ABSTRACT
The reorganization of local government has been high on the national political agendas of France and Britain for a decade or more but for very different reasons. The direct relationship between local and national political power in France produces an effect which seems paradoxical when compared to the British case. The penetration of French political leadership at all levels of government, and the administration as well, means that putting reorganization on the agenda in France is a task for the parties rather than for the Cabinet and President. The British decision to reorganize was essentially an executive decision influenced by national political calculations of fairly short-term importance. In France, the importance of local electoral alliances in national elections and locally-rooted power of most national politicians makes national elections a more localized event. Local government councillors had just recovered from the dislocations of the last reorganization.
