What Do Different Levels of Government Do?
There are more than 90,000 government bodies active across the United States — almost all of them are local. Local governments, whether they’re city councils, county boards, or special-purpose governments like a school or water board, are the most accessible and often most impactful government bodies that people interact with every day.
Local government has the lowest barrier to entry for getting involved in politics, so it’s the best choice for most budding politicos when running for office. But if you don’t understand the role local government plays in our lives and how governments differ from state or federal government, you may end up doing a disservice to your constituents and your community. It’s important to find the right office for the issue you want to focus on.
Like good organizers, let's start at the local level, and work our way up the ladder to find the office that is right for you and your political goals.
City Government
I’m sure you know that city government has to do with the running of your city. But there is always some confusion about what city governments do versus what counties and other government bodies administer. The first thing to know is that cities are more independent than almost any other governmental body.
Because of a legal rationale called “Home Rule,” city governments are almost wholly separate governmental bodies, with control over their land use, zoning, public safety and infrastructure. Cities also have a large role as a cooperative body working with county, state, and special government bodies like school or water boards to represent their interests.
Example issue areas you should be passionate about:
Police
Fire
Small-Scale infrastructure
Land Use/Zoning
Housing
Small Business support
Parks/Green space
Funding:
City budgets are usually self-funded and rely on property taxes, sales taxes, and fees for some services like trash pickup.
Context:
Policing alone often makes up a majority of most city budgets, while sheriff’s offices make up much of a county’s budget. If you’re interested in working on local infrastructure, land use, policing, parks, libraries, or other local matters within city bounds — city government is the right fit for you.
However, if you’re interested in education, environmental protection, water, jails, or regional issues, city government may not be your best option. Some cities across the country directly control things like water supply, while some places may have a water board. Your city may fund local schools, or may rely on school boards, state and federal funding. Regardless, city officials are often represented on boards that deal with a variety of issues, where officials will represent the interests of their city or special district and coordinate with other governmental and civic organizations. So while city interests remain largely within their boundaries, how your city budgets and handles issues may be quite different from your neighbors one state or even one county over.
County Government
Unlike cities, county governments more closely serve as the administrative arm of state governments, handling state-funded programs and overseeing their implementation. However, they also have their own independent powers and responsibilities, most notably managing unincorporated territory within county boundaries.
Depending on where you live, county governments may be responsible for the wellbeing and representation of residents that don’t live in cities, and instead live in unincorporated territory. Counties also control the infrastructure in those areas, and work with cities and states to create larger infrastructure projects that span the whole region.
Lastly, county governments maintain records, administer elections, and run the sheriff’s department, court system, and jails. If you are interested in criminal justice, the county is the best place for you to be, other than running for Judge, Sheriff, or District Attorney.
Example issue areas you should be passionate about:
Oversight of the Sheriff’s Department
Mental health services
Senior services
Disability services
Election administration
Record keeping
Court and jail administration
Regional infrastructure
Administer statewide programs
Health and Human Services
Public Health
Land use & zoning in unincorporated areas
Some educational programs
Cooperation on regional or statewide issues with other agencies
Funding:
County governments are funded via state and federal money for particular programs, property taxes and fees.
Summary:
If you live in unincorporated territory, the county board is also akin to your city council, and has similar powers and responsibilities.
Because almost half of most county budgets come from state and federal sources, much of a county’s role is in the administration of state and federal programs. That can mean working on healthcare, criminal justice, policing, or other larger issues, but with a regional lens and an eye towards making a program work.
Counties also play a massive role in the cooperation between agencies, cities and the state, working long-term goals like housing development, mental health and substance abuse treatment, environmental quality, and other regional issues.
State Government
State governments have fairly broad powers, second only to the federal government. With rights enshrined in the Constitution, they have supremacy over cities and counties, with their own constitution, rights, elections, and laws, only subject to the partial authority of the federal government.
While there is a lot of overlapping authority shared by states and federal governments, the areas off-limits to states are issues between states and nations (i.e. interstate commerce, foreign policy). However, most states do indeed rely on the federal government for grant money that funds programs like Medicare and Medicaid, as well as many other funded and unfunded mandates. States also differ in what rights they maintain for their citizens, ranging from abortion access to union membership. If there is an issue you care about, it’s very likely your state government is dealing with it at a pretty high level.
Issue Areas:
Everything but foreign policy, interstate commerce, or violations of federal law are on the table for states across the country.
State laws are allowed to be in opposition to federal law (ex: cannabis legalization) so if there’s a federal law you hate, finding a way to do the opposite in your state is a great way to protect yourself, your family, and your communities.
Funding:
States rely on income taxes, fees, sales taxes and charges to make up their budget, but also receive massive amounts of money from the federal government to administer programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
That grant system is replicated at the state and county level. States will hand money down to counties, who administer a program in their jurisdiction. Depending on your state, cities may have different levels of independence from state jurisdiction, or may maintain some independence. But as a general rule of thumb, cities have less to do with the implementation process, though they may be involved to some extent. So if you’re interested in implementation of federal programs, you’ll want to be in state government to help set terms, because there is little that cities and counties can do other than execute what the state demands of them.
As mentioned above, some cities have more independence from state governments than others, while some operate as an arm of state government with no independence whatsoever. These two doctrines are called “Home Rule” and “Dillon’s Rule,” though many states fall somewhere between the two ideas.
