The system of local government in the United States: main tasks and goals, structure and types

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

The system of local government in the United States has a high degree of independence from the center. Each state, municipality, territorial unit is a structure independent of the central government with a high degree of autonomy.

Federalism

The powers of government are distributed among local, state and national authorities. In 2012, according to the five-year government census, there were about 90,000 local government units in North America. At the same time, the leadership went to the state of Illinois, in which they counted about seven thousand structures. The state of Hawaii was the poorest in them - here, according to the census, only 21 units were found.

There are two levels of local government in the US:

• larger areas are called counties (called "parishes" in Louisiana and "boroughs" in Alaska), municipalities or cities;
• settlements are small counties.

The constitution of each state determines the form of municipalities. Depending on this, names are also given - villages, cities and towns, settlements. The normative foundations of local government in the United States are also spelled out in the Constitution of each state.

State Powers

The current system of local government in the US is very ambiguous. It is formed from many levels - local, state and federal, which often conflict with each other.

The main law of the United States - the Constitution - does not contain regulations that directly regulate the management in each region. Everything related to local government, its structure and functions are established at the state level.

Features of local government in the United States are that the work of the local municipality is determined by the decision of the relevant state, this procedure forms the complete dependence of local authorities on federal ones. Each state is independent in this area, so there are 50 different municipal systems throughout America. The legal status of each state is based on the Constitution and current legislation, supported by municipal charters, which contain the rules governing the activities of the state.

Funding

The receipt of money in favor of local governments and governments in the United States from the federal authorities is realized directly in the form of loans and subventions, in other words, specially designated subsidies. Today all municipalitiesThe United States is directly connected to the federal center, all units of local government implement federal programs.

Money funds in favor of municipalities go to cover the following items of expenditure:

1. Socio-economic development of lagging territories.
2. Funding low-income families, single mothers and the disabled. Social protection programs operate throughout the country, compensation payments are established and benefits are assigned. In addition, there are certain food norms - sets of products determined by the composition and size of the family. The list of medical services has been determined.
3. Thanks to the allocated subventions, opportunities are created for equalizing districts and cities in terms of providing employment, in the field of personnel training, and educating citizens.
4. Subvention funds received by the local budget help to optimize tax rates and contribute to the distribution of the tax burden.

From the above, we can conclude that citizen-led local governments in the United States carry out projects and programs of the federal government themselves.

Local government functions

Before the war, the volume of local government tasks in the US was much lower. Today, due to the growth in the number and demands of residents, the population, changes in the social social structure and urbanization, which have led to an increase in energy, environmental, and transport problems, the range of tasks has expanded. Early 80syears in terms of the economy, a "he althy course" was taken, which was accompanied by a reduction in spending in such areas as social, cultural, cut spending on other civil needs, especially when it came to the poorest segments of the country's population.

A local government organization in the United States provides a set of basic services to the community, such as housing and transportation, security and safety and law enforcement, as well as sewerage and water supply, garbage and snow removal. Local authorities approve the standards of school educational programs. The work of local he alth authorities or, for example, the police, is paid from the local budget, replenished by taxes from residents.

How territories are divided in the USA

Today in the US, there are six types of territorial units with their own management:

• counties;
• borough;
• cities;
• towns;
• viligee;
• townships.

These are traditional species. There are also two non-traditional ones: special and school districts.

Belonging to a particular territorial entity depends on the population, as well as on the level of urbanization of the territories. For comparison: both settlements - the city of Sherrill with a population of 3 thousand and the city of New York with a population of 17 million people have the status of "city" (city).

Types of US local governments

In general, the system of local government in the States is quite flexible. The major municipal corporations listed above are the key bodiesmanagement is predominantly in cities, the total population of which reaches 87% of the level of the entire country, and it is here that the need for all services to ensure the life of people is highest. Along with the counties, these structures are the largest among the local government units in the United States.

Counties

The states are subdivided into counties, of which there are over 3,000 in the US. In Louisiana, they are called "parish". Counties primarily serve to administer areas not owned by the city. These are peculiar local governments in the United States, typical mainly for rural areas with a large territory and a low population. County residents elect councils and officials in the form of a sheriff, who is responsible for public order, the prosecutor, treasurer and others are also elected.

County Goals:

• assisting states in holding elections and administering justice;
• Providing villagers with a range of essential services, such as construction, housekeeping.

What characterizes the county? Its main features are as follows:

These territorial units are subdivided into "towns" and "townships". The first are small towns with surroundings adjacent to them, and "township" is a group of roughly homogeneous villages. US local governments in these structures are the last, "relict" form of popularself-government and today remained only in 20 states. Formally, they differ from municipalities in the definition of their boundaries, which do not depend on the concentration of the population: this may include both rural areas with sparse population and highly urbanized territories. The township authorities (also called the "council of controllers") include elected members (they are also delegates), their number reaches 20 people, all of them are county officials and are involved in its affairs. The leadership of the council and these officials oversee the activities of municipal officials, resolving issues of the local budget and determining the main development programs

• Meetings of residents held in small structures are designed to resolve general issues of the settlement, within the framework of these meetings, as a rule, an executive committee is also elected. If the structure is larger, meetings of local residents are held in separate villages. Also on the agenda of such a meeting is the choice of a constable in charge of public order and a treasurer. If other issues need to be resolved, committees are created in cities and other territorial-administrative units and councils are elected.
• Council of Commissioners. Three-quarters of the states in the counties have an appointed board of commissioners. Members of this society do not have the right to membership in the executive bodies, and also cannot hold other positions. They are elected to the post of chairman of this society in turn, local issues are resolved collectively, as well as the orderFinance.

