Local government: a study of municipalities and communities using the democratic theory

Abstract

This article explores the concepts of municipalities and communities, as fundamental elements of the idea of local government. This is based on the thinking and ideas of Robert Dahl and Giovanni Sartori, who represent the modern democratic theory. It presents a conceptual exploration of the idea of municipalities (territorial jurisdiction of local government) and community (social space of close ties, with moral commitment, social cohesion and continuity over time) within modern political thought, which leads us to conclude reasons of a practical nature to define or characterize minimal territorial unities within the democratic paradigm (the problem of scales), affirming the historical and conceptual distance among both concepts, denying a possible modern fusion between municipalities and communities. Both Dahl and Sartori, although granted significant contributions to local space in efficiency, representativeness and proximity between rulers and ruled, they do not establish clear criteria for democracy at the local level. They conclude that the democratic vocation of local governments is in fact, only possible under certain conditions (as in larger spaces).It is a practical or descriptive observation and not prescriptive or normative one, founded in the theory.