At least once a generation, the relationship between state, local and federal power becomes an enduring theme in the continuing debate that constitutes American democracy. The "Contract with America," with its call to return control over many program areas to states and municipalities is only the latest example. Issues of local, state and federal government are part of the interwoven strands of every newscast and the front page of every newspaper.
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 coverage, the main information source for political news, focuses on trivialities and scandal. Even more serious analysis is issue driven. Most important of all, national issues and the activities of the President and Congress occupy the news media and play a much greater role in political analysis than all but the most celebrated local issues.
All the more reason, then, for students to understand the goals and mechanics of local government. Politics in States...