ABSTRACT
The theory of natural rights had this to recommend it: it recognized the moral principle that every person must be respected as a source of claims, and must not be treated as a mere instrument; and further, that all interests must be weighed impartially. The natural right democrats believed that only a democratic government could be expected to govern in that spirit, not because it ensured that the majority would have its way, but because it conferred on every individual the opportunity to voice a claim which no government could afford to ignore. This seems to us the most promising line for a justification of democracy. 'The rights and interests of every or any person are only secure from being disregarded,’ wrote Mill, 'when the person interested is himself able, and habitually disposed, to stand up for them . . . We need not suppose that when power resides in an exclusive class, that class will knowingly and deliberately sacrifice the other classes to themselves: it suffices that, in the absence of its natural defenders, the interest of the excluded is always in danger of being overlooked; and, when looked at, is seen with very different eyes from those of the persons whom it directly concerns.'14
