Federal, State and Local Government

Geographically, at least, city and state governments are more accessible to most citizens than the national government. After all, most Americans can easily drive to their city halls and county seats and most are probably within a few hundred miles of their state capitols. Yet, paradoxically, state and, especially, local governments are the least understood of our governmental structures. Although the texture of daily life is shaped by the education and safety issues local governments control, they are easy to take for granted--unless a breakdown in their functions creates a problem. Voters are reminded of their lack of understanding of local government when they confront a ballot box, every few months at best. Less regularly, difficulties with state, city and county legal requirements and encounters with their many departments may serve as more forcible reminders.

Such encounters can be a shock, because most Americans know very little about their local governments on either a practical or a political level. Media broadcast cov

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the structures and basic operation of state and local governments, as well as the importance of partisan politics and local and regional differences in shaping many issues. The three-chapter introductory section introduces political principles, places them into modern political context and provides a background in state and national constitutional requirements and federalism. This context becomes crucial in understanding issues that come later. For example, in "Minority Politics and "Civil Rights," Chapter 14, a section on affirmative action discusses constitutional questions, the Bakke case, affirmative action in the courts, state affirmative action requirements and racial set-asides. Each issue is explained briefly under a paragraph heading containing basic information and occasional commentary. The section on racial set-asides (page 402) highlights a 1989 Supreme Court decision on the constitutional validity of a Richmond, Virgina law: In its opinion, the Court acknowledged a history of discrimination in Richmond and Virginia, but found no clear record of past discrimination in awarding of city contracts or any evidence that minority firms received less business than their representation in the construction industry would
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Richmond Virginia, Preface XV, Contract America, Middle-class American, Nevertheless Dye, Rights Chapter, Charles Murry, President Congress, XV Revised, , local governments, local government, affirmative action, page 468, government half, issues local, public schools, federal government, erosion local, racial set-asides,
Approximate Word count = 1405
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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