Localism describes a range of political philosophies which prioritize the local. Generally, localism supports local production and consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture and local identity. Localism can be contrasted with regionalism and centralized government, with its opposite being found in the unitary state.

Localists assert that throughout the world's history, most social and economic institutions have been scaled at the local level, as opposed to regional, inter-regional, or global (basically until the late 19th-early 20th centuries). Only with imperialism and the industrial revolution did local scales become denigrated. Most proponents of localism position themselves as defending aspects of this earlier way of life; the phrase "relocalization" is often used in this sense.

In the 20th century, localism drew heavily on the writings of Leopold Kohr, E.F. Schumacher, Wendell Berry, and Kirkpatrick Sale, among others. More generally, localism draws on a wide range of movements and concerns and it proposes that by re-localizing democratic and economic relationships to the local level, social, economic and environmental problems will be more definable and solutions more easily created. These include anarchism, bioregionalism, environmentalism, the Greens, and more specific concerns about food, monetary policy and education. Political parties of all persuasions have also occasionally favored the devolution of power to local authorities. In this vein Alan Milburn, a Labour Party MP, has spoken of "making services more locally accountable, devolving more power to local communities and, in the process, forging a modern relationship between the state, citizens and services"

Politics (from Greek politikos "of, for, or relating to citizens") as a term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the corporate, academic, and religious segments of society. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power" and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.

Modern political discourse focuses on democracy and the relationship between people and politics. It is thought of as the way we "choose government officials and make decisions about public policy".

The word politics comes from the Greek word Πολιτικά (politika), modeled on Aristotle's "affairs of the city", the name of his book on governing and governments, which was rendered in English mid-15 century as Latinized "Polettiques". Thus it became "politics" in Middle English c. 1520s (see the Concise Oxford Dictionary). The singular politic first attested in English 1430 and comes from Middle French politique, in turn from Latin politicus, which is the latinisation of the Greek πολιτικός (politikos), meaning amongst others "of, for, or relating to citizens", "civil", "civic", "belonging to the state", in turn from πολίτης (polites), "citizen" and that from πόλις (polis), "city".

Robert James MacGillivray "Bob" Neill (born 24 June 1952) is a British barrister and Conservative Party politician. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bromley and Chislehurst since a by-election on 29 June 2006. He has served as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Communities and Local Government since 14 May 2010

Neill attended Abbs Cross Technical High School, Abbs Cross Lane, Hornchurch, and took a degree at the London School of Economics. He was later a councillor in the London Borough of Havering, served as Greater London Council member for Romford 1985-86. He previously stood for the Dagenham parliamentary constituency in 1983, at the age of 30, coming within 2,997 votes of winning the historically Labour seat from Bryan Gould MP. He also stood for election in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 1994 and 1998.

Neill was first elected to the London Assembly in the 2000 assembly election, and served as the Conservative member for Bexley and Bromley from 2000 until 2008. He served as Leader of the Conservative Group on the Assembly from 2000 to 2002 and again from 2004.

Bill Kauffman (born November 15, 1959) is an American political writer generally aligned with the paleoconservative movement. He was born in Batavia, New York, and currently resides in Elba, New York, with his wife and daughter.

A devout Roman Catholic, Kauffman is also an intimate correspondent of Gore Vidal, with whom he shares many ideological similarities.

After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester, he went to work as an aide to New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (which he would later describe as an "anarchist-making experience") in 1981. After leaving Moynihan's employ, Kauffman worked as Washington, D.C., editor for Reason before quitting and returning to Batavia. He is now a contributing editor to Chronicles and Liberty, and he has also written frequently for The American Conservative, The American Enterprise, The Wall Street Journal, and CounterPunch.

Christopher James (Chris) Skidmore (born 17 May 1981) is a British politician and historian; he is the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingswood, England. Skidmore was elected in 2010, gaining the seat from the Labour Party. He is a member of the Commons Select Committee on Health.

Skidmore was educated at Bristol Grammar School, a mixed independent school in the City of Bristol, Avon in south west England, before going up to Christ Church in the University of Oxford, graduating in 2002 with a double first-class honours degree (MA).

Skidmore's books include Edward VI: The Lost King of England (2007) and Death and The Virgin: Elizabeth, Dudley and the Mysterious Death of Amy Robsart (2010).