John Stuart Mill?s Liberal-utilitarian Conception of Democracy: the Centrality of Accountability

It is evident that almost all of the commentaries produced since the early 1860s on John Stuart Mill's political philosophy in general, and on his account of democracy in particular, have serious deficiencies. Among these deficiencies, three in particular are worth mentioning: 1) the lack of recognition of the fact that a peoccupation with accountability has a central role in Mill?s political thought; 2) the propensity to separate the study of the socio-political institutions that Mill proposed from the broader concerns of his moral and political philosophy; and 3) the disregard of the fact that Mill believed that socio-political reforms had to take into account the characteristics of national character, the historical trends operating in society, and the characteristics of human nature. This thesis argues that accountability was a central concern in Mill?s liberalutilitarian thought. It was a concern that permeated his attempts to construct institutions which would prevent groups and governments from imposing their wishes on others and facilitate the removal from power of those who were governing against the interests of society.