’Responsibility，’indeed，alwaysimpliesliberty——theexistenceofaspherewithinwhichaman’sfortunesdependuponhispersonalcharacter，andhischaractershoulddeterminehisfortune。But，asMillcanmostclearlyrecognise，socialresponsibilitymeanssomethingmore。Onemost’certainincident’
ofsocialprogressisthegrowthofco-operation，andthatinvolves，ashesays，the’subordinationofindividualcaprice’
toa’preconceiveddetermination’andtheperformanceofpartsallottedina’combinedundertaking。’25*Theindividual，then，ispartofanorganisation，inwhicheveryindividualshouldplayhispart。Theover-centralisationwhichwouldcrushhimintoanautomatonisnotmorefatalthantheindividualindependencewhichwouldbeincompatiblewithorganisation。Thedesirable’responsibility’isnotthatofaRobinsonCrusoebutthatofthesoldierinanarmy。Itshouldbeenforcedbyothermotivesthanmereself-interest，foritaffectstheinterestsofthewholebodycorporate。NowMill，believingeventoexcessinthepowerofeducation，includedineducationthewholedisciplineoflifeduetotherelationsoftheindividualtohissocialenvironment；
anditishisessentialprinciplethatthisforceshouldbedirectedtoenforcingasenseof’responsibility’inthewidestacceptationoftheword。
V。POLITICALAPPLICATION
Asimilardoctrineisimpliedinhispoliticalwritings，ofwhichtheRepresentativeGovernmentisthemostexplicit。Thebookishardlyonalevelwithhisbestwork。Treatisesof’politicalphilosophy’aregenerallydisappointing。Thedifficultylies，Isuppose，incombiningthepracticalwiththegeneralpointofview。Insometreatises，the’philosophy’ismadeupofsuchscrapsaboutthesocialcontractormixtureofthethreeformsofgovernmentasexcitedBentham’scontemptinBlackstone’streatise。Theyareamerejuggleofabstractionsfitonlyforschoolboys。Others，likeJamesMill’s，arereallypartypamphlets，masqueradingasphilosophy，andimportingobviousprinciplesintothelikenessofgeometricalaxioms。Agooddealofwisdomnodoubtlurksinthespeechesofstatesmen；butitisnotofteneasytoextricateitfromthemassofpersonalandpracticalremarks。Mill’streatisemightsuggestsomesuchcriticism；andyetitisinterestingasanindicationofhisleadingprinciples。Somepassagesshowhowlongexperienceinapublicofficeaffectsaphilosophicthinker。Mill’sexposition，forexample，ofthedefectsoftheHouseofCommonsinadministrativelegislation，26*hisdiscussionofthefactashetakesittobethatgovernmentsremarkableforsustainedvigourandabilityhavegenerallybeenaristocratic，27*andhispanegyricupontheEastIndiaCompany，28*recordthegenuineimpressionsofhislongadministrativecareer，andarerefreshinginthemidstofmoreabstractdiscussions。Ihave，however，onlytonoticeageneralprinciplewhichrunsthroughthebook。
MillstartsbyemphasisingthedistinctionappliedinthePoliticalEconomybetweenthenaturalandtheartificial。
Politicalinstitutionsaretheworkofmenandcreatedbythewill。Thedoctrinethatgovernments’arenotmade，butgrow，’
wouldleadto’politicalfatalism’ifitwereregardedastrueexclusivelyoftheother。Infact，wemightreply，thereisnorealoppositionatall。’Making’isbutonekindof’growing。’
Growingbyconsciousforethoughtisstillgrowing，andtheantithesisputabsolutelyisdeceptive。Millisstrivingtoenlargethesphereofvoluntaryaction。Hewishestoprovethathecantakethegroundgenerallysupposedtoimplythedoctrineof’freewill。’Institutions，hefullyadmits，presupposecertainqualitiesinthepeople；but，giventhosequalities，theyare’amatterofchoice。’29*Inpolitics，asinmachinery，weareturningexistingpowerstoaccount；butwedonotsaythat，becauseriverswillnotrunuphill，’water-millsarenotmadebutgrow。’Thepoliticaltheoristcaninventconstitutionsastheengineercaninventmachinery，whichwillmateriallyaltertheresults；andtoinquirewhichisthebestformofgovernment’intheabstract’is’notachimericalbutahighlypracticalemploymentofthescientificintellect。’Theillustrationisdifficulttoapplyifthe’river’meansthewholesociety，andthe’water-mill’isitself，therefore，onepartofthe’river。’
