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System of Local Government

The United States has fifty different systems of local government plus the District of Columbia.

Most of these fifty states have allowed considerable freedom to their local units in the selection of their forms of government. Also, «special districts» may be formed for particular functions where a need does not occur solely within the authority of existing governments. Moreover, education is a function that in most of the states has its own local authority independent of the other units of local government and often of their areas, as well. There are about 34,500 of these school districts, each largely independent.

In addition to the school districts, there are more than 56,000 other units of local government which have some local independence. With school districts, the total of local authorities is over 90,000.

If these governmental units were in a neat pattern, the picture would not be too confusing. But the situation is quite different. An example of what often happens is that when a city area develops, it may cross county lines, or even state lines. The parts within each county form a corporation as one city unit, but those parts remain within their counties for county government purposes. One or more of them may also retain elements of town government. Usually the independent school districts remain and their boundaries frequently are not the same as those of the cities. Then, in order to encourage cooperation between cities, perhaps for water supply, one or more special districts may be created. These cross the county lines and include territory outside the two or more cities. A citizen or taxpayer, therefore, finds himself subject not only to the nation and the state, but also to the county, the special district or districts, the city, the school district, and possibly a township as well - in other words, to six or eight different levels of government.

All except three states are divided into counties, which average just under 1,000 square miles in area. County population may range from a few hundred people to more than six million, with an average of around 60,000. In most states, the county government is simple and uniform, consisting of a small board or council, with administrative officers either elected or chosen by the council. County functions are most developed in the South, where health and education are primarily county responsibilities. There and in other places, county functions usually include the judiciary and law enforcement, elections, highways, and welfare, but most of these functions are shared with the state and some with the smaller local authorities, such as villages.

In the northeastern region called New England, the «town» is the principal unit of rural and the small urban areas of local government. A town usually consists of a village and a considerable amount of the surrounding territory. Here is the most energetic, direct form of democracy in America, the town meeting. This is a yearly (or more frequent) meeting of all the voters who care to attend, and it is the town’s governing authority. School boards and other officials are chosen at these meetings to govern until the next town meeting. Laws are passed, taxes and spending discussed and voted upon.

The most active units of American local government and those most ready to try new things are the cities. Here are a very great variety of local interests and much local independence and self-government, much more than in the comparable British unit, called a borough or county borough.

Each city is governed under a set of rules and rights usually called a charter. This is to the city what a constitution is to the state or nation. These charters are normally acquired in one of four ways. A city may ask for and receive a charter as a special act of the state legislature. The state legislature may make general laws for all its cities, or for all its cities that have not otherwise acquired a charter. A third possibility is that a state offers its cities several different types of charter and allows each to choose. And finally, a city may write and then accept its own charter.

Very great freedom is allowed the American city as to its functions and the way it performs them. State standards in these matters are usually very much exceeded by the cities by their own wish.

If we examine local government as a whole, and more especially county, small town, and farming-area government, we note an important increase in state control of locally administered functions. Also, there is a large amount of financial aid from the state. Finance, health, education, and welfare are the functions in which these trends are most noticeable. By comparison, cities are less state-controlled, more free. However, even in cities the trend is toward state or even federal influence.

Nevertheless, one of America’s greatest achievements is the degree of local self-government it has succeeded in retaining in an age of central, national government. The traditional values of variety, experiment and political education remain substantially unharmed. Even where some local freedom is lost, it is primarily gained by the state government, itself a fairly small and manageable unit. In retaining local self-government, some degree of uniformity and order is sacrificed. But the experience of local self-government seems to contribute greatly to a sense of responsibility in national affairs.

12.4. Answer the questions below:

1. Are the local units in the US free in the selection of the forms of government?

2. Is education responsible to local governments?

3. What is a citizen of the US subject to?

4. What are the states divided into?

5. What does the county government consist of?

6. Name some county functions. Do they differ in the South?

7. What is a local authority in New England?

8. What does a town consist of?

9. What is the town meeting?

10. How are the most active units of American local government called?

11. What is a charter?

12. Name the local units which are more state-controlled. Which of them are more free?

13. What is one of America’s greatest achievements?

12.5. Complete the following sentences.

1) Education is a function that has its own local authority ... of the other units of local government.

2) Most of the states are divided into ...

3) ... is the principal unit in New England.

4) The county government consists of a small board or ... with administrative officers.

5) One of the most direct forms of democracy in America is ...

6) The most active units of local government in the US are the...

7) Cities are governed under ...

