Skip to main content

Primary sourceBook1861

Considerations on Representative Government

John Stuart Mill · 1861

Mill's 1861 book arguing representative government is the ideal political system and proposing reforms to voting.

Mill's own blueprint for democratic government and electoral reform.

Ask John Stuart Mill about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Title page of the 1861 first edition of Considerations on Representative Government by John Stuart Mill. Printed text reads CONSIDERATIONS ON REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT, BY JOHN STUART MILL, LONDON, PARKER, SON, AND BOURN, WEST STRAND, MDCCCLXI. Handwritten ownership inscription and date appear at top right.
John Stuart Mill, Considerations on Representative Government, 1861. Title page scan.

About this source

What it is

This is the title page of the 1861 first edition of Considerations on Representative Government, by John Stuart Mill, published in London by Parker, Son, and Bourn.

Why it matters

Mill argues that the purpose of legislatures is less to make laws than to be a place for public debate and oversight of government. He supported proportional representation and a system of single transferable voting, ideas earlier proposed by Thomas Hare. He also controversially argued that better-educated voters should have more votes than others, while opposing the idea that this should let an educated minority pass laws purely for its own benefit.

Look closer

  • Why did Mill think the main job of a legislature was debate and oversight rather than simply making laws?
  • What problems can you see with Mill's idea of giving more votes to better-educated people?
  • How do Mill's proposals compare with the voting system used where you live today?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of John Stuart Mill on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More John Stuart Mill sources

Meet the AI John Stuart Mill →
Title page of the 1859 first edition of On Liberty. Text reads: ON LIBERTY, BY JOHN STUART MILL. Below: LONDON: JOHN W. PARKER AND SON, WEST STRAND, and the date M.DCCC.LIX in small capitals. Cream-colored paper.Book

Primary source

On Liberty

John Stuart Mill · 1859

Title page of the book Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill. Text reads: UTILITARIANISM, BY JOHN STUART MILL, Reprinted from Fraser's Magazine, LONDON: PARKER, SON, AND BOURN, WEST STRAND, 1863, The Author reserves the right of Translation.Book

Primary source

Utilitarianism

John Stuart Mill · 1861

Title page of The Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mill. Printed text reads: THE SUBJECTION OF WOMEN, BY JOHN STUART MILL, LONDON, LONGMANS, GREEN, READER, AND DYER, 1869. Cream-colored paper.Book

Primary source

The Subjection of Women

John Stuart Mill · 1869

Book

Primary source

Autobiography

John Stuart Mill · 1873 (written; published posthumously)

Oil portrait of an elderly bald man with white side hair and a greying beard, wearing a dark coat and white collar, against a dark brown background. He gazes to the viewer's left with a serious expression.Painting

Primary source

John Stuart Mill

George Frederic Watts · 1873

Ready when you are

Start chatting with John Stuart Mill now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions