Every enduring civilisation eventually discovers one fundamental truth about governance: power works best when it is exercised closest to the people. Communities understand their own realities better than distant bureaucracies. They know their peculiar challenges, appreciate their comparative advantages and respond more quickly to emerging problems. Consequently, the government becomes more responsive, more innovative and more accountable when decisions are taken near the citizens whose lives they affect.
The opposite is equally true. The farther authority is removed from the people, the slower the government becomes. Bureaucracy expands. Decisions take longer. Innovation gives way to procedure. Accountability becomes diffused. Citizens gradually lose confidence in institutions that appear distant from their everyday realities. This is not merely a political observation. It is one of the enduring lessons of public administration.
The science of governance has long recognised what constitutional scholars describe as the principle of subsidiarity: no higher level of government
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