12.6. Read the following text and discuss it.

The federal entity created by the Constitution is by far the dominant feature of the American governmental system. But the system itself is in reality a mosaic, composed of thousands of smaller units - building blocks which together make up the whole. There are 50 state governments plus the government of the District of Columbia, and further down the ladder are still smaller units that govern counties, cities, towns and villages.

Like the national government, state governments have three branches: legislative, executive and judicial; and these are roughly equivalent in function and scope to their national counterparts. The chief executive of a state is the governor elected by popular vote, typically for a four-year term (although in a few states the term is two years). Except for Nebraska, which has a single legislative body, all states have a bicameral legislature, with the upper house usually called the Senate and the lower house called the House of Representatives, the House of Delegates or the General Assembly. In most states, senators serve four-year terms and members of the lower house serve two-year terms.

The constitutions of the various states differ in some details but generally follow a pattern similar to that of the federal Constitution, including a statement of the rights of the people and a plan for organizing the government. On such matters as conditions governing the operation of businesses, banks, public utilities and charitable institutions, state constitutions are often more detailed and explicit than the federal one. Each state constitution, however, provides that the final authority belongs to the people, and sets certain standards and principles as the foundation of government.

Once predominantly rural, the United States is today a highly urbanized country, and more that three-quarters of its citizens now live in towns, large cities or the suburbs. The city directly serves the needs of the people, providing everything from police and fire protection to sanitary codes, health regulations, education, public transportation and housing.

The business of running America’s major cities is enormously complex. It is often said that, next to the presidency, the most difficult executive position in the country is that of mayor of New York.

City governments are chartered by states, and their charters detail the objectives and powers of the municipal government. But in many respects the cities function independently of the states.

There are three general types of city government: the mayor-council, the commission and the city manager. Many cities have developed a combination of two or three of them.

The mayor-council type is the oldest form of city government in the United States. Its structure is similar to that of the state and national governments, with an elected mayor as chief of the executive branch, and an elected council representing the various neighborhoods forming the legislative branch. The mayor appoints heads of city departments and other officials, sometimes with the approval of the council. He has the power of veto over city ordinances and frequently is responsible for preparing the city’s budget. The council passes ordinances, the laws of the city, sets the tax rate on property and apportions money among the various city departments.

The commission type combines both the legislative and executive functions in one group of officials, usually three or more in number, elected city-wide. Each commissioner supervises the work of one or more city departments. One is named chairman of the body and is often called the mayor, although his power is equivalent to that of his fellow commissioners.

The city manager type is a response to the increasing complexity of urban problems, which require management expertise not often possessed by elected public officials. The answer has been to entrust most of the executive powers, including law enforcement and provision of services, to a highly trained and experienced professional city manager.

The city manager plan has been adopted by a growing number of cities. Under this plan, a small, elected council makes the city ordinances and sets policy, but hires a paid administrator, also called a city manager, to carry out its decisions. The manager draws up the city budget and supervises most of the departments. Usually, there is no set term; the manager serves as long as the council is satisfied with his or her work.

The county is subdivision of the state, usually - but not always - containing two or more townships and several villages. New York City is so large that it is divided into five separate boroughs, each a county in its own right: The Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.

In most counties, one town or city is designated as the county seat where the government offices are located and where the board of commissioners or supervisors meets. The board levies taxes, borrows and appropriates money, fixes the salaries of county employees, supervises elections, builds and maintains highways and bridges, and administers national, state and county welfare programs.

Thousands of municipal jurisdictions are too small to qualify as city governments. These are chartered as towns and villages and deal with such strictly local needs as paving and lighting the street; ensuring a water supply; providing police and fire protection; establishing local health regulations; arranging for garbage, sewage and other waste disposal; collecting local taxes to support governmental operations; and, in cooperation with the state and county, directly administering the local school system.

The government is usually entrusted to an elected board or council, which may be known by a variety of names: town or village council, board of selectmen, board of supervisors, board of commissioners. The board may have a chairman or president who functions as chief executive officer, or there may be an elected mayor. Governmental employees may include a clerk, treasurer, police and fire officers, and health and welfare officers.

12.7. Solve the crossword below.

Across:

1. The British local unit.

2. This is a function which has its own local authority.

Down:

1. Most of states are divided into them.

2. The main local unit in New England.

3. The most active unit of American local government.

4. This is to the city what a constitution is to the state or nation.

5. They are elected or chosen by the council.

12.8. Complete the following dialogue.