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Local government

LG refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state. "Localgovernment," generally acts within powers delegated to it by legislation or orders of the higher level of

government and each country has some kind of local government which will differ from those of other

countries. In primitive societies the lowest level of local government is the village headman or tribal

chief. Federal states such as the United States have two levels of government above the local level:

the governments of the fifty states and the federal national government whose relations are governed

by the constitution of the United States. In modern nations, local governments usually have some ofthe same kind of powers as national governments do. They usually have some power to raise taxes,

though these may be limited by central legislation.

IndiaThe Republic of India is a union of states. The specific powers and spheres of influence of these

states are set forth in the constitution, with all residual or non-specified powers in the hands of the

central government (the reverse of the US Constitution). The central government has the power toset state boundaries and to create and abolish states. The state governments are similar to the

central government in form, with a chief minister and a cabinet responsible to the state legislature,

which may be unicameral or bicameral. State governors, usually retired civil servants or politicians, are

appointed by the president for a five-year term and act only on the advice of the state cabinet.

Local Government of India refers to the government of the 28 Indian states and the 7union territories. There are a total of 6, 45,000 local governments of India. Local governments of the

rural regions are termed as the Panchayats. The local government in the urban areas is referred to as

the nagar Panchayats and the municipalities.

The village Panchayats basically refer to the councils of the local government of India, that take care

of the various administrative affairs of the rural regions. Along with the independence of India, came

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the verdict from the Indian Constitution that all the Panchayats will be chosen by the state and will be

provided such powers so as to enable them function on their own. These local governments of India

are self-sufficient and self-enabled units that work under the state government of India.

The 73rd Constitution Amendment Act, 1992 and the 74th Constitution Amendment Act, 1992

came into force in the year 1993. In this Act, the constitutional status was attached to the city as well

as village councils in India. Some of the significant steps that were taken for the local government in

India include regular elections, the fixed five-year term and the review and augmentation of the

finances by the State Finance Commissions.

The rural Panchayats created in around 1959 were based on the soviet model (Yugoslav variety) of

tiring with hierarchical control to undertake mainly agency tasks of the states through earmarkedfunding, with limited civic tasks financed from assigned land revenue and local surcharge thereon. In

1991, through two identical constitutional amendments, one for the Panchayats and the other for the

Municipalities, a number of changes were introduced to strengthen local governments in India ensure

regularity of their election every five years and limiting their period of super session or dissolution to

six months, three sets of local governments for the Panchayats and the Municipalities, reservation of

seats and chairpersons for women and scheduled castes and tribes, creation of independent state

election commission (SEC), state finance commission (SFC) linked with the central finance

commission, and planning committees at the districts (DPCs) and metropolitan areas (MPCs). In

addition, these amendments have indicated guidelines for the states to empower the local

governments through increased devolution of functions and taxes to them- these are not been

followed-up by the states. However, the SFCs have been allocating discretionary grants for local

governments passed through the states. One dilemma in the existing arrangement is that the

Panchayats do not have a statutorily delegated list of functions on which its revenues could be spent;

this has created problems of financing their own activities from their own revenues or through general

grants from the CFC-SFC arrangements. Panchayats act mostly as agencies for implementing theirerstwhile soviet plan schemes and projects on cost reimbursement (around 96% of their activities) that

do not have any maintenance component for transferred completed works. The major national parties

are committed to improve the effectiveness of the Panchayats through further central action to

remedy to situation.

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Functions of Local Government of IndiaAll the local governments of India have to perform certain responsibilities, which are divided into two

categoriesobligatory functions and discretionary functions.

Some of the obligatory functions performed by the local governments are:

Registration of births and deaths Supply of pure drinking water Construction and maintenance of public streets

Lighting and watering of public streets Cleaning of public streets, places and sewers Naming streets and numbering houses Establishment and maintenance of primary schools Maintenance or support of public hospitals Some of the discretionary functions, which are performed by the local governments of India,

are:

Planting and maintenance of trees Housing for low income groups Construction and maintenance of public parks, gardens, libraries, museums, rest houses and

other public buildings

Securing or removal of dangerous buildings or places.

Local government in the United StatesIt is generally structured in accordance with the laws of the various individual states. Typically each

state has at least two separate tiers: counties and municipalities. Some states have their counties

divided into townships. In turn there are several different types of municipal government, generally

reflecting the needs of different levels of population densities; although the types and nature of these

municipal entities varies from state to state, typical examples include the city, town, borough, and

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village. Many rural areas and even some suburban areas of many states have no municipal government

below the county level. In a few states, there is only one level of local government: Hawaii has no legal

municipalities below the county level; while Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island's counties

serve no legal functionthese being filled by city and town governments.

In addition to the above, there are also often local or regional special districts that exist for specific

purposes, such as to provide fire protection, sewer service, transit service or to manage water

resources. In many states, school districts manage the schools. Such special purpose districts often

encompass areas in multiple municipalities.

Finally, in some places the different tiers are merged together, for example as a consolidated city

county.

Local governments generally include two tiers: counties, also known as boroughs in Alaska andparishes in Louisiana, and municipalities, or cities/towns. In some states, counties are divided into

townships. The county is a subdivision of the state, usually -- but not always -- containing two or more

townships and several villages. A board of commissioners, levies taxes, borrows and appropriates

money, fixes the salaries of county employees, supervises elections, builds and maintains highways

and bridges, and administers national, state and county welfare programs.

