<P> In his book Political Parties, written in 1911, Robert Michels argues that most representative systems deteriorate towards an oligarchy or particracy . This is known as the iron law of oligarchy . Representative democracies which are stable have been analysed by Adolf Gasser and compared to the unstable representative democracies in his book "Gemeindefreiheit als Rettung Europas" which was published in 1943 (first edition in German) and a second edition in 1947 (in German). Adolf Gasser stated the following requirements for a representative democracy in order to remain stable, unaffected by the iron law of oligarchy: </P> <Ul> <Li> Society has to be built up from bottom to top . As a consequence, society is built up by people, who are free and have the power to defend themselves with weapons . </Li> <Li> These free people join or form local communities . These local communities are independent, which includes financial independence, and they are free to determine their own rules . </Li> <Li> Local communities join together into a higher unit e.g. a canton . </Li> <Li> There is no hierarchical bureaucracy . </Li> <Li> There is competition between these local communities e.g. on services delivered or on taxes . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Society has to be built up from bottom to top . As a consequence, society is built up by people, who are free and have the power to defend themselves with weapons . </Li> <Li> These free people join or form local communities . These local communities are independent, which includes financial independence, and they are free to determine their own rules . </Li>

The most distinctive form of local government in the united states is