LOCAL GOVERNMENT, Principles of. In all countries of any size the work of govern !tent is divided between the central authorities and officials in local districts; and the general character of the government as a whole is affected largely by the system of local govern ment and the relations between the central and local authorities. The principles involved in local government systems are more complicated than are often realized; and governments which resemble each other in the main features of the central government may differ radically in their machinery of local government. This article calls attention to some of the leading factors to be considered in the study of local government, with illustrations from some of the more important countries.
Local Government import ant consideration is the nature of the local government areas. In some countries, there are comparatively large districts, often called provinces, which in modern times are historical divisions, in some cases representing formerly independent states. Such are the provinces of Prussia and Italy. In other countries, the older provinces have disappeared, and more recently established districts, generally smaller than the provinces, have been created, as the °depart ments') of France. With these may be com pared the counties of England. Both of these classes of districts include both urban and rural territory.
In addition to such districts, in most coun tries there are now somewhat smaller local government areas,— such as the ((circles* in Germany, the garrondisementsn in France and the °rural districts') of England; and in most of the American States, counties are compar able in size and importance with such districts of the second order in European countries. Most of the districts of this class include both urban and rural territory; but with the develop ment of urban population during the last cen tury, there are now distinctively urban dis tricts of this type, and the district government is often combined with that of the city.
Still further, there are in all countries local communities of smaller area, ranging from rural villages, parishes or towns, to large metropolitan cities. In some countries, as in Germany and England, there is an important legal distinction between rural towns or parishes and urban municipalities, such as cities and boroughs. In France both rural and urban
communities are organized as communes. In the United States there are wide variations be tween the different States. In the north Atlan tic States, the term city is limited to places of over 10,000 or 12,000; in the Southern and Western States the minimum population for cities is lower,- from 5,000 in Ohio to 300 in Kansas. Smaller semi-urban districts are classed as villages or boroughs; while in New England the town government usually includes that of the villages.
In addition there is a great variety of special districts for particular purposes, overlapping the other areas. These are frequently organ ized as administrative subdivisions for the central government; but in England and the United States many such districts have also been established with locally elected authori ties,— such as poor law, port and burial dis tricts in England; and school, drainage, sani tary and many other districts in the American States. The recent tendency in England is to eliminate such special districts; and to carry on public functions, as on the continent of Europe, by the more general local authorities, sometimes uniting several such districts for particular pur poses.
Centralization and In the organization of government one of the most important factors is the relative degree of central control and local autonomy as to the work done by local officials. In this respect both history and present systems show a wide range of variation from extreme centralization to an extensive field of local home rule.
As Rome extended its dominion, the former city-states which it conquered were allowed to retain a large measure of self-government. But beginning with a centralized system of military and tax administration, the sphere of central control was gradually enlarged; and as ultimately organized in the time of Diocletian the whole system of government became thoroughly centralized, with the officials of the praetorian prafectures, the provinces and the municipalities appointed by and subject to the control of the higher authorities.