This article examines the multilevel system in which local democracy is constrained by territorial political units placed above the local government level. It outlines the impacts of such a system on the meaning of democracy, analyses how these impacts relate to the “shift from government to governance” and challenges of democracy related to the observation that the sphere of governance extends far beyond a government-centered vision of policymaking. The article also discusses the model of different “worlds of democratic action,” which shows that democratic political systems have to be...

This article examines the multilevel system in which local democracy is constrained by territorial political units placed above the local government level. It outlines the impacts of such a system on the meaning of democracy, analyses how these impacts relate to the “shift from government to governance” and challenges of democracy related to the observation that the sphere of governance extends far beyond a government-centered vision of policymaking. The article also discusses the model of different “worlds of democratic action,” which shows that democratic political systems have to be considered in terms of a complex and broad web of various forms of interest articulation and intermediation, as well as decision making.