Mill's Thoughts on Representative Government in One Sentence: An ideal but practical governmental government can only be achieved through the democratic government of "a few specially trained and experienced people." Mill is an elitist. How can he be an elitist when he devotes the first two chapters of his essay to praising the virtues of popular government? surreptitiously arguing for elitism in the next sixteen chapters. In these sixteen chapters, he manages to maintain the democratic façade developed in the first two chapters, while defending elite rule by promoting a governmental scheme in which the people are theoretically supreme, but in practice play no role in the exercise of authority . The first example of this dichotomy emerges in Mill's appreciation of democracy. He claims that the virtue of popular government lies in its educational value; the “intellectual and moral cultivation” determined by political participation. By valuing the passive quality of political participation over its active quality, it subtly undermines the practice of democracy; education need not equate to any influence on the exercise of authority. Surreptitiously, Mill argues that democratic influence on the exercise of authority is great theoretically, but only theoretically; Practical influence on the exercise of authority must be left to “a few specially trained and experienced individuals” of “superior minds.” Mill openly advocates representative government – ​​government in which the people govern through their representatives – as the best form of government. He then stealthily defends elitism through his reasoning for why representatives are necessary, his intricate prescriptions for how representatives should be chosen, and his misguided schemes… middle of the paper… fully endowed with some capacity for reason . Through reasoning humans are able to acquire knowledge of the world through lessons of experience. In order to obtain knowledge, men's capacity for reason must be adequately developed. Reasoning ability is not equally developed in every individual. Individuals therefore differ in their ability to obtain knowledge; individuals with a more cultivated reasoning ability are more adept at obtaining knowledge. According to Mill, in any community, only a select few will possess an exceptionally cultivated reasoning capacity; in any community, these superior minds, endowed with “superior intellects and characters, will necessarily be outnumbered.” The wisest members of each community will therefore be a select few men. It follows that government must be run by a select few men for maximum efficiency.