished, according to General R. B. D. Blakeney , who was the BF President from 1924 to 1926, to "uphold the same lofty ideas of brotherhood, service and duty". At its formation, at least, the British Fascisti was positioned in the same right-wing conservative camp as the British Empire Union and the Middle Class Union , and shared some members with these groups. The group had

1640-470: A room in the House of Commons to host an event for the British Fascists. After 1931 the BF abandoned its attempts to form a distinctly British version of Fascism, and instead adopted the full programme of Mussolini and his National Fascist Party . The already weakened group split further in 1932 over the issue of a merger with Oswald Mosley 's New Party . The proposal was accepted by Neil Francis Hawkins of

1722-704: A substantial turnout boost from canvassing in a municipal election in New Haven, Connecticut . This study revived interest in the subject. Since then Gerber, Green, and other political scientists have conducted a program that verified those results, and tested what techniques are most effective. Foot canvassing is the most effective contact method, increasing turnout by about 7 percentage points, while phoning boosts it by 2.6 points. Other contact techniques such as direct mail , robocalls , and email have small to undetectable effects. Other studies have found that canvassing can do more to boost turnout, and also win new votes at

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1804-491: A supporter may be added to a list for get out the vote or fundraising, while a hostile voter might be dropped from future contact. The origin of the term is an older spelling of "canvas", to sift by shaking in a sheet of canvas, hence to discuss thoroughly. An organized canvass can be seen as early as the elections in the Roman Republic . In those campaigns candidates would shake the hands of all eligible voters in

1886-501: A thousand members, although in fact having no more than 25 active in Dublin under H. R. Ledbeater. Favouring reunification with the UK, the group was involved in sending anti-Semitic leaflets to prominent Jews such as Robert Briscoe . It sought a merger with the right-wing Army Comrades Association , but this was rejected by Eoin O'Duffy due to its pro-British stance. Plans for a merger with

1968-456: A train to Liverpool , where he was due to address a National Minority Movement event, and attempted to bundle him on to a different train. The five members arrested for the event insisted that they had intended to send Pollitt on a weekend break and even claimed that he had taken £5 in expenses they offered him for that purpose. The group changed its name in 1924 from British Fascisti to British Fascists , in an attempt to distance itself from

2050-409: A weekly to a monthly, and the loss of a number of key leaders and the erratic leadership of Lintorn-Orman, who was battling alcoholism, brought about a decline of activity. The group also became ravaged by factionalism, with one group following Lady Downe and the old ways of the British Fascists, and another centred around James Strachey Barnes and Sir Harold Elsdale Goad advocating full commitment to

2132-546: Is effective in increasing voter turnout and in facilitating political conversation when catered towards the men and women in the household. Canvassing for votes is forbidden in Japan due to fear of leftist control. This has been the case since the original General Election Law of 1925. The restrictions have been brought to the Supreme Court on several occasions, but have been upheld as constitutional. There has been

2214-468: Is used by political parties and issue groups to identify supporters, persuade the undecided, and add voters to the voters list through voter registration , and it is central to get out the vote operations. It is the core element of what political campaigns call the ground game or field . Organized political canvassing became a central tool of contested election campaigns in Britain, and has remained

2296-508: The Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883 , which limited campaign spending. Thus the armies of paid canvassers were replaced with smaller volunteer efforts. Laws were also changed in the United Kingdom to make voter registration almost automatic, removing the need for the parties to expend efforts on it. As corruption faded, parties returned to using canvassing to win votes through persuasion and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts. This

2378-573: The Forum . Whispering into the ear of some candidates would be a nomenclator , a slave who had been trained to memorize the names of all the voters, so that the candidate could greet them all by name. Modern canvassing can be traced back to the rise of contested elections in England . For the first centuries of the English Parliament elections were rarely contested. Losing an election

2460-658: The Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies during the 1926 General Strike or when the more radical members resigned to form the National Fascisti , and ultimately lost members to the Imperial Fascist League and the British Union of Fascists when these groups emerged. Lintorn-Orman wanted nothing to do with the BUF as she considered its leader, Oswald Mosley , to be a near-communist and

