The Study On Local Self-government System In UK

Britain is a unitary system state which has a strong tradition of local autonomy. The traditions of localism, autonomy and the rule of law, as well as political cultures of liberalism, individualism, pluralism, participation, empiricism and pragmatism, which are the basis of local autonomy. The formation of British local governments is earlier than the central government, through British local autonomy of three stages of the early formation and evolution, the development of modern local autonomy, and the reform of local autonomy. Britain is not only the first country to implement the modern local self-government in the world, but also the first country to implement local self-government reform in the twentieth century. However, since World War Ⅱ, the centralization trend of British central government has increasing. By the late20th century, Local self-government has been greatly weakened, central and local conflicts increasingly sharp. Local government requires breaking the restraint, seeking more autonomy and aspirations of self-innovation have been strengthened, so that the emergence of new game between the central government and local governments, showing a new tensions.Factors affecting the development and reform of local self-government in UK include:the difference between local governments and innovation factors, unitary form of state structure, some kinds of political philosophy, and political, economic and social environment. Various factors such as British regional political traditions, diversity and innovation capacity of local governments, the new concept of local governance, globalization trends and the EU provide opportunities for the development of the British local government, have promoted the development of local self-government of the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom is a unitary state and having unwritten constitution, to pursue the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, with no written constitution to protect local autonomy, nor "general competence" the local governments have in most European countries. British local governments are regards as the the "parliamentary creation" and restricted by ultra vires. The fiscal authority of local governments continues to be limited by central government. In the process of urbanization and industrialization, local governments alone can’t cope with the new emerging challenges in the development, the central government needs to continue to be of assistance and to regulate, which will inevitably lead to the more control of central government. In addition, Britain’s political parties put local government as a place to compete with each other in order to participate in local political and social activities, thus limiting the autonomy and vitality of places. In the complex local political process, criss-crossing various factors jointly promote and control the development of British local self-government.The research of British local autonomy is to study the relationship between central and local government in UK. The central government and local governments in different historical development periods present different relationship structures and characteristics. From coexist of early monarchy and decentralization to the dual system, to coexist of centralism and localism under the modern local government system, to new "partnership" between central and local under the contemporary local governance. The proportion of the two sides differs in different periods. Based on a long tradition of British local autonomy, for a long time, British always respect the reality of local autonomy and hope that such a system of local government can continue to function, on this basis, and then the emergence of the "new localism" that integrated the new trends of both centralism and localism. Based on the above analysis, British local autonomy is centralized local autonomy, which is a conflicting model:having local autonomy tradition, while the central government continues to limit the local self-government to the road of centralization.