Municipalities can be structured in many ways, as defined by state constitutions, and are called,

variously, townships, villages, boroughs, cities, or towns. Various kinds of districts also providefunctions in local government outside county or municipal boundaries, such as school districts or fire

protection districts.

Municipal governments those defined as cities, towns, boroughs (except in Alaska), villages, and

townships are generally organized around a population center and in most cases correspond to the

geographical designations used by the United States Census Bureau for reporting of housing and

population statistics. Municipalities generally take responsibility for parks and recreation services,

police and fire departments, housing services, emergency medical services, municipal courts,transportation services (including public transportation), and public works (streets, sewers, snow

removal, signage, and so forth).

In most states, county and municipal governments exist side-by-side. There are exceptions to this,

however. In some states, a city can, either by separating from its county or counties or by merging with

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one or more counties, become independent of any separately functioning county government and

function both as a county and as a city. Depending on the state, such a city is known as either an

independent city or a consolidated city-county. Such a jurisdiction constitutes a county-equivalent

and is analogous to a unitary authority in other countries

Municipal governments are usually administratively divided into several departments, depending on

the size of the city. Though cities differ in the division of responsibility, the typical arrangement is to

have the following departments handle the following roles:

Urban planning/zoning Economic development/tourism

Public works - construction and maintenance of all city-owned or operated assets, including the water

supply system, sewer, streets, storm water, snow removal, street cleaning, street signs, vehicles,buildings, land, etc.

Parks and recreation - construction and maintenance of city parks, common areas, parkways, publicly-

owned land, operation of various recreation programs and facilities

Police Fire Emergency medical services Emergency management Accounting/finance - often tax collection, audits Human resources - for city workers

General counsel/city attorney/risk management - legal matters such as writing municipal bonds,

ensuring city compliance with state and federal law, responding to citizen lawsuits stemming from city

actions or inactions.

Transportation (varies widely) - if the city has a municipal bus orlight rail service, this function may beits own department or it may be folded into the of the above departments.

Information technology - supports computer systems used by city employees; may be also responsible

for a city website, phones and other systems.

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Housingdepartment

Municipal court

More than three-quarters of the citizens of the United States now live in towns, large cities or their

suburbs. The city directly serves the needs of the people, providing everything from police and fire

protection to sanitary codes, health regulations, education, public transportation and housing.

Cooperation with both state and federal organizations is essential.

Whereas the federal government and state governments share power in countless ways, a local

government must be granted power by the state. In general, mayors, city councils, and other governingbodies are directly elected by the people.

Forms of US local governmentAbout eighty per cent of American citizens now live in large cities, suburbs of cities, or towns.

Peoples needs from police to sanitation, education to fire protection, housing and public

transportation are seen to, most directly, by city governments. There are, broadly speaking, threeforms of it: the mayor-council form; the commission form; and the city or council-manager form.

In the mayor-council form, which is the oldest of the three, there is (not surprisingly) a mayor and a

council consisting of a number of members, sometimes called aldermen. The structure is patterned on

that of the state and federal governments. While the mayor is elected at large, the aldermen are

sometimes elected, in other cases selected from wards or districts. The mayor is head of the executive

branch, presiding over council meetings, appointing chiefs of departments, perhaps with the councilsapproval, and is often the budgetary officer of the city. He can veto ordinances passed by the

legislative branch, the council. Where the mayor is a significant policy maker, an administrator may be

given responsibility for daily operations. The legislature, in general, adopts the budget and general

policy positions, passes resolutions with legislation, and audits the governments performance.

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The commission form of city government in the United States combines, in one group of usually at

least three, and often five or seven, officials, the executive and legislative dimensions. It is also,

sometimes, called the Galveston Plan. All members are elected, and each commissioner is responsible

for at least one city department. One of them is the chairperson and may be called the mayor, but he

or she has no extra powers. Historically the commission form is regarded as an important

manifestation of the impulse in the direction of efficiency through employment of experts, but others

have seen that tendency in a negative light as a movement depriving those without any particular

expertise the working class, in other words of their influence.

Yet other forms of local government in the United States include the town meeting, the

representative town meeting, the township, the borough and the village.

Town meetings are largely a phenomenon of New England states. As often as necessary, but at

least once a year, a towns registered voters meet, in open session, to elect officers, debate issues and

pass laws. Practical issues such as taxes, budget and building and road construction and repair are

decided. The board officers are called selectmen, board of supervisors, town council, or something

similar.

The representative town meeting is very like the town meeting system, except that, while all citizens

may attend meetings and take part in the debates, the right to vote belongs only to the (large) number

chosen to be representatives.

In a township, there is usually a mayor and three, four or five committee members, who are elected, and

who hold all legislative powers not held by the mayor. An administrator may be appointed to

discharge executive functions.

A boroughs mayor and six members of council are elected, and the mayor only votes to break ties.The council is the legislature, and the mayor appoints officers. In a village, there is, usually, a board of

trustees with five elected members, one of whom has mayoral powers.

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References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_government_in_the_United_States http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/state-and-local-government http://usa.usembassy.de/government-local.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_government http://www.mapsofindia.com/government-of-india/local/ http://www.citymayors.com/usa/usa_locgov.html