Chapter Thirteen Section three
Towns, Townships, and Villages
Town Government
Counties are often divided up into smaller political units just like states are divided into counties. New England states divide up into units called towns, while many Midwestern states divide up into units called townships. Still smaller areas within towns or townships may be incorporated into villages. Town, township, and village governments, like those of cities and counties, receive their authority from the state.
The relationship between town or township governments and their surrounding counties varies. New England town governments handle the needs of most small communities, while counties are mainly judicial districts. In all other states that have townships, county and township governments share authority. In the South and the West, county governments tend to be more important and there may be no townships.
In everyday speech, Americans use town as a synonym for a small city, or even a large one. Popular songs have described New York City as a “wonderful town” or Chicago as “my kind of town.” Town, however, also has another meaning as a particular type of local government. The town form of government occurs in the New England states. New England towns in these states consist of both an urban area and the surrounding rural area.
New England town government is one of the oldest forms of government in the United States. Within the New England Colonies, colonists met regularly to discuss issues that involved everyone in the majority. A majority vote settled any disagreements. Eventually, these “town meetings” became the colonists’ form of local government. Citizens, rather than elected representatives, made all the important decisions. Town meetings are an exercise in direct democracy, as opposed to the representative democracy common throughout most of the United States. In New England today, residents still come together once a year at a meeting hall to discuss what the town should be doing. They vote on local ordinances, taxes, and the budget.
Because town meetings occur so rarely, they are useful only for broad policymaking. They cannot handle the everyday details of government. For this reason, each New England town elects a group of officials called “selectmen” to run local government. Selectman, a very old title, now applies to women as well as men. Towns may also elect executives such as a clerk, a treasurer, and a tax assessor.
Over the years, as New England towns grew and their governments became more complex, direct democracy became impractical. Some New England towns have replaced the traditional town meetings with representative town meetings. In these meetings, elected representatives make the decisions instead of the people as a whole. Other towns have eliminated the meetings altogether, and instead have a town council that runs the local government.
Township Governments
The states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania were organized a bit differently than New England. Their counties are divided into townships, which are smaller than New England towns but have similar governments.
Townships in the Midwest have a different history. As the United States expanded westward in the early nineteenth century, it acquired new land where Americans had not yet settled. Congress divided the land into perfectly square blocks, usually six miles wide by six miles long, originally designed to be an hour’s buggy ride to the township hall for any resident. As settlers moved in, they set up local governments, like those in the East, called civil townships. Midwestern townships kept the borders established by Congress, so today many appear perfectly square on a map.
Most townships elect a small body of officials known as a township committee, board of supervisors, or board of trustees. They have legislative responsibilities and oversee the administration of services.
Townships have declined in importance as cities have expanded their boundaries and county governments have taken on more functions. In some instances, county and township governments work together to provide local services. For example, county and township police forces may divide up law enforcement duties.
Village Government
A village is the smallest unit of local government. Like cities, villages almost always lie within the boundaries of other local governments, such as townships or counties. When residents of a community find some particular reason to organize legally, they seek to incorporate a municipality, which may be called a village, city, or town. Residents may be dissatisfied with the services they are receiving from the township or county, or they may want to control their own police force, public library, or recreation facilities. These residents can then request permission from the state to set up a village government.
The government of most villages consists of a small board of trustees elected by the voters. Some villages also elect an executive. This official is known as the chief burgess, president of the board, or mayor. Large villages might hire a professional city manager.
The village board has the power to collect taxes and spend money on projects that benefit the community. Those projects include building and maintaining streets; providing water, sewer services, and public libraries; or setting up recreation facilities. The board may hire officials to supervise these projects and provide other services.
Becoming a village has both advantages and disadvantages. The main drawback is that residents often have to pay higher taxes to support the extra layer of government. In return, however, they usually received better services. Becoming a village also tends to upgrade the community’s status making it more attractive to visitors and potential new residents and businesses.
The Law and You
Be a Public Policy Advocate
Advocacy is the art of persuading others. Most of us advocate every day and are not even aware that we are doing it. For instance, have you ever tried to convince your parents to extend your curfew hour or raise your allowance? If so, then you have advocated. Advocacy skills provide effective ways for citizens to participate in making laws.
Be a Public Policy Advocate
Advocacy is the art of persuading others. Most of us advocate every day and are not even aware that we are doing it. For instance, have you ever tried to convince your parents to extend your curfew hour or raise your allowance? If so, then you have advocated. Advocacy skills provide effective ways for citizens to participate in making laws.
Be an Active Citizen
Look around your community. Is there a problem you would like to change? Use the steps below and become a public policy advocated today.
Look around your community. Is there a problem you would like to change? Use the steps below and become a public policy advocated today.
- The problem that we want to address is:
- Statistics and research on our problem indicate the following about our issue:
- The law/public policy decision that should be changed is:
- The public policy solution we are proposing is:
- We have to influence the following decision makers and stakeholders that:
- Our campaign/media message is:
- Our advocacy plan for change includes:
- We will know we are successful when the following happens: