LOCAL GOVERNMENT

This article appears in Volume V16, Page 839 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: LOB-LUP

LOCAL GOVERNMENT , a phrase specially adopted in

English

ENGLISH

usage for the decentralized or deconcentrated administration, within a state or national and central government, of local affairs by local authorities. It is restricted not only in respect
of area but also in respect of the character and extent of the duties assigned to them. It is not to be confused with local self-government in the wider sense in which the words are sometimes employed, e.g. for the granting by the crown of self-government to a colony; the expression, in a general way, may mean this, but " local government " as technically used in England refers more narrowly to the

system

SYSTEM

of county or municipal administration, and

English

ENGLISH

usage transfers it to denote the similar institutions in other countries. The growth and persistence of this kind of subordinate government is due practically to the need of relieving the central authority in the state, and to experience of the failure of a completely centralized bureaucracy. The degree to which local government is adopted varies considerably in different countries, and those which are the best examples of it in modern timesthe United Kingdom, the United States, France and Germanydiffer very much in their local institutions, partly through historical, partly through temperamental, causes. A certain shifting of ideas from time to time, as to what is local and what is central, is inevitable, and the same view is not possible in countries of different con-figuration, history or political

system

SYSTEM

. The history and present st ate of the local government in the various countries are dealt with in the

separate

SEPARATE

articles on them (ENGLAND, GERMANY, &c.), in the sections dealing with government and administration, or political institutions.
The best

recent

RECENT

comparative

COMPARATIVE

study of local government is

Percy

Ashley's Local and Central Government (Murray, 1906), an admirable account of the

evolution

EVOLUTION

and working of the systems in England, France,

Prussia

PRUSSIA
PRUSSIA (Ger. Preussen; Lat. Borussia)

and United States. Other important works, in addition to general works on constitutional law, are J. A. Fairlie's Municipal Administration,

Shaw

's Municipal Government in Continental Europe, Redlich and Hirst's Local Government in England, Mr and Mrs Sidney Webb's elaborate historical inquiry into English local government (1906), and for Germany, Bornhak's Geschichte des preussischen Verwaltungsrechts.

End of Article: LOCAL GOVERNMENT

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/LOB_LUP/LOCAL_GOVERNMENT.html">
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
</a>

(Previous)
LOCAL

(Next)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email