2542-515: The Reading constituency in 1945. It was based on concentrating exclusively on pro-Labour areas and boosting their turnout, while ignoring non-supporters. Even these approaches were found wanting. David Butler in his Nuffield Model of UK elections found that during the 1950s and 1960s, local campaigns had no effect on the results. With the rise of television , resources were shifted from the ground to mass market advertising, with canvassing seen as

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2624-794: The Serbian front in 1916. During her time in the war, she was, according to a later report in the fascist press, twice decorated with the Croix de Charité  [ fr ] , awarded for gallantry in action, for "heroic rescues in Salonica ". In 1917, she contracted malaria and returned to London, joining the Red Cross . In 1918, she became Commandant of the British Red Cross Motor School at Devonshire House , which put her in charge of training all ambulance drivers for

2706-614: The aristocracy also joined, including Lord Glasgow , The Marquess of Ailesbury , Lord Ernest Hamilton , The Baron de Clifford , The Earl Temple of Stowe , Sir Arthur Henry Hardinge and Leopold Canning, Lord Garvagh , who served as first President of the movement. High-ranking members of the armed forces also occupied leading roles in the group, with General Blakeney joined by the likes of General Sir Ormonde Winter , Rear-Admiral John Armstrong (the BF Vice President 1924–1926) and Colonel Sir Charles Rosdew Burn , who combined

2788-527: The " Bolshevik Revolution", which Lintorn-Orman had set the party up to fight. In fact, the strike was largely peaceful and restrained, and fears of future outbreaks were quelled somewhat by the passing of the Trades Disputes Act. Many of its most prominent members and supporters also drifted away from the group in the aftermath of the strike. The party journal, initially called Fascist Bulletin before changing its name to British Lion , went from

2870-576: The BF became increasingly anti-semitic in its death throes." In 1933 Lord and Lady Downe, as representatives of the British Fascists, entertained Nazi German envoy Gunther Schmidt-Lorenzen at their country estate and suggested to him that the Nazis should avoid any links with Mosley, whom Lady Downe accused of being in the pay of Jewish figures such as Baron Rothschild and Sir Philip Sassoon . Fellow member Madame Arnaud repeated similar allegations about Mosley to another German official, Dr Margarete Gartner of

2952-577: The BF lost much of its membership to Mosley's party after Neil Francis Hawkins left in favour of the BUF in 1932 after a formal merger was narrowly rejected. Lintorn-Orman was dependent on alcohol and drugs, which the Home Office used to disparage the British Fascists as a fringe movement supported by a mere drug addict, and rumours about her sexual orientation began to damage her reputation. Eventually her mother stopped funding her after hearing lurid tales of drink, drugs and orgies. Lintorn-Orman

3034-600: The BF membership had plummeted, with only a hardcore of members left. Various schemes were floated in an attempt to reinvigorate the movement, although none succeeded. Archibald Whitmore announced a plan to turn the British Fascists into an Ulster loyalist group and successor to the Ulster Volunteers , although after claiming that he was preparing to begin recruitment in Northern Ireland , nothing came of this. The scheme had been led by Mrs D. G. Harnett ,

3116-458: The British Fascists. In 1925 members of the Liverpool branch of the British Fascists were arrested and charged with kidnapping the communist politician Harry Pollitt . They were acquitted by the jury following testimony that characterised the kidnapping as unserious, and a denial by the head of the Liverpool branch that any kidnapping had been authorised. The British Fascists began to take on

3198-624: The Conservative Party, feeling that it would add a sense of legitimacy and Britishness to their activities, particularly as they faced harsh criticism from not only the left but also some Tories for their increasingly paramilitary structure. Nonetheless some Tories were close to the group, with Charles Burn sitting on the Grand Council and support being lent by the likes of Patrick Hannon , Robert Tatton Bower , Robert Burton-Chadwick and Alan Lennox-Boyd . Indeed, in May 1925 Hannon even booked

