Importance Of Local Self Government

2361 Words10 Pages
Local Self Government is the life blood of liberty. -John Lothrop Motley. To achieve an improved and more equitable economic development one needs to introduce better governance reforms which can then be realized by greater public participation and increased public accountability. This was stated in United Nations report on Local Governance and social services for all. It was further in this context that greater emphasis was laid in the importance of decentralization in order to make people participation a part of governance. The World Charter on Local Self Government 1983 defined Local Self Government as the one which “denotes the rights and duties of local authorities to regulate and manage public affairs under their own responsibility and in interests of the local population. This right shall be exercised by individuals and representative bodies freely elected on periodical basis by equal universal suffrage and their chief executives shall be so elected or shall be appointed with the participation of the elected body.” Local governance in its wider sense referred as the conceptualization, planning, formulation and execution of the collective action taken at the local level. Thus, it covers the direct and indirect roles of formal institutions of local government and various government hierarchies on one hand and informal norms, networks, community centered organizations, and resident