John Stuart Mill's Theory of Bureaucracy within Representative Government: Balancing Competence and Participation

The role of bureaucracy within representative government has been a central concern of American public administration since its inception, and it continues to be central in important dialogue today. At the heart of this concern is the relationship between bureaucracy and representative government. How does bureaucracy, a hierarchical organization of skill and expertise, fit within a representative government, commonly referred to as democracy by many? Public administration scholars have lamented the lack of an adequate theoretical base to reconcile or explain this relationship (Stivers 1990; Wamsley and Wolf 1996). Finding an adequate theoretical base requires public administration to be examined in its context as a component of a political system. The most commonly referenced treatment of bureaucracy is that of Max Weber (Roth and Wittich 1978); however, Weber never defined bureaucracy, nor did he write a succinct description or analysis of the relationship of the concepts of representative government and bureaucracy (Albrow 1970). Weber's treatment of bureaucracy is often referred to as though it were the earliest modern treatment of the subject. However, prior to Weber's writings, John Stuart Mill set out a remarkably succinct yet impressively comprehensive theory of bureaucracy within representative government. This is clearest in his essay, Considerations on Representative Government, written in 1861, about a half-century before Weber's main writings on the subject (Mill 1958). Moreover, there are other reasons for the utility of Mill's version of American public administration: Mill's argument was articulated in English, with explicit and clear reference to the kinds of issues that have been most germane to American public administration. He paid attention to developments in America and even commented carefully on Tocqueville's observations and commentaries about it (Mill 1958, 1961b, 1961c). Mill recognized the dangers of bureaucracy, including the potential for abuse of power and the limitations it placed on human creativity. He also recognized that bureaucracy had many benefits for representative government. Mill warned of the dangers of democracy, as did some of our founders, but he emphasized the importance of the education that citizens receive when they participate in government. Mill tried to balance the spirit of representative democracy with governance by the wisest, most educated, skilled, and experienced people in the nation, whether they were citizens, elected representatives, or administrative officials. Mill's work references issues that are important to recent competing arguments about the role and legitimacy of American public administration in representative government. His theory provides an understanding of the relationship between bureaucracy and representative government that can contribute to an integrated public administration theory. In this article, I argue that considering the relevance of John Stuart Mill's work to American government suggests a place for public bureaucracy that is not only legitimate, but also necessary for good government. I begin by discussing some of the recent public administration literature that has addressed the legitimacy and role of public administration in American government, identifying an apparent division between participatory themes or competence themes. Second, I provide a summary of Mill's theory of government and his structure for balancing participation and competence. Finally, I explain the relationship that Mill saw between bureaucracy and representative government, identifying bureaucracy's important place in society, and discuss Mill's relevance to current public administration discussion. Legitimacy for Public Administration Ambivalence in the last decade about the democratic possibilities of public administration and a growing societal distrust of bureaucracy led to the appearance of the Blacksburg Manifesto and Refounding Public Administration (Wamsley et al. …