3280-626: The Economic Policy Association. However, by this stage Lintorn-Orman's mother had cut her off financially after hearing lurid tales of debauchery involving the female fascist leader, and so the group fell into debt until being declared bankrupt in 1934 when a Colonel Wilson called in a £500 loan. This effectively brought the British Fascists to a conclusion; Rotha Lintorn-Orman died the following year. Rotha Lintorn-Orman Rotha Beryl Lintorn Lintorn-Orman (born Rotha Beryl Lintorn Orman , 7 February 1895 – 10 March 1935)

3362-505: The Headquarters Committee and his allies Lieutenant-Colonel H. W. Johnson and E. G. Mandeville Roe, although the female leadership turned the proposal down due to objections over serving under Mosley. Indeed, the British Fascists had protested against public meetings being addressed by Mosley as early as 1927, when they denounced the then Labour MP as a dangerous socialist. As a consequence Hawkins broke away and took much of

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3444-522: The IFL did not get off the ground and plans for a merger with Graham Seton Hutchison 's National Workers Party were also abandoned when it became clear that, far from having the 20,000 members in Mansfield alone that Seton Hutchison claimed, the party was little more than a one-man show. In a bid to reverse its decline the party adopted a strongly anti-semitic platform. Thurlow notes: "it was noticeable that

3526-544: The Italian associations, although this move helped to bring about a split in the group with a more ideologically fascist group, the National Fascisti , going its own way. The group's patriotism had been questioned because of the Italian spelling of the name, while accusations were also made that it was in the pay of the Italian government. Placing emphasis on its support for the establishment, it even wrote to Labour Party Home Secretary Arthur Henderson in 1924 telling him that

3608-481: The OMS. As a result, a further split occurred, as a number of members, calling themselves Loyalists and led by former BF President Brigadier-General Blakeney, did just that. In the event, the British Fascists formed their own Q Divisions, which took on much of the same work as the OMS during the strike, albeit without having any official government recognition. The strike severely damaged the party as it failed to precipitate

3690-858: The Red Cross. Following Lintorn-Orman's war service, she placed an advertisement in the right-wing journal The Patriot seeking anti-communists . This led to the foundation of the British Fascisti (later the British Fascists) in 1923 as a response to the growing strength of the Labour Party , a source of great anxiety for the virulently anti-Communist Lintorn-Orman. She felt Labour was too prone to advocating class conflict and internationalism , two of her pet hates. Financed by her mother Blanche, Lintorn-Orman's party nonetheless struggled due to her preference for remaining within

3772-892: The United Kingdom, canvassing is most widespread in those countries that have borrowed from the British political system. It is standard practice in elections in Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In India, despite the million or more voters in many constituencies, parties have made the effort to have canvassers visit the door of each house in each village. Door-to-door canvassing has been little known in most other countries. It has been used in several Latin American countries, including Brazil and Chile. By utilizing newer technological resources like WhatsApp, voter turnout has increased among younger voters in Brazil. After

3854-438: The United States, the compilation of election returns and validation of the outcome that forms the basis of the official results is also called canvassing. A modern election canvass may be conducted by a candidate, volunteers, and/or paid canvassers. The canvassers are given lists known as canvass sheets (or access to a canvassing app) or in the UK as reading pads . These are a list of households to be contacted, generated from

3936-508: The accepted wisdom. It argued that voters had deep-set partisan loyalties, and that changes in such loyalties take years to develop. A simple knock on the door will do nothing to change a voter's opinion. Parties thus switched their canvassing resources away from persuading voters, focusing only on identifying their supporters and making sure they voted. The British Labour Party adopted the Reading System developed by Ian Mikardo to win

4018-424: The balcony but the requests were rejected and the parade did not take place. The progress towards fascism did not however come quickly enough for Arnold Leese who in 1928 split from the group, which he denounced as " conservatism with knobs on", to establish his own Imperial Fascist League (IFL), a much more hard-line group which emphasised anti-Semitism . Before long, however, the British Fascists began to advocate

