Territories: Is (Local) Democracy in Danger?

Particularly well versed in the many local charters introduced in Europe during the Middle Ages, and long before France introduced its foundational law of 1884 embodying the principle of the free administration of communes and assigning them a “general clause of competence”, Alexis de Tocqueville made a case for local democracy, writing notably: “A nation may establish a system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal institutions it cannot have the spirit of liberty” [1]. In the light of the numerous territorial laws voted in France since the turn of the 21st century might it not be worth reflecting on Tocqueville’s insights [2]?