Thelegislatorisnotanexternalforcebutanintegralpartofinternalforces。
Inthenextplace，MillrejectsadistinctionmadebyComte30*betweenorderandprogress。Comtehadmadeadistinctionbetween’statics’and’dynamics’insociology，whicharetoeachotherlikeanatomyandphysiology。Theconditionsofexistence，andtheconditionsofcontinuousmovementofasocietycorrespondto’orderandprogress。’31*Millrepliesthat’progress’includes’order，’andthatthetwoconditionscannotgiveindependentcriteriaofthemeritsoftheinstitutions。
Comte，inanycase，regardingsociologyasascience，considersthedependenceofpoliticalinstitutionsuponsocialstructuretobemuchcloserthanMillwouldadmit。Thepowerofthelegislatortoaltersocietyisstrictlysubordinateanddependentthroughoutuponitsrelationtotheexistingorganism。InhisstudyofComte，32*MilldeclaresemphaticallythatComte’sworkhasmadeitnecessaryforalllaterthinkerstostartfroma’connectedviewofthegreatfactsofhistory。’HespeakswithenthusiasmofComte’sgreatsurveyofhistory，andfullyacceptstheprinciple。
Yet，infact，hescarcelyappliesthemethodinhispoliticalsystem，andacceptsadoctrinereallyinconsistentwithit。Hisanxietytogiveafarwiderspheretothepossibilitiesofmodifying，leadshimtoregardinstitutionsastheultimatecausesofchange，insteadoffactorsthemselvesstrictlydependentupondeepercauses。Hencehesubstitutesadifferentdistinction。Wearetojudgeofinstitutionsbytheirefficiencyaseducatingagencies，ontheonehand，andasthemeansofcarryingon’publicbusiness’ontheother。Institutionsshoulddotheirworkwell，andturntheworkersintogoodcitizens。33*
Theeducativeinfluenceofgovernmentisthushischaracteristicpoint。The’ideallybestformofgovernment，’asMillofcourseadmits，isnotoneapplicable’atallstagesofcivilisation。’34*Wehavetosupposecertainconditions，andhetakespaintoshowinwhatcaseshisidealwouldbeinapplicable。35*But，giventhestagereachedinmoderntimesashepracticallyassumes，thereis’nodifficultyinshowing’
theidealformtobetherepresentativesystem；thatinwhich’sovereigntyisvestedintheentireaggregateofthecommunity，’
everycitizenhavingavoiceandtakingatleastanoccasionalpartindischargingthefunctionsofgovernment。36*ThisappliesthedoctrinealreadyexpoundedintheLiberty。Citizensshouldbe’self-protectingandself-protective’；37*the’active，’notthe’passive’typeofcharactershouldbeencouraged。Thestriving，go-aheadcharacterofAnglo-Saxonsisonlyobjectionablesofarasitisdirectedtopettyends；theEnglishmansaysnaturally，’Whatashame！’whentheFrenchmansays，’Ilfautdelapatience！’andtheinstitutionswhichencouragethisenergeticcharacterbygivingavotetoall，bypermittingfreedomofspeech，andbypermittingallmentodischargesmalldutiestoactonjuriesforexamplearethebest。Iwillonlynotethatthistendstobegtheimportantquestion，Aretheinstitutionsreallythecauseortheeffect？
HastheenergyoftheEnglishracemadetheirinstitutionsfree？
orhavethefreeinstitutionsmadethemenergetic？oraretheinstitutionsandthecharactercollateraleffectsofagreatvarietyofcauses？Whensomuchstressislaidupontheeducationaleffect——ofservinguponajury，forinstance——weareimpelledtoaskwhatistheultimatecause。Arepeoplesomuchmorallyimprovedbyservingonjuries？Iftheinstitutionlikethe’water-mill’onlydirectscertaininstinctsalreadyexisting，wemustnotspeakasifthemillmadethewater。power；