4100-473: The cause of this discrepancy. The following is an excerpt from a script used by the UK Labour Party in the buildup to a general election for telephone canvassing: The script then divides into two sections based on whether the voter intends to support Labour or another party. The section for Labour supporters encourages the use of postal votes , asks whether the individual would consider displaying

4182-420: The demands of fascism, such as anger at the decline of the large landowning agricultural sector, high levels of estate taxation and death duties, and the dearth of high-ranking civilian occupations considered suitable for the status of officers, were a central feature of the political concerns advanced by the British Fascisti. The party confined itself to stewarding Conservative Party meetings and canvassing for

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4264-549: The door through persuasion. A 2018 study in the American Economic Review found that door-to-door canvassing on behalf of the François Hollande campaign in the 2012 French presidential election "did not affect turnout, but increased Hollande's vote share in the first round and accounted for one fourth of his victory margin in the second. Visits' impact persisted in later elections, suggesting

4346-526: The electorate, such as the Democrats' NGP VAN , pulled together canvassing data, consumer information, and demographic profiles to allow precise targeting of voters. No longer would campaigns knock on all the doors in a district, rather voters who would most be persuaded to support the candidate or come out to vote could be targeted. Large campaigns incorporated A/B testing into their canvassing, to further hone and improve its effectiveness. Originating in

4428-461: The family's immense wealth, since she was likely the only surviving child at the time. Raised in Bournemouth , before moving to Liphook at the age of nine, Lintorn-Orman was among the few girls seeking entry into scouting organizations; along with her friend Nesta Maude , in 1908, Lintorn-Orman had registered as a Scout troop, using initials rather than forenames . By 1909, she had led both

4510-603: The first and second Bournemouth Girl Guides and she was awarded one of the first of the Girl Guides' Silver Fish Awards . The Orman family adopted the surname of Lintorn-Orman by deed poll in 1912. When World War I broke out, Lintorn-Orman joined the war effort as an ambulance driver . Initially serving with the Women's Volunteer Reserve , she was assigned to the Scottish Women's Hospital Corps and sent to

4592-504: The first elections held in the United States, canvassing was rare. Most elections were uncontested, and even in races with multiple candidates it was considered improper for a candidate to campaign on his own behalf. As the party system developed in the early 19th century, elections became more contested and voluntary associations developed to work on candidates' behalf. As in the United Kingdom, canvassing became an important part of their operations, and they would attempt to visit each voter in

4674-420: The form of direct bribes to voters. This was the practice in only a minority of districts, but in some areas large bribes had become habitual. In areas without direct bribery, candidates were expected to provide food, drink and banquets. For the priciest campaigns, these various costs added up to sums equivalent to several million pounds in today's money, causing financial hardship even for wealthy candidates. In

4756-570: The franchise. This, combined with the growing strength of the national parties, transformed canvassing. There were no lists of who was eligible to vote under the new law, and it was up to individual voters to register themselves. The parties launched mass canvasses with the goal of adding all of the party's supporters to the electoral roll. As an example, in Norwich the 1874 saw 3000 Liberal and 2000 Conservative paid workers engaged in voter registration . The massive paid canvassing came to an end with

4838-402: The government insisted for the group to remain non-ideological. The structure of the OMS was actually based on that of the British Fascists, but the government was unwilling to rely on the British Fascists because of what they saw as the group's unorthodox nature and its reliance on funding from Rotha Lintorn-Orman (who had garnered a reputation for high living) and so excluded it as a group from

4920-592: The group by the Army Council however. At a more rank-and-file level, the group attracted a membership of middle- and working-class young men who spent much of their time in violent confrontations with similar men involved in the Communist Party of Great Britain ; William Joyce was typical of this sort of low-level member. This domination by disgruntled members of the peerage and high-ranking officers meant that certain concerns not normally associated with

