Local government in the United States

Many settlements began as shareholder or stockholder business enterprises, and while the king of Britain had technical sovereignty, in most instances "full governmental authority was vested in the company itself.

"[7] Settlers had to fend for themselves; compact towns sprung up based as legal corporations in what has been described as "pure democracy": The people, owing to the necessity of guarding against the Indians and wild animals, and to their desire to attend the same church, settled in small, compact communities, or townships, which they called towns.

Several times a year the adult males met in town meeting to discuss public questions, to lay taxes, to make local laws, and to elect officers.

The chief officers were the "selectmen," from three to nine in number, who should have the general management of the public business; the town clerk, treasurer, constables, assessors, and overseers of the poor.

[9] The founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 by a group of Puritans led by John Winthrop came with the understanding that the enterprise was to be "based in the new world rather than in London.

[12] Typically, voters were white males described as "property owners" aged twenty-one and older, but sometimes the restrictions were greater, and in practice, persons able to participate in elections were few.

[13] But the colonial assemblies passed few bills and did not conduct much business, but dealt with a narrow range of issues, and legislative sessions lasted weeks (occasionally longer), and most legislators could not afford to neglect work for extended periods; so wealthier people tended to predominate in local legislatures.

In some areas, candidates offered voters food and drink, evenhandedly giving "treats" to opponents as well as supporters.––Ed Crews.

In areas lacking a county government, services are provided either by lower level townships or municipalities, or the state.

[17] In New England, towns are a principal form of local municipal government, providing many of the functions of counties in other states.

Some townships or other incorporated areas like villages, boroughs, plantations, and hamlets have governments and political power; others are simply geographic designations.

[18] This concept corresponds roughly to the "incorporated places" that are recognized in Census Bureau reporting of population and housing statistics, although the Census Bureau excludes New England towns from their statistics for this category, and the count of municipal governments excludes places that are governmentally inactive.

In addition to general-purpose government entities legislating at the state, county, and city level, special-purpose areas may exist as well.

The services provided by these districts range from such basic social needs as hospitals and fire protection to the less conspicuous tasks of mosquito abatement and upkeep of cemeteries.

Many homeowners' and neighborhood associations are considered non-profit organizations, but have the ability to raise taxes or fees, fine members for infractions against association-rules, and initiate lawsuits.

School districts are organized local entities providing public elementary and secondary education which, under state law, have sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments.

[24] It is common for residents of major U.S. metropolitan areas to live under six or more layers of special districts as well as a town or city, and a county or township.

[25] In turn, a typical metro area often consists of several counties, several dozen towns or cities, and a hundred (or more) special districts.

One effect of all this complexity is that victims of government negligence occasionally sue the wrong entity and do not realize their error until the statute of limitations has run against them.

This legal doctrine, called Dillon's Rule, was established by Judge John Forrest Dillon in 1872 and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hunter v. Pittsburgh, 207 U.S. 161 (1907), which upheld the power of Pennsylvania to consolidate the city of Allegheny into the city of Pittsburgh, despite the wishes of the majority of Allegheny residents.

[29] State constitutions and statutes which allow counties or municipalities to enact ordinances without the legislature's express permission are said to provide home rule authority.

Local voters are generally free to choose the basic framework of government from a selection established by state law.

(not including insular areas) * note: Municipalities are any incorporated places, such as cities, towns, villages, boroughs, etc.

The following sections provide details of the operation of local government in a selection of states, by way of example of the variety that exists across the country.

Cities, counties, and the one consolidated city-county can make ordinances (local laws), including the establishment and enforcement of civil and criminal penalties.

As a result, California has several towns with large populations in the tens of thousands and several cities that are home to only a few hundred people.

One year later, Johns Creek (62,000) and Milton (20,000) incorporated, which meant that the entirety of north Fulton County was now municipalized.

All communities are considered to be census-designated places, with the exact boundaries being decided upon by co-operative agreement between the Governor's office and the U.S. Census Bureau.

In 2010 the seventeen regional councils existing at that time signed an inter-regional cooperative agreement that established a policy to enhance their value by sharing member resources and capacity to deliver services to the state of North Carolina.

[34] Second, most counties have not centralized purchasing into a single procurement department which would be able to seek quantity discounts and carefully scrutinize bids and contract awards for unusual patterns.