Mill on Political rights and women’s suffrage

 All contemporary discourse on the issue of civil and political rights of women dates back to J. S. Mill's ‘On Liberty’. Political rights and liberties cannot be thought of in terms of specific laws and statutes. Rather, they are ideologies that one believes ought to be valued and respected. Mill tried to reconcile the principle of political equality with individual liberty. He accepted that all citizens, regardless of their status were equal and that only popular sovereignty could give legitimacy to the government. Democracy was good because it made people happier and better. In the Representative Government, Mill commented that difference of sex could not be the basis of political rights. Citing examples like Joan of Arc, Elizabeth and Margaret of Austria, he argued that these women had proved that women were as competent as men to participate and manage political offices. He desired that the subjection of women be ended not merely by law alone, but by education, opinion, habits, and finally a change in the family life itself. Mill believed that through the rights of citizenship, an individual became a social person and acquired both political freedom and responsibility. It was for this concern with the public realm that Mill defended women’s civil and political rights. In granting the right to vote, Mill hoped that women would be able to bring about legislation to remedy their numerous problems, such as, domestic violence etc. He objected to women being prevented by law to compete and contribute to society.

Women's suffrage refers to the right of women to participate in democratic processes through voting on the same basis as men. In the medieval and early modern periods in Europe, the right to vote was severely limited for all people by factors such as age, ownership of property, and gender. Mill looked upon equal voting rights, universal suffrage, democracy and liberty as conditionally good. They had to be conferred only on those who had the character for self-control, and the ability and interest in using them for the public good. Mill argued that the policy of a government in franchise reform should be to make participation in political rights the reward for mental improvement.

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