Local democracy as local autonomy

Abstract The dominant conceptualization of democracy is nation-centric: it prioritizes national elections over other forms of public participation in decision-making, emphasizes a strong system of institutional checks and balances and separation of powers as key indicators of a healthy democracy, and embeds national democratic institutions into a robust liberal framework. From this perspective, local democratic institutions are viewed merely as miniature versions of national democracy, expected to operate according to the same principles. In contrast, we argue that local democratic institutions embody an alternative conception of democracy. Our conception of local democracy is grounded in the principle of local autonomy, understood as the capacity of local institutions to engage in collective self-government, which lies at the core of democracy at the local level. This alternative framework entails three main implications: first, assessing the democratic character of local institutions requires metrics distinct from those developed for the national scale. Second, local resistance to national policies, as well as local policies that tend to needs and interests left unanswered by national institutions, should be recognized as expressive of democracy. Third, at the local level, the boundaries of the liberal framework are themselves subject to deliberation and contestation, thereby complicating the relationship between democracy and liberalism.