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John Stuart Mill on civil service recruitment and the relation between bureaucracy and democracy

Van Waarden, Betto LU (2015) In Canadian Journal of Political Science 48(3). p.625-645
Abstract

As a civil servant in the East India Company and witness to government expansion and reorganization in the mid-nineteenth century, John Stuart Mill developed an interest in civil service reform. In an essay supporting the 1854 Northcote-Trevelyan Report and his later political treatises, Mill argued for competitive civil service recruitment. These writings have been relatively neglected by Mill scholars, but I posit that they elucidate a contested aspect of his theory. Mill advocated democracy and expert bureaucracy and, although researchers see tension between these systems, I argue that Mill saw them as compatible. Consequently, Mill's theory might be more consistent and complete than many believe, and the public administration debate... (More)

As a civil servant in the East India Company and witness to government expansion and reorganization in the mid-nineteenth century, John Stuart Mill developed an interest in civil service reform. In an essay supporting the 1854 Northcote-Trevelyan Report and his later political treatises, Mill argued for competitive civil service recruitment. These writings have been relatively neglected by Mill scholars, but I posit that they elucidate a contested aspect of his theory. Mill advocated democracy and expert bureaucracy and, although researchers see tension between these systems, I argue that Mill saw them as compatible. Consequently, Mill's theory might be more consistent and complete than many believe, and the public administration debate should perhaps no longer be seen in terms of an opposition between expertise and democracy.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Canadian Journal of Political Science
volume
48
issue
3
pages
21 pages
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:84962260891
ISSN
0008-4239
DOI
10.1017/S0008423915000542
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
5a775441-dd40-4e70-a04f-2dd52a5c404e
date added to LUP
2020-10-19 08:44:31
date last changed
2022-02-01 17:00:41
@article{5a775441-dd40-4e70-a04f-2dd52a5c404e,
  abstract     = {{<p>As a civil servant in the East India Company and witness to government expansion and reorganization in the mid-nineteenth century, John Stuart Mill developed an interest in civil service reform. In an essay supporting the 1854 Northcote-Trevelyan Report and his later political treatises, Mill argued for competitive civil service recruitment. These writings have been relatively neglected by Mill scholars, but I posit that they elucidate a contested aspect of his theory. Mill advocated democracy and expert bureaucracy and, although researchers see tension between these systems, I argue that Mill saw them as compatible. Consequently, Mill's theory might be more consistent and complete than many believe, and the public administration debate should perhaps no longer be seen in terms of an opposition between expertise and democracy.</p>}},
  author       = {{Van Waarden, Betto}},
  issn         = {{0008-4239}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{625--645}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Canadian Journal of Political Science}},
  title        = {{John Stuart Mill on civil service recruitment and the relation between bureaucracy and democracy}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0008423915000542}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/S0008423915000542}},
  volume       = {{48}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}