Suffrage is the political and constitutional right to vote for elected public office. In a broad sense, the suffrage covers the assets, which determines who has the right to vote (most common use); and the liability, which refers to who and under what conditions they have the right to be elected.
Historically, numerous collectives have been excluded from the right to vote for many reasons: sometimes because their members were "subjects" of feudal kings and were not considered "free" men; other times because the exclusion of the vote depended on an explicit policy clearly established in the electoral laws. On some occasions, the right to vote excluded groups that did not meet certain conditions (exclusion of illiterates, capitation taxes, etc.); On other occasions a group has been allowed to vote but the electoral system or government institutions were purposely designed to give them less influence than other more favored groups.
It is usually considered that in a democratic country the political legitimacy of a democratic government derives mainly from suffrage.
The articles of confederation was very uneffective. The biggest issue was that the government was unable to enforce the laws. Citizens were afraid of having a government that was too powerful so instead they creates one that lacked any power. The articles of confederation allowed the government to make laws but wothout being able to enforce them it might as well not have made any.
