A local government is a political subdivision of the state, constituted by law and may or may not have substantial or much control over local affairs. “Under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, all powers not granted to the federal government are reserved for the states and the people. All state governments are modeled after the federal government and consist of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The U.S. Constitution mandates that all states uphold a "republican form" of government, although the three-branch structure is not required” (State and Local Government 2014)Therefore, Local Governments exercise certain basic powers like police power, and the power to implement social services so as to best serve the interest and promote the general welfare of their respective inhabitants. In order for the autonomy of Local Government to function, the national and or federal government places the power to delegate authority to the state that then transfers these basic powers to the local governments to allow for the inclusion of its constituents in governmental and local affairs by what we call decentralization. Often times the state government divides powers between the local governments which usually include two divisions: municipalities and counties. Counties are usually the largest and broadest geographic area and include many local governments however; a county’s power is very miniscule compared to city government. Generally in North Carolina, local governments do not have the power or authority do anything unless it is explicitly granted or enumerated in the state constitution. Although cities have a large range of delegated authority and counties have the least, the state government would still exerci...
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...to. The notion is rather consistent to the already established idea that all local governments’ functions are and should be provided by either a municipal government or a county government. Without the procedures for city-initiated annexation and annexation powers, most of the urban services desired by and required for citizens would have to be provided by Guilford County. Lastly, as the local level of government in North Carolina, almost all governmental responsibilities have been vested in municipalities and county governments’ which are two types of general-purpose government units. Expenditures of local government units in North Carolina are made through cities and counties, whereas in many other states special districts are much more important. The result from this is that North Carolina’s urban areas do not have the likelihood of overlapping units elsewhere.
The modern day federalism that is applied today is structured like that of the Connecticut federalism. A general court in Hartford acts like a central meeting place like that of present day Washington D.C.. This General court has the ability to rule over the towns of Connecticut, but the locals of a town may provide input to their public officer and he can provide the central court with this information. The general court is not to be mistaken as an absolute rule. An example is found in section 11 of the Fundamental Orders. The general court may distribute funding to the towns, and they may distribute them as they please. If this was a dictatorship, the general court would tell the local governments how to distribute their funds.
The government consisted of a central state government and local governments. State governments were made up of a governor and bicameral legislature. Officials were annually elected by white, free men who were also church members. Local government consisted of town meetings, where all white male Church members who owned property gathered regularly to decide matters of local importance.
James Bryce, writes a quite cynical view of federalism in his paper. Though pointing out Federalism is useful in providing for expanding states and protecting against oligarchy while still fostering the creativity and flexibility of local governments with in which people can practice their civic responsibilities. With each positive point, Bryce follows it with a negative point, and even compares the some
In 1764, a herd/mass of about a couple of thousand citizens from several counties of North Carolina (inclouding the Orange, Anson, and Granvill counties) were deeply unsatisfied with the wealthy Carolina officials. They thought of them as "cruel, arbitrary, tyrannical, and
Texas has a wide variety when it comes to sizes of its cities and towns, with the most populated city being Houston, with a population of 2,099,451, and the least populated city being Los Ybanez city, with a recorded population of only 19. (togetherweteach.com) With that in mind, it’s important to have different types of local governments to best accommodate the type of city or town. There’s one problem with that though. What if a huge corporation moves into a small town, increasing the population significantly and changing the dynamic of the city in a matter of 2-3 years? "Local community decisions about what government-types are chosen, and when, have lasting consequences for the future configuration of governments in an area. If cities are established earlier...then fewer government options are available later.” (Thomas, 1993) With the way local governments are determined now, it’s unlikely that the government would be able to quickly change how it functions and accommodates to its citizens. Even something like campaigning, which may not have been needed much during elections beforehand due of the closeness that tends to happen in people of small towns, would be a much bigger part of running for a local
The relationship between a local government and its people is typically a combined form of stability, as well as discordant moments of tension and rising-to-dramatic change. More specifically, the political climate of the local government differs depending on how those people view the three aspects of their governmental calls and needs: rights and responsibility of the people, obligations of their government, and limits on the local governmental authority.
