Political Science 3364F/G Chapter Notes -Direct Democracy, Jeremy Bentham
6 Dec 2012
School
Department
Professor
Document Summary
Institutional structure achieves such an importance because it is the vehicle through which the basic purposes and values a society wishes to pursue through local government are carried out. A consideration of theories of local government institutions has both a normative and an empirical component. Any discussion of structure must be undertaken in the context of the values which inhere in local government, values that will differ from one society to another. The bedrock of american local democratic theory is that the role of the local government is to reflect the will of people and that direct individual participation in local government is the best means of achieving this end. A ward system wards should be small enough that every citizen could attend war meetings and act in person. Local democracy consists of the expression of and conflict among diverse views and values held by contending groups attempting to shape local government decisions to meet their ends.
