Decentralisation – a bulwark against authoritarianism
Krzysztof Gawkowski the newly elected deputy PM of Poland acknowledged the contribution Jerzy Buzek had made to the very successful decentralisation of Poland in the post-soviet era.
Jerzy Buzek was a key member of Solidanosc the pro-democracy Trade Union crucial in bringing democracy to Poland, before going on to be the Prime Minister of Poland between 1997 and 2001, and later President of the European Parliament. It was agreed that the creation of institutions that are designed to decentralise power is an important bulwark against rising populist authoritarianism across the world. Creating many sites of democratic power within a state can be an inoculation against the centralisation and potential oligarchy favoured by authoritarians.
The best services are designed at a local level
It is often true that local levels of government are better able to design and deliver services responsive to local needs. As such, an effective local democracy is one way to build trust in governance as a whole, as people see results in their local area.
Yet local government in the UK has no constitutional status. Scotland in particular has some of the lowest levels of local democracy in Europe. Councils cover hundreds of square kilometers and councillors represent thousands of residents each. I was able to highlight the problems that the UK and Scotland have with a tradition and culture of highly centralised government. Then talk about some of the innovations and ideas ERS Scotland have in response to the Scottish Government’s pre-legislative consultation on local governance – Democracy Matters.
We are arguing for much more local and powerful processes of local and community governance and the ‘building in’ of innovative democratic practices such Citizens Assemblies into any new system of Scottish Local Democracy.
It was fantastic to spend some time with those involved in local government around Europe, and there was plenty to learn about what they do well. Hopefully, if we get invited back in a few years, it will be us giving them a thing or two to think about.
Find out more about our campaign on Scottish local government