Experience since the late 1970s in Britain has shown the limitations of regarding central -local government relations as a bargaining relationship between interdependent actors, as found in the United States of America, France, and West Germany. The actions of the present Conservative Government highlight the weakness of British local government. This weakness can be attributed to a process of development, involving globalisation and professionalisation, common to many Western nations, but which in Britain has led to a marginalisation of local political elites.