Child labor evokes deep emotions and is cause for growing international concern. What, if anything, should governments of liberal-democratic societies do to combat child labor?

This paper discusses the possibilities and pitfalls of Western policies that seek to curb child labor abroad. Since such policies aim to combat practices in another society, policy makers should be aware of the many relevant differences between developing and developed countries. We discuss three issues that are central to this debate: socioeconomic causes of child labor, different conceptions of childhood, and the distinction between child work and child labor. Studying the historical example of the emergence and disappearance of child labor in nineteenth-century Netherlands broadens our analysis. We then evaluate the implications of these investigations and conclude the paper by suggesting five recommendations for Western policy makers that would avoid the pitfalls discussed.

Recently in The Netherlands, as in other countries, many have called for administrative and democratic reform. The perspectives implicated in the arguments for change differ, however. Some argue for a strengthening of mechanisms of control and accountability. Others opt for more – and more direct – citizen participation in governance. In effect, these perspectives often contradict. In this article we will look into J.S. Mill's effort to combine such different perspectives. It is shown that in his considerations on good government a third principle is active: administrative competence or quality. Mill, thus, makes us aware of a deficiency in many contemporary evaluations of administrative and democratic renewal.