A good community insures itself by trust, by good faith and good will, by mutual help. A good community, in other words, is a good local economy. Wendell Berry

The ancient Greek city of Athens lived under a radical form of government from 508 until 322 BCE, giving to the world and future generations the enduring concept of "democracy"; the word deriving from demos (the people) and kratos (force or power). It literally means "people power". The people governed themselves; debating, deliberating and voting on issues and laws great and small affecting their community, through regular meetings of the Assembly. All male adult citizens (excluding slaves) were entitled to speak, express their opinion, and vote within the assembly.

In parallel to the Assembly, the ultimate seat of power, were 2 other institutions: the Council and the Legislature. The Council consisted of 500 citizens who were appointed to serve for just 1 year and were paid. Its main functions were to prepare the agenda for the Assembly of citizens to deliberate and vote on, and to enact it´s decisions. The Legislature administered Laws. Laws were considered to be the ultimate governing principle. They applied to all people without exception and regardless of their wealth or status. Laws could be changed through the Assembly, but only by proposing and voting through a new law to replace an existing one.

How things change! Nowadays, following the current pattern of governance established at the time of the Industrial Revolution by John Locke (1632-1704), we now choose a handful of individuals to make decisions for us. This system, representative democracy, is in deep trouble. A recent YouGov poll (1) showed that only 10% of voters now believe that mainstream politicians act in the public interest; a figure that has been in continual decline since the 1940s. A staggering 78% claim that politicians´ principal concern is either themselves, the interests of their financial backers or their particular ideology/party winning/retaining power. This is most often achieved by criticising and attacking other political parties, creating a divisive and hostile atmosphere. Not only have we lost confidence in politicians to perform the function that we deserve, it appears that the system itself is also losing our belief in its effectiveness & integrity.

No one individual, organisation or political perspective has all the solutions to all the problems and challenges that we collectively face at all levels of our community life. However, the whole community itself; the collective summation of interests, intelligence, skills, perspectives and experience of all community members, most definitely does have. This truth is the basis of the new political and economic philosophy of Localism; that prioritizes local control, community decision-making, and neighbourhood economies over centralized national or global systems.

It has 3 main principles; firstly, the devolved transfer of political power, decision-making and resources from central government down to local councils, community groups and, ultimately local residents. The recent English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 (2) is a major step in this direction. The act requires councils to implement effective neighbourhood governance and this clause has been interpreted by some as indicating a momentum towards the establishment of the Neighbourhood Assembly as a consultative and decision-making body. Local residents often know better than others what their neighbourhood needs.

Secondly, Economic Localisation encourages the production, purchase, and consumption of goods and services within the immediate geographic area to support neighbour-owned businesses. Finally, Cultural Preservation promotes unique local history, local customs, and community identity to counter cultural uniformity.

The Localism Act of 2011 (3) also offers a legal route by which the community can, in theory, take more control of political and economic decisions affecting their neighbourhood, currently undertaken by the local authority. Section 81 of the act states that a "relevant authority" (county or district council) MUST consider an "expression of interest" by a "relevant body... in providing or assisting in providing a relevant service on behalf of the authority". For many local authorities, a "relevant community body" is stated to be a CIC; a Community Interest Company.

The Local Government Association (4) recognises that communities benefit directly from greater involvement in the way local services are delivered, citing 19 specific advantages on issues that the current system is increasingly struggling with, including enhancing well-being, reducing costs and improving services. But isn´t this what we all want politicians to do... and recognise that, for systemic reasons, they are struggling to do? The implication is clear: everyone benefits when political power is restored to communities.

Sources

1. https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/10820>
2. https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/63708/documents/7399
3. https://www.local.gov.uk/introduction-localism-act
4. https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/guidance-and-resources/community-action/community-action-overview/why-are-councils