Originally published in 1953, this was the first post-War study in either English or French of the institutions and law relating to French local government and on the practice of French local administration.  It is a study in political science and therefore, although the basic laws governing local institutions are dealt with in some detail, the aim is to give a picture of those institutions at work in the middle of the 20^th Century. The book assumes no prior knowledge of the subject and will be of interest to students of French government and comparative political institutions.