Extending Representative Democracy: Tower Hamlets

Abstract

In examining the forms of local democracy to have emerged in Islington and Tower Hamlets it is important to discern the particular meaning given to local democracy by the political groups in control of each borough — then we can examine the formal arrangements developed for participation and the functions they have performed. In the previous chapter we discussed the Islington approach to neighbourhood participation. In this chapter we examine the neighbourhood committee system developed in Tower Hamlets. We will examine specifically the extent to which a greater level of representation has been generated and the extent to which this participation has included the variety of different communities and groups residing in the locality. We consider some of the costs associated with the extension of democracy and examine whether the model may put too much power in the hands of small groups of local councillors.