The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c12.s2.7

c12.s2.7

Thirdly, it would be wholly misunderstanding the local and county administration of modern times, on the one hand, and the independent city-states and clan-republics of the ancient and mediaeval world, on the other, if one were to proceed to interpret the negative advantages of *laissez faire* due to imperial weakness as identical with the conscious assertion of authority by the people in the provinces. Compulsory non-interference on the part of the central government whether through lack of facilities for communication or through military incompetency does not imply such positive exercise of political power by the districts, cities and villages as is possible or at any rate as is being sought in modern nation-states.