Some of the advantages of having a federal government are that the national level of government can work on the bigger picture tasks while the state government solve the local and specific issues, so that each departments time can be used wisely and efficiently. Furthermore, if citizens took their everyday problems to the national level, then the national government would be over worked and the citizen might have to travel far to even reach the states capital. Each side of the
To define the terminology of federalism to a simplistic way is the sharing of sovereignty between the national government and the local government. It is often described as the dual sovereignty of governments between the national and the local to exert power in the political system. In the US it is often been justified as one of the first to introduce federalism by the ‘founding fathers’ which were developed in order to escape from the overpowered central government. However, federalism in the United States is hitherto uncertain where the power lies in the contemporary political system. In this essay I will outline and explain how power relationship alternates between states and federal government. Moreover I will also discuss my perspective by weighing the evidence based upon resources. Based on these resources, it will aid me to evaluate the recent development in the federal-state relationship.
In conclusion, the state of Florida is made up into a wide range of state and local government agencies. The state agencies include the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The local agencies include the counties, municipalities, and special purpose districts. The counties and municipalities are general purpose agencies that include county and city government. The special purpose agencies are districts created for functions such as transportation, schools, water, etc.
St. Louis is a city that is located in Missouri on the Mississippi river; this feature was essential to the growth of St. Louis being a major city in the U.S. also that it is celebrating their 250th anniversary in 2014. St. Louis has an independent government, this means that thee city is not located with any county there are only two city like this and the other one is Baltimore. Because St. Louis is independent there are not districts and this means for there are usually one service for the whole city such as a fire department. In addition this means that there are many full time officials within the city and not that many volunteers or low paid officials (David Stokes 2011). The city elects 11 executive positions and 28 aldermen by the ward system. These a...
Then there is the state government which are responsible for governing affairs within their borders, and carrying out federal laws and programs at the state level. They are governed by their own constitutions and retain any rights that the U.S. Constitution does not exclusively grant to the federal government. The state government is limited as they cannot form alliances with other states and must honor and respect the laws and institutions of the other states. And finally there is the federal government which is the central and highest level of government in the U.S. It is divided into three branches and each branch has its own rights and power to check and balance the powers of each branch. The federal government has the power to regulate taxes, establish federal welfare programs and make laws in the interest of the nation as a whole. There are also limitations set to the federal government’s authority, as they cannot ask local law enforcements agencies to do minor administrative jobs. Although all levels of government have their own responsibilities there are limits to interfering with other governments
Federalism, by definition, is the division of government authority between at least two levels of government. In the United States, authority is divided between the state and national government. “Advocates of a strong federal system believe that the state and local governments do not have the sophistication to deal with the major problems facing the country” (Encarta.com).
In spite of the prominence of the states in everyday life, the most demanding public policy questions former to the American Civil War involved discussions over the possibility of national power with most Americans believing it should remain partial. Yet federalism was still the center of political arguments. The Constitution did not report if states did nor did not reserve any remaining sovereignty in the powers given to the national government. The fact that the states were much more capable in accomplishing governmental purposes adequately t...
There are three classes of county government. The main differences are in the organization and selection of governing bodies and officers. General Law counties elect supervisors by district and Charter counties can elect at large or by district. Charter counties have more freedom drafting their charters determining the powers and duties of their officers and if they will be elected or appointed. The third class is Consolidated city and county. San Francisco is the only city-county (League of Women Voters, 1992).
Federalism is a legal concept that is centered around the concept that law is best handled as a two layered responsibility. Federalism is also built on a belief that sharing power with the local government is key to a successful governance. According to the text book, “the United States was the first nation to adopt federalism as its governing framework” (pg83). The following are a few examples of some advantages, as well as disadvantages of Federalism.