The United States federal government plays a significant role in ensuring that all American citizens get the necessary services in order to make life more bearable and easier. However, seeing that this nation is so expansive with an enormous and diverse population, this role may not be exhaustively completed. This then creates the need to have local governments in all the 50 states in the United States of America in order to serve the American citizens effectively since the local governments tend to handle the needs of fewer citizens. Ultimately, the local governments in the United States play a very critical in ensuring that Americans get services delivered to their doorsteps in a timely and efficient manner. The essay will focus on the top five states with most local governments, the similarities that exist among these five states as well as give reasons why there are differences in the number of local governments in different states.
Background information
Local governments usually take on various forms including counties, cities, municipals, towns as well as special districts which usually take many forms. The formation of the local governments as institutional structures have a long history which can be traced all the way to the time Progressive reform movement was founded (Youm & Feiok, 2015). Local governments in the US play a major role in controlling the competing constituency demands as well as managing the ambitions of the local administration leaders and officials. As a result, the local governments tend to become an avenue of competition as each local government tries to outdo the others for development initiatives as well as residents. This works well to ensure that the residents get the best out of their local governments.
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Distribution of local governments across the United States
The United States of America is comprised of fifty distinct states which are free to have their local governments in addition to having state governments governing them. These states are different in terms of geographical location, the population as well as the number of local governments each state has. As such, some states have very many local governments while other has a moderate number of local government's institutions with still others having very few local government institutions. Some of these states have various local governments each with several jurisdictional boundaries as well as special districts with overlapping roles and responsibilities. The top five states in terms of the number of local governments are Illinois with 6,963 local governments which are the highest, followed by Texas with 5,147, Pennsylvania with 4,897, California with 4,425 and Ohio with 3,842. The bottom five states in a number of local governments are Nevada with 191, Alaska with 177, Rhode Island with 133, Hawaii with 21 and District of Columbia with only two local governments (e.Republic, 2017).
Similarities that exist in the top five states with most local governments
The top five states in terms of the number of local governments have several similarities which contribute to this high number of local governments. The top five states that are Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, California, and Ohio according to the US Census Bureau, 2013 have the highest number of American citizens with California topping the list, followed by Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. This then qualifies these states to have more local governments so that the interests of the citizens of these states are met exhaustively (e.Republic, 2017). Additionally, these five states are on the record for having more seats in the House of Representatives further contributing to these states to have more local governments. This is so since the officials will have more and diverse interests in their states of origin in terms of pushing the development agenda which then results in the creation of more local governments. More so some of the states in question tend to have larger landmass which means that the population is spread across a bigger area calling for the creation of more local governments in order to take care of the needs of these people. This is so since it would not be advisable for these people to cross vast territories within their state to access the services of local governments that are far flung in their state. An example of such states with huge land mass include California and Texas with a land mass exceeding 250,000 in square miles (e.Republic, 2017)
Focus on the State of Maryland
The State of Maryland which is located in the Southern part of the US does not feature in the top five states in the number of local governments. According to e.Republic (2017), the state of Maryland has 347 local governments with a population of about 6 million and a land mass of about 12,000 square miles. Additionally, the state of Maryland has a high population density of about 590 people per square mile making the local governments available to host a significant number of residents at the same time (US Bureau of Statistics). The population size and population may be the primary reason why it has fewer local governments as compared to the top five states with most local governments.
In conclusion, local governments play a fundamental role in supporting the federal government in the role of ensuring that the citizens access basic and primary services in a timely manner. The United States of America's 50 states boast of having local governments which play a critical role in enhancing the lives of American citizens within their jurisdictional boundaries. However, the number of local governments in each state is different with some states such as California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois having more than 4000 local governments. On the other hand, the states of Hawaii, Nevada, Rhode Island, Alaska and the District of Columbia have less than 200 local governments. These disparities are as a result of population sizes, land masses and the number of seats in the House of Representatives. These disparities, however, do not matter as long as the American citizens get quality and timely services which make their lives easier and more bearable.
References
e.Republic. (2017). Number of Local Governments by State . Governing the States and Localities . Retrieved from: http://www.governing.com/gov-data/number-of-governments-by-state.html.
Youm, J. & Feiock, R. (2015). Local Governments in the United States. Oxford Press. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756223/obo-9780199756223-0070.xml.
