Educating Liberty: Democracy and Aristocracy in J.S. Mill's Political Thought by Chris Barker

Author:Chris Barker [Barker, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Philosophy, History & Theory, Modern, Political Science, Political, History & Surveys
ISBN: 9781580469227
Google: X6t2DwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 40396550
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Published: 2018-01-15T08:27:50+00:00

Voting

Mill’s idea of a representative democracy contains a theory of voting with several important, and in some cases counterintuitive, commitments.62 For Mill, every minimally competent adult has a right to participate in politics by voting. Everyone with a right to vote has a duty to vote, and to vote well. Finally, Mill argues that there is no need to count all votes equally, and that there is in fact positive value in weighing unequally informed voices unequally.63

Below, I describe the most important ways in which Mill tries to control the effects of the democratic principle through countermajoritarian elements of his theory of voting. Above, I have argued that Mill thinks that great changes in domestic and economic relations will lead to great changes in the quality of citizens. When he turns to politics in the Considerations, Mill’s focus is now on the mechanical side of institutions. He seeks to refine and enlarge the views of the voting public by changing the conditions under which they participate—an approach very much in keeping with his doctrine of liberty and with the doctrine of circumstances.

Minorities and Hare’s Plan

According to Mill, two great dangers are incident to representative democracy. The first is the “danger of a low grade of intelligence in the representative body, and in the popular opinion which controls it.” The second is “the danger of class legislation on the part of the numerical majority, these being all composed of the same class.”64 Representative democracy can thus be unintelligent, factious, or both; however, because of the “independent centres of improvement” noted above, the remedy for both of these crucial problems lies in liberalizing democracy. Mill’s practical suggestions for constitutional reforms address these problems. When Mill’s suggestions fail, it is often with the best and most educative intentions.

Although democratic theorists grant reasonable pluralism a prominent place, Mill’s solution is best described as reasonable individualism. Classes, for Mill, reflect partial and selfish interests. Mill beautifully illustrates his point by adapting a fable (“The Kingdom of the Lion”) from Aesop. Speaking for the predatory animals, the fox addresses an insurrectionary crowd of domestic animals. The domestic animals become satisfied with representative government, at least in name, although the actual practice of representative government ends up satisfying only the predators. Thus, by representing each species, the “Lion got his thousand sheep; the Fox his pension of 100 ducks a year, and the Panthers, Wolves, and the other members of the aristocracy got as many kids and lambs in a quiet way, as they could devour.”65

Mill’s concern is the same as the one that the American founders addressed under the rubric of “factions.” “To secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a faction,” James Madison writes, “and at the same time to preserve the spirit and the form of popular government, is... the great object to which our inquiries are directed.”66 Madison argues that one can do two things to impede the formation of factional interests: one can remove the causes of faction or control the effects of faction.

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