POLS 207 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Direct Democracy, Body Force, Spoils System
23 Oct 2017
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County government: basic level of government, general purpose government - provide many different kinds of services. Towns: 1,00s in us - about 3100 - range from 72 to >5 million, administer most basic services, aka boroughs and parishes, exogenous institutions. Coroner: top level executive - county judge - elected member of the board (not judicial, judicial authorities - justice of the peace, no educational or licenses requirement to be elected, very democratic - responsive to the people. Modernized county: have institutions that more closely resemble municipal institutions, legislative, executive branches, not as many elected of cials, more professional court system, look more like city governments, larger cities tend to be more modernized. Traditional counties still popular in large tx counties. Functions: administrative arm of the state, independent provider of services. Land use planning: operate public enterprises ie hospitals. Municipal institutions - exogenous to endogenous: cities/villages/towns - distinctions vary from state to state, geographic de nition.
