THE ACTORS AND DYNAMICS OF ADMINISTRATION IN ITALIAN CITY STATES AS ROOT OF MODERN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Following the collapse of the Roman Empire the Italian cities experienced the conditions under which they undertook some administrative responsibilities that generally were implemented by the emperor as a part of Regalian rights. In this period administrative power of the church increased considerably and it became prominent actor of local administration. On the other hand, in those cities a new manufacture oriented traders and artisans emerged as a class claimed to be the primary actor of local administrative affairs. The novel economic conditions and rising administrative understanding, based upon the priorities of the cities, facilitated the defeat of the church. Following the elimination of the church, city councils were accepted as institution which protected city dwellers’ benefit. However, the claim of city councils to be the chief actor of local administration deeply contradicted with the traditional Regalian rights of the kings. In this article, the struggle between emperor and city states, on the axis of Regalian rights and city-oriented interests, and the framework for power sharing patterns are analyzed as an earlier form of central versus local relations. Such an approach could be meaningful to comprehend the origin and the development of the framework for modern central-local government relations’ patterns