One share, one vote is a standard found in
corporate law and
corporate governance, which suggests that each person who invests money in a company has one vote per share of the company they own, equally with other shareholders. Often, shares with one vote each are referred to as
common stock. Most systems of corporate law discourage shares without votes unless they have preferential dividends or liquidation rights, and shares with multiple voting rights are discouraged altogether so as to prevent the concentration of
corporate power.
Countries with this system
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The United Kingdom
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Canada
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The Commonwealth of Australia
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The Federal Republic of Nigeria
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New Zealand
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The People's Republic of China
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Jamaica
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Ghana
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United States
History
Historically, more corporations followed the rule of
one person, one vote, so that the
corporate power of wealthy investors was capped. This practice declined over the late 19th century. During the 1920s and 1930s, the practice of multiple voting shares, and voteless shares, without any preferential rights became widespread, resulting in the disenfranchisement of many ordinary investors. This was halted by stock exchange regulation and corporate law amendments in most countries.
See also
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Differential voting right shares Differential voting right (DVR) shares are the same as ordinary equity shares except such stock does not dilute the promoters voting rights and makes it difficult for hostile takeovers. On the other hand, DVR shares have been described as an instrum ...
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UK company law
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US corporate law
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One member, one vote
In the parliamentary politics of the United Kingdom and Canada, one member, one vote (OMOV) is a method of selecting party leaders, and determining party policy, by a direct vote of the members of a political party. Traditionally, these objectives ...
and
One person, one vote, in political parties
References
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Corporate law