5002-473: The group was at his disposal if he wished to deploy them against picket lines during industrial unrest, an offer to which Henderson did not respond. Blakeney had replaced Canning as President that same year, with Canning claiming that he lived too far from London to be politically influential enough. London was the group's major base of operation. In December 1925 an attempt to organise a meeting in Manchester

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5084-612: The highly publicized canvassing tactics of the Obama campaign, similar tactics have been tried in France and Germany. In Scandinavia door-to-door canvassing was an accepted part of election campaigning in the first half of the 20th century, but has since faded. It still exists, but an activist knocking on someone's door is considered somewhat unseemly. More widespread workplace canvasses have been organized, either by labour unions or by employers. In Pakistan, it has been found that canvassing

5166-564: The king, anti-trade union legislation, free trade within the British Empire and a general preference for the rural, although these were bolstered by fascist-influenced policies such as limiting the franchise, gradual purification of the "English race" and stringent restrictions on immigration and the activities of immigrants admitted to Britain. However, as Martin Pugh has pointed out the British Fascists actively encouraged comparisons with

5248-496: The law and her continuing ties to the fringes of the Conservative Party . Lintorn-Orman was essentially a Tory by inclination but was driven by a strong anti-communism and attached herself to fascism largely because of her admiration for Benito Mussolini and what she saw as his action-based style of politics. The party was subject to a number of schisms, such as when the moderates led by R. B. D. Blakeney defected to

5330-488: The lowest reported rates of political volunteering, and the lowest recorded voter turnout. Political scientists began to reassess the effects of canvassing. In Britain new studies found that unlike in earlier decades, a strong field campaign was having an effect on the result. In the United States Alan S. Gerber and Donald Green launched a series of controlled experiments, and demonstrated that foot canvassing

5412-488: The male membership of the BF with him; soon afterward, the New Party became the British Union of Fascists (BUF). Relations with the BUF were as a result frosty for the remainder of the group's life, and although Mosley dismissed the BF as "three old ladies and a couple of office boys", in 1933 a BUF fighting squad wrecked the BF's London offices after British Fascists members had heckled the BUF headquarters. By this stage

5494-468: The party. In particular it campaigned vigorously on behalf of Oliver Locker-Lampson , whose "Keep Out the Reds" campaign slogan struck a chord with the group's strong anti-communism . The group also indulged in a series of high-profile stunts, many of which were more in the vein of elaborate practical jokes than genuine subversion. In one such example, five British Fascisti forcibly removed Harry Pollitt from

5576-526: The previous tradition of sounding out supporters before announcing, many candidates would use the canvass to determine their level of support, and would drop out before election day if it proved insufficient. Part of the concern would be financial. Campaigning was expensive in an era when voters expected to be plied with food and drink. In this period the candidates had to cover the costs of the election itself. If candidates did not find enough votes during their canvass they would drop out before wasting more money on

5658-556: The public's right to canvass as protected by the First Amendment. For example, in Martin v. Struthers , Justice Hugo Black stated: Freedom to distribute information to every citizen wherever he desires to receive it is so clearly vital to the preservation of a free society that ... it must be fully preserved. To require a censorship through license which makes impossible the free and unhampered distribution of pamphlets strikes at

5740-592: The ridiculous claim that it had 200,000 members in 1926), although at its peak from 1925 to 1926 it had a membership of several thousand. It mustered 5,000 people for a London march on Empire Day in London in 1925. Early membership largely came from high society, often from the "Die Hards" in the Conservative party, and included a number of women amongst its ranks, such as Dorothy, Viscountess Downe, Lady Sydenham of Combe, Baroness Zouche and Nesta Webster . Men from

5822-480: The very heart of the constitutional guarantees. In 2002, the Supreme Court reconfirmed its conviction that canvassing is protected by U.S. First Amendment rights in Watchtower Society v. Village of Stratton . Justice John Paul Stevens stated: It is offensive, not only to the values protected by the First Amendment, but to the very notion of a free society that in the context of everyday public discourse

