WELCOME TO PA: 302
Z.R.M. Abdullah Kaiser
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Public Administration
University of Chittagong
The term local self-government refers to a political
sub-division of a nation or state which is
constituted by law and has substantial control of
local affairs, including the power to impose taxes
or exact labor for prescribed purpose.
• According to the researcher Clarke (Aijaz, 2007)
local government is part of the government of a
country which deals mainly with problems or
issues related to a given population within a given
territory.
Characteristics of Local Government
• Statutory status
• The right to decide about their own local taxes on the
territory where extend
• Jurisdiction, Participation of local community in
decision-making
• The right of local community participation in decision
making process or management of local affairs,
• Specific area
• General purpose
• Organization
Importance
• As the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru said in 1948 (Aijaz, 2007):
"... Self-governance is and should be the basis of
any truly democratic system. You can not build
a consolidated democracy, if you don’t build
its foundation from below ... “
Secondly, the local government can create
future leaders.
• Thirdly, its importance lies in the fact that
manages much better and more efficiently the
local affairs as it is closer to the needs of
citizens.
• Finally, its importance lies in the fact that it
serves as a communication tool and an
intermediary between the central government
and the people or community.
The Encyclopedia of social science has
indentified five broad categories:
Federal decentralized
system
Unitary decentralized
system
Napoleonic perfect
system
Communist system
Post colonial system
Federal decentralized system
• In federal systems with much decentralization
(for example, Australia, Canada, Germany,
Switzerland, and the United States) the degree
of autonomy of local government varies
considerably from country to country, but in
all cases a considerable degree of local
independence prevails.
Unitary—decentralized systems
Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries are
examples of nations with unitary (that is, non-
federal) governments which have a considerable
degree of decentralization of autonomous power
to localities. Although in all cases there is
supervision by the central government, and
although localities can take only such actions as
authorized by the central government, local
governments in these nations do have fairly wide
responsibilities and make independent decisions
about them.
Napoleonic-prefect systems
The peculiarity of this style of local government
is that the central government places in sub-
regions of the nation an agent of the national
government to oversee, and if necessary to
suspend, or replace local governments. The
system is a direct survivor of the ancient
institutions by which France attempted to
create a centralized nation.
Communist systems
The local governmental systems of communist nations are, in
general, examples of deconcentratiori of authority rather
than decentralization. That is, the local governmental unit is
an agency of the central government, and it functions as an
integral element of the hierarchical administrative system
of the state. The area of local independence is narrow and
extends only to minor matters, whereas control devices are
extensive and are rigorously applied. Local officials are well
aware that their decisions must conform to an overall
design of higher authorities, and they know, too, that to
divert budget funds to other purposes without permission
may mean dismissal or even imprisonment.
Postcolonial systems
The creation of new nations from former
colonies involves varying degrees of change in
local government. In some cases the
imposition of a strong single-party political
system subverts old patterns almost entirely;
in others, where adjustment more than
revolutionary change has been the theme,
local government patterns have not altered
drastically.
Local Government and Local Administration
Local Government Local Administration
Operate by the elected representative Operate by government officials
Its has power to formulate some law, rules Its have no right
for operating their activities
Political organization It no right to involve any political activities
Temporary institution Permanency is one of characteristic
Own income source Operate by government revenue
Participation of local people No direct participation of local people
Its has own planning No specific planning
Responsible to people and government Responsible to government
Imposing tax in certain area No right to impose tax