affected and citizen education, training and loyalty is facilitated.
‘Small is beautiful’!: the greater the autonomy accorded local
authorities the less central co-ordinating machinery is required.
Councils allow the expression of community identity and act as
advocates for their communities to other bodies. They help preserve
social diversity. They present an opportunity for policy and man-
agement experimentation, innovation and learning. Division of
power in a democracy is desirable: ‘Power tends to corrupt, absolute
power corrupts absolutely’ (Acton, 1887).Conclusion
In the first decade of the twenty-first century, representative liberal
democracy appears to be the globally dominant form of govern-
ment. In many parts of the world, however, the institutions of liberal
democracy are still either absent or so recently established that
their capacity to endure in the face of economic difficulties, internal
corruption, ethnic strife or international confrontation must be
seriously open to doubt.
Even in those parts of the world where liberal democracy seems
more securely established, there are many questions still to be settled
as to the units and levels upon which it should operate. Nor have we
yet examined in any depth the considerable variation in the nature of
democratic institutions – this is the subject of the next chapter.Recommended reading
Dinan, Desmond, 1998, Ever Closer Union? An Introduction to the
European Union, 2nd. edn, Basingstoke, Macmillan
Useful standard text on the European Union.
Hague, Rod and Harrop, Martin, 2004, Comparative Government
and Politics, 6th edn, Basingstoke, Macmillan
Useful text covering much of the ground in chapters 5, 6 and 7.
Peterson, John and Shackleton, Michael, 2006, The Institutions of the
European Union, Oxford, Oxford University Press
Discusses the individual institutions of the European Union and
the process of integrating political interests through them.168 STATES