Localism and political systems in the twenty-first century

Chapter 8, titled ‘Localism and political systems in the twenty-first century’, begins by restating the argument of the book so far. It then goes on to assess the current international context for political design. At this point in time there is a real opportunity for political systems to be recast. This is in the light of the ravages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the pathologies of the world’s political economy in the twenty-first century. The chapter argues that political design must be underpinned by the Enlightenment values of reason, science, humanism and progress. It must also address the challenge of articulation across scalar levels. A number of strategic reforms are proposed, including a system of Universal Basic Services, new democratic rights for local communities and the adoption of localism as a formal constitutional principle of state design. It is envisaged that the multi-level design of political systems, with localism as one of its key features, is likely to become more mainstream and more institutionalized in the future.