Democratic governments place a high value on assuring their subjects rights such as liberty and equality. Liberty is essential for moral autonomy and the development of a person’s potential, providing that they are psychologically capable of rational independent action. Mill argues that liberty and therefore representative government gives citizens the opportunity and responsibility to participate in political processes. As a consequence, it allows people to broaden their moral horizons and concern themselves with the well being of society as a whole. People value freedom highly and are frustrated without it. From an individualistic perspective, people demand freedom not only because they want things but because it allows them to develop and choose their potential and to attain the balance of activities that suits their individualities. They can only achieve happiness and self-fulfilment if they are free to do so. Collectively, this benefits society as a whole as although liberty is an individualistic right, it ensures the moral development of individuals in society so that they will be able to make political decisions in the best interests of the society as a whole. One may argue that liberty without restraints may be abused and that an absence of restraints is a required condition for liberty.
According to Locke, one has a natural right to freedom, but unlike Mill, he is less concerned with the total sum of happiness than the legitimacy of the government’s right to exercise rule over its citizens. Locke supports social contract theory, believing that as long as each individual has consented to the state, the state can have legitimate authority over him or her. This consent could be communicated via the ballot box: in voting for government, we give it our consent but it cannot be justified that those who did not vote for the winning government should not follow its laws simply because they did not submit their consent. In a democratic government, we are allowed to count ourselves exempt from laws which we may consider to be morally implausible or unjust by protesting.
Locke would consider governments with compulsory voting systems without a social contract as voting would no longer be construed as a sign of consent. In this way, democratic governments allow their citizens important political responsibilities and the knowledge and right to make political decisions. Freedom of the press ensures that citizens remain aware of the political decisions made on their behalf and that morally responsible citizens will not blindly follow the laws but are able to question their moral value. Democratic governments today allow people to be morally aware and active while maintaining specific rights to us without being morally self-indulgent.
Some liberals suggest that democracy matters in itself because of the fairness of its procedures but others suggest that democracy matters instrumentally because it tends to produce desirable consequences for law, policy and citizens.