Cities in “Home Rule” states have much more authority to pass any law that they want, as long as it doesn’t contradict the state or federal constitution. In contrast, “Dillon’s Rule” means that the city, (and often county) government’s authority is wholly derived from the authority of the state government, and cities and counties can only pass legislation based on the powers granted by the state government. These doctrines vary from state to state, and are often a bit of a mix. For instance, California allows “Home Rule” in chartered cities, while the default for other states and townships is “Dillon’s Rule.”
Federal Government
On the federal level, the restrictions on what issues you can legislate on become blurred. Instead, the balance of power is maintained by a system of checks and balances and the Constitution — every civics student knows this. If you’re running for Congress, you’ll be able to originate spending bills that deal with the federal budget and serve on committees that range from agriculture to financial regulation.
In the Senate, you cannot originate funding bills, but will have more senior positions in party politics, and ability to vote on the president’s appointments to offices on their cabinet or the Supreme Court.
Issue Areas:
There is little that the federal government doesn’t touch, so it’s easier to note what they don’t.
There will not be much land use or zoning reform at the federal level, and there won’t be much to do with state or local prerogatives. That said, they can pass laws that will definitely affect those things and their implementation.
That means if housing or transportation are your issues, this is not your space. Education involvement will also be limited as curriculum is decided on the state level.
The only real constraint on Congress is the Constitution.
Funding:
Unlike other governments, the federal government can deficit spend — and they do. They raise money via federal income taxes, payroll taxes, excise taxes, tariffs, and fees. But it’s the ability of the federal government to deficit spend and directly influence monetary policy that gives them the most funding power.
School Board
Most of the governmental bodies across the United States are local special-purpose district governments, school boards being the most notable. School boards remain a critical part of any community, and a fantastic entry into local politics. If you’re thinking about running for school board though, make sure you know the following.
Issue Areas:
School boards don’t set curriculum per se, but pick from a list approved by the state or even federal government.
School boards set the budget and school policies, including directing things like resource officers.
Importantly, school boards hire and fire superintendents, who have a lot of power in each school in the district.
School boards are starting to stretch into other issue areas, like climate action through sustainable energy sources for their buildings, and housing through building affordable homes on school district owned property.
Funding:
School board funding comes from property taxes, as well as state and federal funds. School boards are also able to put ballot measures that fund them on the ballot.
Special District
Because most governments across the United States are local special-purpose district governments, they are the most accessible form of government to enter, but are also very specialized and local in scope. Beyond school boards, other districts like water, hospital, planning or fire boards usually deal with a particular issue, and focus on cooperation between themselves and other relevant bodies, like cities and counties. The issues they focus on can be pretty important, but may go unnoticed because of their smaller scale.
But it all depends on the needs of your community. Sometimes even a water board can be the most important race in a district. For example, in Imperial County, California, the Imperial Irrigation District remains one of the most powerful special districts in the county, and the region overall. They divert and manage water going from the Colorado River to the entirety of Southern California. Campaign funding reflects that importance, and water board races actually outraise and outspend Imperial County board of supervisor races by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Like we always say, politics is local, and special districts can be quite powerful. It’s up to you to know your community and care deeply about a particular issue before considering a run for one of these special districts.
Issue Areas:
Water boards monitor water quality, invest in infrastructure that delivers clean water to personal and agricultural properties, sets rates, and even works on climate change mitigation.
Fire boards are a way of silo-ing off fire protection services from a city or county and allowing them to specialize in fire mitigation and prevention in usually a very large and undeveloped area of land.
Hospital boards are meant to be independent of the financial interests of the hospital itself, and are meant to make decisions that benefit the community first and foremost. Like many boards, they are sometimes elected and sometimes appointed.
Planning and Zoning boards analyze and approve local building and development plans, from residential to agriculture, depending on the locality. Their rulings could be more advisory or more enforceable depending on the laws on the books in a particular area.
Funding:
Most special districts are funded by either fees imposed as part of their services, like water fees, and a mix of local, state, and federal funding.
Judicial Offices
The most unique elected bodies are judicial. In many places across the US, like our federal courts, judges and justices are appointed and may be confirmed by a body like the Senate. However, in many places, judges are elected on the same ballot as every other elected official. There are also law enforcement offices like Sheriff or District Attorney, who may share the ballot with any other elected official.
The races are the epitome of non-partisan races, and very narrowly focused on either law enforcement, criminal justice, or other judicial issues.
Issue Areas:
Judges run on their qualifications, and have very strict rules about what they can and can’t say. If they take political stances they could disqualify themselves by appearing opinionated. Best to only run for judge if you think you’d be a good judge, not necessarily because of a particular ideological viewpoint or favor towards defendants or plaintiffs.
District Attorneys are a bit more overtly opinionated. As a law enforcement officer they would be responsible for bringing cases against people that come into contact with law enforcement. Your thoughts on criminal justice, what cases should be brought, and what sentences you’d recommend will all be key to this role, and your prosecutorial discretion will shape how justice looks in your community. The cases you take up, or don’t take up, will be the shape of law in your entire community. You are also able to lobby for new criminal laws, or advocate that they be changed or removed.
Elected Sheriffs are similarly responsible for law enforcement in a county, and will be able to run on their approach to law enforcement and how the county prisons and other county law enforcement facilities are run.
Funding:
Judges, Sheriffs and District Attorneys are funded with county, state and federal funds.
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