03 February 2010

Government Close to the People

 

A Fairview Township firefighter battles a brush fire in Pennsylvania.

A Fairview Township firefighter battles a brush fire in Pennsylvania.

This article is excerpted from the book American Citizenship, published by the Bureau of International Information Programs. View the entire book (PDF, 4.57MB).

 

Students in Texas walk to school buses to take them home after class.

Students in Texas walk to school buses to take them home after class.

Each of the 50 U.S. states is divided into any number of local jurisdictions, which include counties, cities, and towns. A county may encompass a number of communities that have different names, while a city or town encompasses an area that has one distinct name. The administration of government varies from county to county and city to city, but the mission of all local governments is the same: to provide essential, everyday services that ensure the well-being of their citizens.

To get an idea of the diversity of local government, consider these facts about county government: There are 3,066 counties in the United States, ranging in area from Arlington County, Virginia, with 67 square kilometers (25.9 square miles), to North Slope Borough, Alaska, with 228,439 square kilometers (87,861 square miles). Population varies from Loving County, Texas, with 140 residents, to Los Angeles County, California, with 9.2 million.

In general, local governments perform functions that are delegated by their state governments. County governments are responsible for managing the mechanics of elections. They register new voters, mail election information to voters, select voting devices, establish polling sites, recruit poll workers, and count and certify ballots on Election Day. Local governments also perform traditional functions, such as assessing property values for tax purposes, keeping records of property transactions, and maintaining vital statistics such as births, marriages, and deaths.

Perhaps most importantly, local governments provide services that affect citizens’ daily routines. Local authorities ensure that the water piped into their homes is safe, that trash is picked up from their neighborhoods, that public schools are accessible to all children, that the roads are paved. When unusual, and possibly dangerous, circumstances arise, local government is there too, with police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel protecting and aiding citizens. Clearly, the work of local government is closest to people’s everyday lives.