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Furthermore, what Phil Lepanto, Jamie, Bob, and Alex B said.

As for the comparison of the US and French political divisions, it is very hard. I'd say arrondissement is like a county in the US, while a commune is like a township. Paris is, like DC, an exception within the French system.

Furthermore, it is even very hard to compare similarly named entities within the US, because state law varies so much. In VA, cities are more or less equal to counties, which is not the case it most other states. In MI, the state is very powerful, while in OH and HI the counties and even lower entities have full home rule.

Nevertheless, I doubt there are many places with such complex microdemocraZies are DC's ANCs, especially within a big city environment.

In fact, the new Dutch government is canceling the sub-cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, because they caused too much silly bureaucracy. Local politics caused inexplicable policy differences between adjacent areas, and citizens did not appreciate being tossed back and forth between the city and sub-cities for local issues.

If you want to see what too many democratic layers lead to, go to Brussels. In Brussels, you are subject to your municipality, the city of Brussels, the region of Brussels-Capital, the National Belgian government, and the EU government. Furthermore, Brussels is simultaneously the capital of Belgium, as well as it's three regions: Brussels Capital Region, Flanders and Wallonia. Finally, Brussels is the de facto capital of the EU. Oh, and Belgium has had no stable government for the last three years because Belgian politicians can't figure out how to deal with the voting rights of all those jurisdictions.

by Jasper on Dec 1, 2010 10:28 am • link • report