The main working bodies in the counties are councils elected by the population. County administration in most US states is characterized by the absence of a single executive authority, the local population also chooses a sheriff, prosecutor (attorney), as well as a court clerk and treasurer, coroner, auditor and county clerk. There are also Superintendent of Schools, Registrar and County Surveyor who are also elected by the people.

Functions of officials

1. The sheriff is in charge of the county police and conducts all the activities entrusted to law enforcement: making subpoenas, making arrests.
2. Attorney oversees compliance with the law, investigates crimes, represents the interests of the county in the courts.
3. The functions of the coroner are homicide investigations.
4. County Assessor sets tax rates and oversees tax collection.
5. The auditor monitors the proper and targeted spending of county funds, his duties include control and audit functions.
6. Head of Finance - Treasurer.
7. The clerk acts as secretary of the county council.

The nature of the influence of the council on the administrative staff determines the form of management, there are three of them:

1. The commission form is characterized by the fact that all power is concentrated in the hands of the county council. At the same time, there is no supreme official, the commission is formed from elected persons - authorized persons, each of whom manages one department of the city government. Todisadvantages include lack of control, lack of experience among managers, lack of cooperation, mutual responsibility.

2. The "council-manager" form is characterized by its predominance in the western and southern states. The council appoints for a certain period of time a professional official - a manager who selects personnel for the most important posts in the municipality, and also forms an activity program and exercises control over it. The Council decides on the most important issues of a strategic nature, sets the level of taxes and approves budget allocations.

3. In 1835, the form "mayor - council" first arose. The leader performs the same functions as in the previous form, but the elected leader is formally assigned the status of the head of the territory, respectively, his influence and political role are much higher. He has the power to veto county council decisions, is empowered to bring major county policies to the council, and is allowed to make public statements on behalf of the entire county. Drawing an analogy, if we consider the republican system, here we will talk about the form "strong mayor - weak council", if parliamentary - "weak mayor - strong council".

In the first case, the mayor owns the independent decision of many current issues, in addition, he is endowed with the right of suspensive veto on council decisions, while only a qualified majority of council members can cancel this ban.

Municipalities

On a territorial basis, both counties and municipalities are in close connection with each other. This is explained by the fact that more than half of the municipalities are included in the counties (out of the counties, 39 cities are singled out, the municipalities of which perform the functions characteristic of municipal corporations and counties). The main working body in the municipality is the council, which consists of 5 to 9 members, in large cities with more than 500 thousand people it includes about 13 people.

During the history of local government in the United States, municipal councils have been elected on the basis of a majority system of relative majority.

Laws in a large number of states prohibit the participation of political parties and associations in the nomination of their candidates in local elections.

This is a consequence of the electoral technologies that existed at the beginning of the 20th century, the outcome of the elections in which was decided by the amount of money, and also the force pressure from the parties was applied, and the opinion of the people was not taken into account.

Whoever is elected and no matter how, the effectiveness of the work of local authorities directly depends on the relationship of the elected with the people, on the trust of the population in local governments.

Towns

The highest governing body is the annual meeting of all residents (town meeting) with the right to vote. All the most important issues are resolved at it, a council of 3-5 people is elected - an executive body in the period between meetings, a treasurer and a clerk, an assessor andconstable, other officers who may also be appointed by the council, as well as the chief administrators of the township.

Today, many public administration specialists consider towns and townships to be an inefficient system of local government in the United States, doomed to disappear.

Cities

From the counties, cities are specially distinguished, which have their own self-government system. In the "council-manager" system that operates in them, the latter is the head of the administration. He is appointed not by the population, but by the council. The head is an experienced manager acting as a hired official, in connection with this he has the right to be fired. The manager concentrates all power in his hands, while the city has a mayor elected by the population, whose appointment is to perform representative functions, chair the council and, in fact, manage nothing.

There is no separation of powers in the city as such - a single commission has concentrated legislative and executive functions in its hands. It consists of 5–7 members, who are elected by city residents for a period of up to 4 years, within the framework of the commission, the necessary legal acts are issued, the execution of which is organized by its members. One of the members of the commission is appointed its chairman, and each member of this formation is the head of the department and the municipality, which, in fact, no one controls.

Large cities can be formed from several small, located in the neighborhood, as well as from the counties, may contain several autonomous municipalities (they are calledmetropolitan areas).

Districts by natural division

In the United States, there are also numerous separate districts that are not associated with administrative-territorial division, their occurrence is due to natural factors and natural causes. In such formations, the body that created this district (or the population itself) appoints officials to the places.

Special Districts

These are special US local governments, briefly characterized by the fact that, unlike counties, municipalities and townships, they are created to solve specific problems and issues, such as security, education and water supply in a particular area. They are distinguished by a high degree of autonomy and are endowed with the rights of a legal entity. Each special district has its own governing body of five to seven people, which is either appointed by the state or local government, or elected by the population.

School Districts

Of the special local governments in the United States, a special group stands out - school districts. In these, school governance and school law is governed by both the state's own department of education and local school communities.

Councils are also elected here, with the right to decide (but under the control of the county and state) all current issues relating to education in the area. They levy a property tax to finance the construction and maintenance of schools, the disposal of subsidies,allocated to the needs and development of education, the functions of the council also include the hiring of teaching staff.