LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
County Governments
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County: the largest territorial and political
subdivision of a state
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Make sure people have order, protection, and
services
Run by a county board of commissioners
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Elected by residents of county
Administers statewide programs and makes rules
to meet the needs of the citizens of the county
City Government
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City: a municipal government
A municipality is an incorporated place.
What does it mean to be incorporated?
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A place with an officially organized government
that provides services to residents
Cities are created when residents apply to the
state legislature for a city charter.
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City charter: a document that grants power to a
local government
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A city constitution
City Government
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Services provided by city governments:
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Law enforcement
Fire protection
Street repair
Water and sewage systems
Garbage pickup
Parks and recreation
Mayor-Council Form
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Power divided between branches
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Legislative = city council
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Sets city policy, enacts laws (ordinances), adopts city
budget
Executive = mayor
Represents the city
 Oversees the operation of administrative offices
 Appoints the heads of departments
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Voters elect mayor and city council members
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Strong-mayor system: mayor has strong executive
powers
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Weak-mayor system: mayor’s authority is limited
Council-Manager Form
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Voters elect the city council (legislature)
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City council appoints a city manager
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Makes policy, adopts ordinances, approves
budget
Recommends a budget, oversees city
departments, deals with personal matters
Mayor acts as member and presiding
officer of the council
Most popular form of city government today.
Commission Form
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Voters elect 5 commissioners
Each commissioner heads a major dept.
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police, fire, finance, health, public works
Commissioners perform executive duties for
their particular department.
Meet together with legislative powers to pass
city ordinances and make policy decisions
One commissioner chosen to be ceremonial
mayor
Not very popular.
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No one person in charge.
New commissioners may not be very familiar with dept.
Difficult to resolve disputes between commissioners.
Special Districts
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A unit of government that deals with a
specific function
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Most common example: local school district
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Ex: education, water supply, transportation
School board: council of a local school district
Can be either elected or appointed
Help determine educational policy in a city or
county
Alderman represents city districts and work
with the mayor to run city gov’t
Metropolitan Areas
A
central city and its surrounding
suburbs
 Growth
in population and expanding
businesses & industry
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Problems: transportation, pollution control,
law enforcement, land-use management
Towns
A
political unit that is larger
than a village and smaller than
a city
 Town
meetings popular in New
England states
Townships
A subdivision of a county
 Smaller than New England towns but have
similar governments
 Most run by an elected body of officials
 Have declined in importance due to the
growth of cities and counties
 Townships often work together with
county governments to provide local
services
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Law enforcement
 Sheriff
 County’s
highest elected law
enforcement officer
 Chief
of Police
 Appointed
commanding officer of the
city’s police department