ABSTRACT
No country is fully centralized: the question of the extent of centralization and of decentralization thus arises everywhere. In parallel, the question of representation also arises everywhere, even if the extent of representation varies markedly from country to country, and if, where representative institutions formally exist, their role also varies markedly. No government can make rules wholly in isolation from the sentiments and even the pressure of at least some segments of the polity: a degree of representation, however limited, has therefore to exist.
