Abstract

In much of the liberal tradition, it is assumed that individual development and civic engagement are mutually contradictory. The endeavor of self-development is relegated to the private sphere, and the task of the political system is limited to providing individuals with the protection necessary to enable them to pursue whatever course of individual development they deem appropriate. In the tradition of civic republicanism, there is a strong emphasis on the relationship between political participation and character development. But civic republicans stress the development of civic virtues, not the development of unique individuals. This dissertation examines the relationship between the ideal of self-development and participation in representative political institutions in the writings of three nineteenth century political theorists, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and John Stuart Mill. These theorists distinguish themselves from the standard liberal and civic republican accounts of self-development by focusing on the role that participation in public affairs plays in shaping unique self-standing individuals. Thus, these theorists recast the questions of civic education and character development in an exciting way that radically transforms standard liberal and civic republican formulations. By exploring and critiquing these nineteenth century conceptions or self-development and liberal-democratic citizenship, I aim to further the understanding of how liberal-democratic institutions contribute to intellectual, moral and character development. In addition, this dissertation should aid in the formulation of a theory of "developmental democracy" which explores the question of which institutions are best suited to maximize self-development in a liberal-democratic polity