Editing John Stuart Mill (section)

====Political democracy====
Mill's major work on [[political democracy]], ''[[Considerations on Representative Government]]'', defends two fundamental principles: extensive participation by citizens and enlightened competence of rulers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Dennis F. |title=John Stuart Mill and Representative Government |location=Princeton, NJ |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1976 |isbn=978-0691021874 }}</ref> The two values are obviously in tension, and some readers have concluded that he is an [[Democratic elitism|elitist democrat]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Letwin |first=Shirley |title=The Pursuit of Certainty |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1965 |page=306 |isbn=978-0865971943 }}</ref> while others count him as an earlier [[Participatory democracy|participatory democrat]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Pateman |first=Carole |title=Participation and Democratic Theory |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1970 |page=28 |isbn=978-0521290043 }}</ref> In one section, he appears to defend a type of [[plural voting]] where more competent citizens are given extra votes (a view he later repudiated). However, in another chapter he argues cogently for the value of participation by all citizens. He believed that the incompetence of the masses could eventually be overcome if they were given a chance to take part in politics, especially at the local level.

Mill is one of the few [[political philosophers]] ever to serve in government as an elected official. In his three years in Parliament, he was more willing to compromise than the "radical" principles expressed in his writing would lead one to expect.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Dennis |title=J. S. Mill's Political Thought |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0521677561 |editor1-last=Urbinati |editor1-first=N. |location=Cambridge |pages=166–199 |chapter=Mill in Parliament: When Should a Philosopher Compromise? |editor2-last=Zakaras |editor2-first=A.}}</ref>

Mill was a major proponent of the diffusion and use of public education to the working class. He saw the value of the individual person, and believed that "man had the inherent capability of guiding his own destiny-but only if his faculties were developed and fulfilled", which could be achieved through education.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Elynor G. |title=Mill, Socialism and the English Romantics: An Interpretation. |journal=Economica |date=1985 |volume=52 |issue=207 |pages=345–358 (351) |doi=10.2307/2553857 |jstor=2553857 }}</ref> He regarded education as a pathway to improve human nature which to him meant "to encourage, among other characteristics, diversity and originality, the energy of character, initiative, autonomy, intellectual cultivation, aesthetic sensibility, non-self-regarding interests, [[prudence]], responsibility, and [[self-control]]."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=de Mattos |first1=Laura Valladão |date=2000 |title=John Stuart Mill, Socialism, and His Liberal Utopia: An Application of His View of Social Institutions |journal=History of Economic Ideas |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=95–120 |jstor=23722559}}</ref> Education allowed for humans to develop into full informed citizens that had the tools to improve their condition and make fully informed electoral decisions. The power of education lay in its ability to serve as a great equalizer among the classes allowing the working class the ability to control their own destiny and compete with the upper classes. Mill recognised the paramount importance of public education in avoiding the tyranny of the majority by ensuring that all the voters and political participants were fully developed individuals. It was through education, he believed, that an individual could become a full participant within representative democracy.

In regards to higher education, Mill defended liberal education against contemporary arguments for models of higher education focused on religion or science. His 1867 St. Andrews Address called on elites educated in reformed universities to work towards education policy committed to liberal principles.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ward |first1=Lee |title=John Stuart Mill on the Political Significance of Higher Education |journal=History of Education Quarterly |date=August 2023 |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=336–356 |doi=10.1017/heq.2023.22|s2cid=260335019 |doi-access=free }}</ref>