1806-1873

" ... [argues] that [the] current crisis in government is nothing less than the fourth radical transition in the history of the nation-state ... The West has led these revolutions, but [is] now ... in the midst of a fourth revolution, and it is Western government that is in danger of being left behind ... Drives home a powerful argument: that countries' success depends overwhelmingly on their ability to reinvent the state. And that much of the West--and particularly the United States--is failing badly in its task. China is making rapid progress with government reform at the same time as America is falling badly behind ... "--Publisher.

Presents a concise account of the life and ideas of nineteenth-century British philosopher John Stuart Mill, one of the leading exponents of Utilitarianism, which has as its central principle "the greatest benefit of the greatest number.".

Of the liberty of thought and discussion -- on individuality, as one of the elements of well being -- of the limits to the authority of society over the individual.

Asserts that women should be equal to men in terms of "personal freedom" and states that the subordination of one sex to another is "now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement.".