ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that “Government” formed a part of James Mill's political theory, not the “whole”. Mill’s “Government” focused exclusively on the identification of interests through representation. The chapter shows how Mill seized on the opportunity to develop an argument against anti-reformers, based on principles of “political science” established in earlier works. It illustrates that Mill’s theory of government was much broader than “Government” seemed to suggest. The chapter aims to account for Mill’s focus in “Government” by situating it within the debate on reform; for this reason, it focuses on Jeremy Bentham’s Plan of Parliamentary Reform and its main reviews. A review of James Mill’s earlier works suggests that he did not consider the identity of interests through representation the sole condition of good government. Even though he referred to other conditions—education, publicity, the “fear of resistance”—the foundation of his argument in “Government” was the state of interests.