andMill’sargumentssuggestaliabilitytothisfallacy。Itbecomesimportantatthenextstage。
Theidealformofgovernmenthasitsinfirmities，asMillinsists。Twoareconspicuous：thedifficultyofinducingademocracytointrustworkwhichrequiresskilltothosewhopossessskill；38*andtheolddifficulty——the’tyrannyofthemajority。’Mill’scontentionthatthe’Demos’maybestupid，mistakeitsowninterests，andimpressitsmistakenviewsuponthelegislation，needsnoexposition。Wearethusbroughttothequestionhowtheidealgovernmentistobesoconstitutedthattheinterestsofasection——evenifitbethemajority——maynotbesopowerfulastooverwhelmtheothersectionsevenwhenbackedby’truthandjustice。’39*Dangerofpopularstupidityanddangerofclasslegislationindicatetwogreatevilstobeabatedasfaraspossibleby’humancontrivance。’40*A
sufficient’contrivance’wasinfactrevealedattherightmoment。Adiscoveryofsurpassingvaluehadbeenannouncedbyoneofhisfriends。Hare’sschemeofrepresentation，saysMillwithcharacteristicenthusiasm，hasthe’almostunparalleledmerit’ofsecuringitsspecialaiminalmost’idealperfection，’whileincidentallyattainingothersofalmostequalimportance。Heplacesitamongtheverygreatest’improvementsyetmadeinthetheoryandpracticeofgovernment。’41*Itwould，forexample，bealmosta’specific’againstthetendencyofrepublicstoostracisetheirablestmen。42*Anditwouldbetheappropriateorganofthegreatfunctionof’antagonism’43*whichnowtakestheplaceofcontradictioninintellectualdevelopment。Therewillalwaysbesomebodytoopposethesupremepower，andthustopreventthestagnation，followedbydecay，whichhasalwaysresultedfromacompletevictory。
Isnotthe’water-mill’hereexpectedtoworktheriver？Thefaithinabitofmechanismof’humancontrivance’becomessublime。Hare’sschememayhavegreatconveniencesundermanycircumstances。ButthatHare’sschemeoranyschemeshouldregeneratepoliticsseemstobeavisionarybelief，unworthyofMill’shighermoods。Heseemstofallintotheerrortoocommonamonglegislativetheorists，ofassumingthataninstitutionwillbeworkedfortheendsofthecontriver，insteadofaskingtowhatendsitmaybedistortedbytheingenuityofallwhocanturnittoaccountfortheirownpurposes。Thereisamorevitaldifficulty。IfHare’sschemeworkedasMillexpectedittowork，oneresultwouldbenecessarilyimplied。TheHouseofCommonswouldreflectaccuratelyalltheopinionsofthecountry。
WhateveropinionhadamajorityinthecountrywouldhaveamajorityintheHouse。Labourers，ashesuggestswhenshowingthedangersofdemocracy，maybeinfavourofprotection，oroffixingtherateofwages。Nowinthisschemethemajorityinthecountrymayenforcewhateverlawsapprovethemselvestotheignorant。Idonotsaythatthiswouldactuallybetheresult；
forIthinkthat，inpointoffact，thechangeofmeremachinerywouldbeofcomparativelylittleimportance。Thepoweroftherichandtheeducateddoesnotreallydependuponthesystemofvoting，ortheostensibletheoryoftheconstitution，butuponthecountlesswaysinwhichwealth，education，andthewholesocialsystemaffecttheworkingofinstitutions。Millcanfullyadmitthefactattimes。Buthereheistakingforgrantedthattheeffectoftheschemewillbetosecureaperfectlycorrectminiatureoftheopinionsofallseparatepersons。Thewiseminoritywillthereforebeaminorityintheland。Itwillbeabletomakespeeches。Butthespeeches，howeverable，arebutaninsignificanttrickleinthegreatcurrentoftalkwhichformswhatiscalled’publicopinion。’Thenecessaryresultuponhisshowingwouldbe，thatlegislationwouldfollowtheopinionsofthemajority，or，inotherwords，facilitatethe’tyrannyofthemajority。’