Revision summary
Macpherson read Hobbes and Locke as theorists of possessive individualism: the person as owner of capacities in a market society. The liberal state in that reading mainly protects property and contract. He then distinguished extractive power, which takes benefit from others, from developmental power, which is the ability to unfold human capacities. Democracy should be judged by equal developmental power, not only by elections or negative liberty. The argument retrieves an ethical liberalism and a non-authoritarian Marxism against a thin competitive elite model of democracy.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
C. B. Macpherson read English liberalism, especially Hobbes and Locke, as a theory of possessive individualism: the person as proprietor of his own capacities, owing nothing to society for them. From that reading he built a distinct account of power. Power is not only command over others. It is also the ability to use and develop one’s human capacities.
Body
Possessive individualism
In The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism (1962), Macpherson argued that seventeenth-century liberal theory assumed a market society. The individual owns his person and capacities. Freedom is the right to dispose of that property. The state protects property and contract. Locke’s labour mixing with nature becomes, once money appears, a charter for accumulation. Obligation follows from this proprietary self, not from a richer citizenship. Whoever lacks property then lacks effective liberty, and formal rights hide a class structure.
Developmental power
- In Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval, Macpherson distinguished extractive power from developmental power. Extractive power takes benefit from others — capital over labour, a ruling class over the ruled. Developmental power is access to the means of unfolding uniquely human capacities: reason, judgement, creation, and political action.
A society can expand the first while starving the second. Democracy, for Macpherson, should equalise developmental power, not only hold elections. That retrieval is closer to Mill’s higher pleasures and to a non-Stalinist reading of Marx’s species-being than to Schumpeter’s elite competition. Critics said he romanticised community and underplayed tyranny. The point remains: power is also human flourishing inside a property order, not only who issues commands.
Flow diagram
Conclusion
Macpherson’s view of power starts from possessive individualism and then breaks it. Power-over extracts; developmental power is the equal chance to unfold human capacities. Liberal democracy is incomplete while property and the market hoard that chance. The note is a retrieval of democracy as human development, not a textbook list of faces of power from Dahl to Lukes, though it sits near them.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Mention the difference between Italian and German brands of fascism
Next question on this syllabus topic (2025 · Q1(d)). View answer →
-
Is Macpherson simply a Marxist?
He used Marx’s insight into class and species-being, but he wrote as a critic inside the liberal-democratic tradition, seeking retrieval rather than a one-party state.
-
How does this differ from Dahl’s power as A getting B to do what B would not?
Dahl’s decision-making power is behavioural and interpersonal. Macpherson’s developmental power is a social and ethical capacity that a property order can block even when votes are free.
More from this topic
Q8(c) · UPSC Mains 2026 · PSIR GS 1 · 15 marks · Solution
"The lack of political will in preventing environmental degradation is one of the major challenges that India is experiencing." Comment
Political Theory
This 15-mark PSIR answer evaluates India's environmental degradation through the lens of political will, balancing developmental imperatives with ecological imperatives. It examines how electoral cycles, populist short-termism, and growth-first paradigms often sideline ecological security. Key thinkers like Ramachandra Guha and political economy frameworks are integrated to explain the structural inertia. The response provides Indian illustrations ranging from developmental clearances to air pollution crises. It concludes with a policy-forward outlook anchored in constitutional provisions like Article 48A and 51A(g).
Q8(a) · UPSC Mains 2026 · PSIR GS 1 · 20 marks · Solution
Discuss the causes and consequences of inter-State water disputes in India
Political Theory
This answer examines the structural causes and multi-dimensional consequences of inter-State water disputes in India. It highlights federal friction, climate variability, and legal-institutional gaps as primary causes. The consequences span socio-economic losses, inter-regional animosity, and challenges to federal integrity. The response incorporates institutional frameworks like the Inter-State Water Disputes Act and concludes with cooperative water federalism as the way forward.
Q7(c) · UPSC Mains 2026 · PSIR GS 1 · 15 marks · Solution
Map the different types of ethnic conflicts that have emerged in 21st century India
Political Theory
This 15-marker maps the typology of ethnic conflicts in 21st-century India, distinguishing between indigenous-immigrant clashes, tribal identity assertions, and sub-nationalist movements. It examines the structural roots of these conflicts in uneven development, resource competition, and cultural anxiety. The answer integrates theoretical insights on identity politics with concrete Indian case studies across the Northeast and mainland. It concludes with a policy-oriented view emphasizing federal accommodation, democratic dialogue, and inclusive development.