5904-501: The vote efforts over the last three days of a campaign, and also found demonstrable proof that it gained them several points in key races. The Obama campaigns of 2008 and 2012 were especially noted for dedicating resources to a field program. New technologies changed how canvassing was conducted. While door-to-door blockwalking has been prior to COVID-19 been the most common canvassing technique, canvassing can also be done via phone, texting , and social media . Expansive databases of

5986-468: The voters. Speaking to as many voters as possible was seen as an essential tool to win the "wavering multitudes." By the 18th century canvassing was standard practice, but this was also an era of gross electoral corruption, and canvassing was used to bribe and threaten voters, as famously depicted in William Hogarth 's Humours of an Election series of paintings. Most directly this would take

6068-672: Was a British political activist and World War I veteran who founded the British Fascisti , the first avowedly fascist movement to appear in British politics. Lintorn-Orman was born at 36 Cornwall Gardens in Kensington , London , to Charles Edward Orman , a major from the Essex Regiment , and his wife, Blanche ( née  Simmons ). Her maternal grandfather was Field Marshal Sir Lintorn Simmons . Upon her grandfather's death in February 1903, Lintorn-Orman's mother inherited

6150-471: Was a controversial strategy. In both 1604 and 1626 canvassing for votes was banned. It was seen as a violation to free elections, as votes would be won by persuasion rather than a voter making up his own mind. Despite this, by the late 17th century, canvassing was standard practice in English elections. Rival campaigns would attempt a full canvass of all voters, which even in the largest districts would only be

6232-565: Was broken up by communists, and the BF abandoned its attempts to set up in the city as a result. Despite its close association with elements of the Conservative Party, the British Fascists did occasionally put up candidates in local elections. In 1924 two of its candidates in the municipal elections in Stamford, Lincolnshire , Arnold Leese and Henry Simpson, managed to secure election to the local council. Simpson would retain his seat in 1927 although by that stage both he and Leese had broken from

6314-581: Was buried at the English Cemetery in Las Palmas . Canvassing Canvassing , also known as door knocking or phone banking , is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals, commonly used during political campaigns . Canvassing can be done for many reasons: political campaigning, grassroots fundraising, community awareness, membership drives, and more. Campaigners knock on doors to contact people personally. Canvassing

6396-521: Was considered a dishonor to oneself, and to friends and family. Campaigning thus involved quiet sounding out of the small pool of voters. Only once this process had convinced a candidate that he had enough votes to win would he declare his interest in the seat. Beginning in the Elizabethan era , and expanding during the conflicts under the Stuarts , elections began to be openly contested. Canvassing

6478-583: Was especially true of the new socialist parties such as the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, and the CCF in Canada who had little money but enthusiastic volunteer bases who could be deployed to door steps. The years after the Second World War saw a general decline in canvassing. Political scientists began to question the utility of traditional campaigns. The Michigan model of voter behaviour became

6560-561: Was one of the most effective tools available to boost voter turnout. The years since 2000 have seen a widespread revival of election canvassing. An intensive effort by the Al Gore campaign of 2000 was credited with gaining several points on election day in the 2000 election, enough to win the popular vote despite being down several points in the polls the day before. Subsequently, the Republicans launched their 72 Hour Program of get out

6642-460: Was particularly appalled by his former membership in the Labour Party. The feelings were reciprocated; Mosley referred to the British Fascists as "three old ladies and a couple of office boys", despite the fact that Lintorn-Orman was only 37 years old, and Mosley's son claimed that she got the idea to save Britain from communism one day while she was weeding her kitchen garden. Nonetheless,

6724-466: Was taken ill in 1933 and was sidelined from the British Fascists, as effective control passed to Mrs D. G. Harnett , who sought to breathe new life into the group by seeking to ally it with Ulster loyalism . Lintorn-Orman died of an alcohol-related illness at the age of 40 on 10 March 1935 at Santa Brígida, Las Palmas , in the Canary Islands . By then her organisation was all but defunct. She

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