A Council of the Citizens? Independent Local Parties and Municipal Democracy

This thesis studies the impact of localist Independent Local Parties (ILPs) on English parish and town councils, exploring whether they institute a democratic form of municipal government. Localist forms of political parties and small-scale municipal government are argued by advocates to have a role in democratic renewal; however, the current literature on these institutions is limited, particularly in the English context. After defining localist ILPs in terms of their aims, this thesis argues that localist ILPs necessarily make a claim to better align municipal policy with the preferences of citizens than national parties; a claim that can only be democratically achieved through increased citizen participation. This thesis then takes the analytical approach of the Democracy Cube, a tool designed to compare single processes of policy making, and develops the Democracy Mapping, an innovative approach that enables the mapping of participatory practices across systems of municipal government. The Democracy Mapping considers citizen participation in terms of who participates, what authority they have, how they communicate, and when in the policy cycle this occurs. Using the Democracy Mapping, informed by interviews and a range of documentation, this thesis finds that localist ILPs can institute participatory practices aligning with a standard of democratic municipal government. The research raises questions about the extent local norms shape the trajectory of localist ILPs, with different conceptions of local democracy appearing to shape their approach to citizen participation. Inequalities in participation and narratives of de-politicisation are raised as potential boundaries to the promise of ILPs, whilst their potential to politically engage the locality and institute participatory practices is also evidenced.