Political polarisation and its impact on decision-making in local councils

Abstract

The idea of decentralisation, which led to the creation of local councils, was a response to the growing complexity of central government. Political parties, when they were called by the citizens of their respective countries to govern, where finding it difficult to meet the demands and aspirations of several interest groups. Local councils were the answer to take decisions at the nearest possible level and also to increase the efficiency of the administration as a whole. Such a model proved to be successful in almost all countries, not least in Malta, although a number of political analysts are still sceptic about the feasibility of running such local councils. However, few authors have investigated the output of these local authorities and the political factors that influence decisions and policies stemming from local communities. This dissertation is an exploration of the effect of political polarisation on decisionmaking in local councils. It not only gives an analysis of partisan effect on local councils, something which was underestimated in the past, but also tries to answer a number of important questions about how local councillors take decisions in the framework of political influence. This thesis is the beginning, rather the end, of the idea of introducing political analysis in our subjects and investigations. This subject, although difficult to come out with scientific conclusions, gives a much more holistic picture to the area under discussion.