Local Government and Democracy
| Published date | 01 March 1953 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1953.tb01755.x |
| Date | 01 March 1953 |
| Author | Professor Georges Langrod |
Local
Government and Democracy
By
PROFESSOR GEORGES LANGROD
Professor
Laigrd
is at the
‘‘
Centre National de
lu
Recherche
Scienti’qiie,”
Paric,
and is Professor
of
Comparative Administration in
the Braziliati
School
of
Public Administration, Rio de Juneiro. This
article
is
base2
on
a
translation
of
a
paper given by Professor Langrod to
the
Conzress
of
the International Political Science Association at The
Hague
in
September,
1952.
HIS
study deals briefly with two concepts
:
First, there is the concept
of
T
local government‘ as a basis for democracyY2 to be considered in the light
of the questions
:
Is
there really, as is
so
often argued, a relation
of
cause
and
elCfect between a democratic regime and local government
?
Is
political demo-
cratisation of the State favourable to the existence and development of local
government,
or,
in spite of certain misleading appearances to the contrary,
is democratic evolution inimical to local government
?
Second there is the
concept of local government as a basis of civic education, and as an apprentice-
ship in democracy, to be considered in the light of the questions
:
What
is
the true role of local government in the work of the democratic education
of
the mass of the people, in the creation of a democratic
“
climate
”
within the
whole machinery
of
the State, and in the formation of the future leaders
of
the political community
?
As
the Basis
of
Democracy
If
local government really constituted the basis,
0s
even one
of
the bases,
of
democracy, the logical result would be that the latter could not be conceived
without it
or
that the whole democratic structure would risk collapse without
it.
On
the other hand, the existence of local government would not be fully
possible except within the framework
of
2
democratic regime.
Such a conception, implied rather than clearly stated, is to be found in
political literature and seems to be supported by a general conviction. Thus
local government is often identified, for example, with
‘‘
communal demo-
cracy
”
in the sense of Thouret’s
pouvoir municipal,
or
of
the German
kommunale
Selbstverwaltung
(Gneist), with the
“
grass roots democracy
”
of the United
States (Lilienthal)
or
with the
“
local self-government
”
of Great Britain.
In the small European democracies, as regards extent of territory, e.g.,
Switzerland, democracy is generally considered to be based
on
the local
commune. But there appears to be a characteristic tendency rather
to
integrate the institution of local government with the democratic regime
than to examine the alleged dependence of the latter on the local government
existing within itself.
Now it appears that there is here, fundamentally, a regrettable confusion
of ideas. In actual fact, there appears to be no justification for asserting that
there exists an inevitable tie of reciprocal dependence between democracy
and local government. Democracy does not come into being where local
government appears, nor does it cease with the disappearance
of
the latter.
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