Mill’s Considerations on Representative Government in one sentence: Ideal, yet practical governmental governance can be realized only though the democratic governance of a “specially trained and experienced few”. Mill is an elitist. How can he be an elitist when he dedicates the first two chapters of his essay to praising the virtues of popular government? by surreptitiously advocating for elitism in the subsequent sixteen chapters. In these sixteen chapters, he manages to maintain the democratic façade he develops in the first two chapters while championing elite rule by promoting a governmental scheme in which the people are theoretical supreme, but practically play no role in exercising authority. The first instance of this dichotomy surfaces in Mill’s appreciation of democracy. He claims the virtue of popular government is in its educational value; the “intellectual and moral cultivation” brought about by political participation. By valuing the passive quality of political participation over its active quality, he underhandedly undermines the practice of democracy; education need not amount to any influence on the exercise of authority. Surreptitiously, Mill claims democratic influence on the exercise of authority is great theoretically, but only theoretically; practical influence on the exercise of authority must be left to the “specially trained and experienced few” of “superior minds.”
Mill openly champions representative government – government in which people rule through their representatives – as the best form of government. He then furtively champions elitism through his reasoning as to why representatives are necessary, his intricate prescriptions for how representatives should be chosen, and his misleading schemati...
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...lly blessed with some capacity for reason. Via reasoning, men are able to acquire knowledge about the world through lessons of experience. To be able to obtain knowledge, men’s capacity for reason must be suitably developed. The capacity for reasoning is not equally developed for every individual. Individuals therefore differ in their ability to obtain knowledge; individuals with a more cultivated capacity for reasoning are more proficient at obtaining knowledge. According to Mill, in any given community, only a select few will possess an exceptionally cultivated capacity for reasoning; in any given community, these superior minds, having “superior intellects and characters will necessarily be outnumbered.” The wisest members of any given community will therefore be a select few men. It follows that government must be run by a select few men for maximum efficiency.
He is was total opposite of Metternich. Mill’s “On liberty” essay was about the individual liberty. To Mill’s, the only important thing is the happiness of the individual, and such happiness may only be accomplished in an enlightened society, in which people are free to partake in their own interests. Thus, Mills stresses the important value of individuality, of personal development, both for the individual and society for future progress. For Mill, an educated person is the one who acts on what he or she understands and who does everything in his or her power to understand. Mill held this model out to all people, not just the specially gifted, and advocates individual initiative over social control. He emphasizes that things done by individuals are done better than those done by governments. Also, individual action advances the mental education of that individual, something that government action cannot ever do, and for government action always poses a threat to liberty and must be carefully
While introducing the sociology of C. Wright Mills, Frank W. Elwell (2006) explained Mill’s conception of a power elite that dominates modern industrial societies, like America. According to Mills, present day societies host a small and unified group, called the power elite. The power elite holds enormous power because they are in control of the major bureaucratic organizations that currently dominate modern societies (p. 10). Mill’s perspective strongly emphasized the ongoing rationalization process and how this was related to the intensifying bureaucratization process that has shaped social structures and social organizations. The processes of rationalization and bureaucratization have deeply affected many societies and Mills argued that these processes posed a threat to the representative character of America.
Richard Lebow’s analyzed Mill’s arguments sustaining that it can be identified two contrary visions; one arguing for the market on its own and the other for the necessity of a state’s intervention. This classification of two clearly opposed views is also raised by Gide and Rist in the following statement “During the first half of his life, Mill was an individualist who was deeply committed to utilitarianism. During the second half, he was a socialist who remained a champion of individual liberty” (1947, page
In relation to social obligations and advancement of society, Mill writes advocating the expression of one’s opinion as the main driving force. Mill states, “If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in sile...
Wright Mill’s, regarding the fact that freedom, wealth, and equality are things that are not properly exercised in the “new society of America”. “We confront there a new kind of social structure, which embodies elements and tendencies of all modern society, but in which they have assumed a more naked and flamboyant prominence”. Essentially Mills is stating that the methods in which we as a society used to interpret politics, economics, etc. cannot be applied anymore due to the fact that modern society has evolved so much. Due to the fact that in modern day, the upper class elites have the largest influence on how essentially all aspects of society are run, it disregards the lower class’s abilities to exercise their rights to freedom and
Dye, T. R., Zeigler, H., & Schubert, L. (2012). The Irony of Democracy (15th ed.).
Mill, John S. The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill. New York, New York: Modern Library, 2002. Print.
Fitzpatrick, J. R. (2006). John Stuart Mill's political philosophy: Balancing freedom and the collective good. London [u.a.: Continuum.
...Mill does not implicitly trust or distrust man and therefore does not explicitly limit freedom, in fact he does define freedom in very liberal terms, however he does leave the potential for unlimited intervention into the personal freedoms of the individual by the state. This nullifies any freedoms or rights individuals are said to have because they subject to the whims and fancy of the state. All three beliefs regarding the nature of man and the purpose of the state are bound to their respective views regarding freedom, because one position perpetuates and demands a conclusion regarding another.
Lastly Mills highlights how a truly democratic state can be achieved. There is a need for a public that acts a medium for true political change, skilled men who form the higher powers of the state and have no vested corporate interests, dependable parties that debate openly and lucidly the problems faced by the world and finally liberated institutions between the public and the elite that act as proponent for the public opinion.
However different their views maybe both Hobbes and Mill are in agreement in their views that the power of the leader or leading and governing body should not be used to harm the people of the state; “It is true that they that have sovereign power may commit iniquity, but not injustice, or injury in the proper signification.” (Hobbes, Leviathan Pg.113) That having been said Hobbes’ approach and view of the situation of absolute authority can easily be turned into a tyranny, allowing the government the ability to commit iniquity, should not be something that is so easily accepted. If the people are made to believe that they cannot govern themselves they will be far less willing to trust the state and sacrifice aspects of their lives for the preservation of the state.
In deciphering what constitutes the brilliance of democracy then, we find that it is not citizens’ ability to make informed decisions or an unflawed and subtly manipulated election process, but the unapparent way in which democracy persuades citizens – informed or not - and leaders – corrupt or not – toward working to build better, more prosperous societies.
In Considerations on Representative Government, Mill denounces the idea that a despotic monarchy headed by a good despot is the best form of government. Mill goes on to share the reason behind this idea. The reason lies in the supposition that a distinguished individual with absolute power will ensure that all the duties of government is performed intelligently and virtuously. Mill does not disagree with this belief but he finds the need to address it. He states that an “all-seeing” monarch rather than a “good monarch” is needed. The despot would need to be informed correctly and in detail at all time, and be able to oversee every division of administration with effective attention and care in the twenty-four hours per day he has. If not, the
middle of paper ... ... Philosophers, such as John Stuart Mill, have debated the role and the extension of government in the people’s lives for centuries. Mill presents a clear and insightful argument, claiming that the government should not be concerned with the free will of the people unless explicit harm has been done to an individual. However, such ideals do not build a strong and lasting community. It is the role of the government to act in the best interests at all times through the prevention of harm and the encouragement of free thought.
Rousseau describes democracy as a form of government that “has never existed and never will”. Yet twenty-six countries in the world are considered to be full democracies. How can this be possible? Rousseau’s concept of democracy supports the most fundamental and basic premise of democracy – one in which all citizens directly participate. While his idea of democracy cannot be considered an effective indictment of what passes for democracy today, it is not Rousseau’s account which is flawed, but that in modern society it would be practically impossible to achieve this idea of democracy.