Suchergebnisse

SynopsisIntroductory. The advantages of a hierarchy of administrative units. Growth of occupational devolution at expense of areal devolution. "Planning" tends to restore the balance in favour of areal units. Occupational and areal units complementary. The need for an order of administrative units intermediate between the central administration and the local administration. Development of administrative regionalism in Germany, the U.S.S.R., Portugal, Italy, France, England and Wales, and Scotland. Advantages of the general‐purpose region as against ad hoc regions. The ad hoc region, particularly in Great Britain. Weaknesses of systems of ad hoc regions. Compromises between general‐purpose and ad hoc regions. Construction of regions: agglomerative or "organic." Factors determining the size of the administrative region. The special importance of means of transportation. Other factors. Advantages of the region as against smaller units. The balancing of regions. The delimitation of regional boundaries. The need for elasticity. Boundaries as zones of change. Regional centres. The regional personnel. Public relations. The delegation of powers to the region. The prospects of regionalism in Great Britain.

One of the issues likely to become more acute than many others as we move into the period of post-war international reorganization in the next few months is that of regionalism versus universalism. This is the conflict between the view that international organization should proceed upon a regional basis—leaving definition of the proper region or regions aside for the moment—and the view that it should proceed upon a world-wide basis. The partisans of these two views are vigorous in their support, and the problem in itself is extremely important from both a theoretical and a practical standpoint. It has so far not received anything like the attention it deserves.The problem is, of course, not unknown in the national and local spheres of government. Here it is formulated as the question of the proper area of government, or even the ideal size of the state, and this slightly different formulation carries its own implication concerning the treatment of the problem. The issue also arises on the border-line between national and international political problems when the formation of federal unions is under consideration, together with the question of the proper allocation of powers to the central government. We shall later draw upon experience in all of these matters for aid in solving our own problem.