Given our long association with local government, the idea that it is a good in itself comes naturally and so the temptation to believe that any working system of local democracy is better than none is ever present. Recently (12/08/2013),the NGO Face the Future’s (FtF) mail, with some interesting ideas on local government, alluded to this when it said “… it is worrying that public comment on the new Bills has focused almost exclusively on the fact that they clear the way for local government elections, rather than on their substance.”
Of course, there is a grain but only a grain, of truth in the position that any working local system that gives people a level of control over their lives may be better than none. On the other hand, the outcomes from a badly constructed system could lead to dashed expectations and alienation from the very process it seeks to establish.
Last week, I indicated that, depending on their ideology, people can come to a reform process with different expectations. Therefore, in my view, if we are to establish a reasonably adequate system of local democracy, it is best that the underlying principle or principles that drive/s our endeavour be made explicitly clear.
But although general agreement on such principles would prove a huge advantage, this is not
