Politics in States and Communities (15 Ed.) Thomas Dye and Susan MacManus Edited by Bob Botsch for POLI 458

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 10 Governing America’s Communities

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Learning Objectives Explain the challenges local governments face because of their diversity in population size, square miles, and socioeconomic composition. Analyze the structure and functions of the system comprised of 89,000 local governments. Describe the diversity of county governments. Compare and contrast county commission, county administrator, and county executive governmental structures. Describe the duties of county officials, and discuss how home rule charters, townships, and New England towns are organized. Examine the mayor-council and council-manager forms of city government; outline the commission, town meeting, and representative town meeting forms of city government; and describe which forms of city government are most prevalent. Evaluate how successfully nonpartisan elections have taken the “politics” out of local government and raised the caliber of candidates for elected office. Compare at-large and district electoral systems, and how the electoral system affects which candidates are most likely to be victorious. Describe special-purpose local governments known as special districts, and list the various purposes for which these districts were created.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Local Governments Psychological benefit: Creating a “sense of community”: Friends and neighbors interact, voluntarism is high, and government and citizens communicatePsychological benefit: Creating a “sense of community”: Friends and neighbors interact, voluntarism is high, and government and citizens communicate Principle functions: Providing services and managing conflictPrinciple functions: Providing services and managing conflict Sources of conflict: Human diversity the source of all political conflictSources of conflict: Human diversity the source of all political conflict How people cope with dissatisfaction with how treated (like “generic politics”): Can do nothing, move away, or try to change thingsHow people cope with dissatisfaction with how treated (like “generic politics”): Can do nothing, move away, or try to change things

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Local Governments in the United States

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Government Favorability by Level: Local Government Rated Highest

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Eighty-Nine Thousand Governments Why Should You Care about the Structure of Local Government? B/c structure determines who to hold accountable for things that affect our daily lives What Should Citizens Focus on at the Local Level? 1) Who can hire and fire 2) Who makes the budget 3) Whether powers are separated 4) How leaders are chosen Local Government Functions Differ by State: oCounties: 1) Rural—more folksy, individualistic, friends and neighbors politics 2) Urban—more bureaucratic and act much as large cities act with services oCities—provide general range of services oMidwestern Townships—act as subdivisions of counties and act as counties do oNew England Towns—usually small cities with elements of direct democracy oSchool Districts—really a “special district” that can be dependent or independent

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. County Governments: Almost Universal All states except Connecticut and Rhode Island, have organized county governments that perform administrative duties Counties are called “parishes” in Louisiana and “boroughs” in Alaska Total 3,031 counties in the United States

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Structure of County Government County governments differ markedly in their organization: A governing body Separately elected officials A large number of special boards or commissions An appointed county bureaucracy

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Structure of County Government Traditional county commission structure: In one-third of counties—each elected commissioner heads a dept County administrator structure: Elected commission/council appoints administrator/manager Elected county executive/county mayor structure: Voters elect chief executive officer separately from county commission/council Elected County officials: Include commissioners/council members, sheriff, coroner, district attorney, clerk, tax assessor, etc. Home rule charter counties: Can exercise all powers not specifically prohibited by law or charter

General-Purpose Local Governments

Special-Purpose Local Governments

Structures of County Government

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Forms of County Government

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Cities as “Municipal Corporations” Dillon’s Rule: Courts interpret powers granted in charters very narrowly—only powers expressly given by state, seen as children of the state Types of Municipal Charters:  Special Act Charters—each city created differently  General Act Charters—classifies by size, not name  Optional Charters—gives some choice on structure  Home Rule—reverses Dillon’s Rule: can do things unless prohibited, the most modern and preferred charter by political scientists

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Forms of City Government Commission: Gives legislative and executive power to a small body, usually of five members—similar to county commission Council-manager: Elected council or commission appoints manager (may or may not have elected mayor) Mayor-council: May be “strong” or “weak” Town meeting and representative town meeting: Currently only in five New England states

Forms of City Government

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. American Cities: Forms of Government

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Nonpartisan Elections Nonpartisan elections are elections in which the candidates’ names appear on a ballot without indication of their party affiliation. Incumbent advantage: re-elected at very high rates in nonpartisan elections

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Voters Don’t Always Approve Structural Changes—Change is Hard!

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Local Election Systems Types of at-large systems: Pure, by seat with no district, from residency district Single-member district systems: Candidates are chosen by voters in separate geographically defined districts Combination election systems: Some officials are elected at large; others from single-member districts (City of Aiken) Civil rights tests: Must pass results as well as intent test— preclearance no longer required due to Supreme Ct decision on 1965 Voting Rights Act Federal court intervention: Has been hard to defend exclusive reliance on at-large elections in courts Minority representation improvement: Recent gains, close to parity

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Comparing Single-Member District and Mixed (Combination) Election Systems

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Comparing Single-Member District and Mixed (Combination) Election Systems

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Special-Purpose Local Governments School districts: Local school districts have an elected school board and an appointed superintendent in most areas—about 12,900 Special districts: More than 37,000 nationwide, but special districts are less well known to most voters and there is little accountability to the public

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. On the Web National Association of Countieswww.naco.org National Association of Countieswww.naco.org National League of Citieswww.nlc.org National League of Citieswww.nlc.org