A special district is a part of the local government that provides the area with a service (Champagne and Harpham 395). They may provide a service for one or more counties, or even just parts of one or more counties. They act in a way that provides the area with what can be considered a necessary service. This includes services regarding our health, the cleaning and distribution of our water, sanitation, flood control, drainage, and law enforcement (Champagne and Harpham 395). And though these special districts are incredibly common, many people are not aware of them. The lack of awareness that the citizens have of special districts is rather unfortunate considering that some people live in an area with as many as seven special districts. This is why special districts are so often referred to hidden …show more content…
Legislation must then be able to activate a law that would allow for this special election to take place. Finally, the special district must receive a majority of the votes in order for it to be created (Champagne and Harpham 398). After the special district is created, voters then choose who they would like to serve on the board and govern the district. Depending on the district type, the board is made up of trustees, regents, or directors. Though no matter the name they all have the same job of deciding what the district does and how they go about making sure that these goal are met (Champagne and Harpham 398). As for how these districts get funded, a large percentage of their revenue usually comes from property taxes, which are based on the value of a person’s property. The next source of funding is user fees, which are what a person pays for goods and services (Champagne and Harpham
The fourth chapter of City Politics by Dennis R. Judd & Todd Swanstrom covers the rise of "Reform Politics" with many local governments during the first half of the 1900s as a way to combat the entrenched political machines that took control of many large city governments in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Over the course of the chapter, Judd & Swanstrom quickly cover the history of the "reform movement" with different examples of how the reform movement affected city politics in different areas.
During the 19th century, America had an expanding idea of Manifest Destiny, where they would claim land all the way to the east coast. While the government and the citizens were focused on exploring new land, they were able to acquire much of the new land, introducing new people and ideas. Many of these people and ideas were vastly different than the original in the thirteen colonies, which frustrated many people. When these different people and beliefs collided, many disputes and disagreements were born, which intensified the results of sectionalism, unfortunately leading up the Civil War, having a huge impact on the country.
Every ten years after a census, politicians redraw the district boundaries that determine the house and state legislature. The problem with this system is that the same politicians who redraw the district boundaries are the ones who are being elected by the
The single-member district election system is the most common and best-known electoral system currently in use in America. It is used to elect the U.S. House Representatives, as well as many state and local legislatures. Under single member district systems, an area is divided into a number of geographically defined voting districts, each represented by a single elected official. Voters can only vote for their district’s representative, with the individual receiving the most votes winning election. This method of electing representatives is better than any alternative solution in various ways. Four compelling reasons to support the single-member district election system include the fact that single-member districts give each voter a single, easily identifiable district member; the way single-member district voting helps protect against overreaching party influence; that single-member districts ensure geographic representation; and finally, that single-member districts are the best way to maximize representatives’ accountability.
Local governments rely on property tax as a source of revenue to pay for school. Yet people in the urban areas pay the higher tax than suburban and wealthy communities, states on the other hand, relies on The Average Daily Attendance (ADA), which calculates state aid to school districts, tends to discriminate against urban school districts with high absentee rates by automatically, and excludes 15 percent of its student aid. Therefore, in many urban areas, the state ratio of funding remains significantly lower than 50 percent out of the tree entities the federal government allocates the least amount of funding. Residents in these areas who are under edu...
The term “ghetto” came from the Jewish Quarter in Venice that was made in 1516, when the Venetian experts required the entire city’s Jewish people to live in this area. The Ghettos separated the Jews from the Non-Jews and from other Jewish communities. There were three types of ghettos, closed, open, and destruction ghettos. My thoughts are that the destruction ghettos are concentration or death camps. The ghetto was not a Nazi invention.
In May of 1787, in the city of Philadelphia, the delegates from all of the thirteen states held a meeting in order to make a better union. The end result was the Constitution of the United States. The delegates discussed which form of government would be the best suited for both the security, and the freedom that many had wanted to add to this new government. The delegates had denied both the confederal and the unitary forms of the new government for the new form which is called Federalism. Which was to be described as the constitutional relationship between the United States and the Federal government. Federalism is different from the other two types of government, unlike the unitary form of government, which is ruled by the central government,
Democracy has been the root of a limited government, the system of which government powers are distributed so that one group of leaders do not have too much influence. The limited government has been structured to keep peace amongst all parties that are involved in the government. And under the U.S. Constitution, citizens are given ultimate power by their right to choose their representatives through the democratic process of voting. Each levels of the government are limited as they have their own responsibilities. The city government has the most local level of government as the residents elect a city council and mayor to represent their interest at the city level. All city governments establish housing and health regulations, and are responsible
From slavery to Jim Crow, the impact of racial discrimination has had a long lasting influence on the lives of African Americans. While inequality is by no means a new concept within the United States, the after effects have continued to have an unmatched impact on the racial disparities in society. Specifically, in the housing market, as residential segregation persists along racial and ethnic lines. Moreover, limiting the resources available to black communities such as homeownership, quality education, and wealth accumulation. Essentially leaving African Americans with an unequal access of resources and greatly affecting their ability to move upward in society due to being segregated in impoverished neighborhoods. Thus, residential segregation plays a significant role in
Federalism is a political system in which authority is divided between different levels of government (Barbour and Wright, 75). Federalism has been around since 1787 in the United States of America. The divided powers between the state governments and the national governments are powers that are limited to a certain level so they do not depend on each other for power. The United States of America has a federal government in which the central government shares influence with the numerous smaller state governments. The idea was for a “more perfect union.”
While the Texas State Capitol is known for its grandness and austerity with its 308 feet height and large scale, its symmetry and balance which contributes to its formality, and the use of granite which gives the building a sense of heaviness and power, the architecture also has a humanistic side.
Since every city, county and states have their own social and economic problems a localized government is important to better serve the people of that community. Local representation due to everyone needs a voice and protected the rights of minorities. Freedom to form policies, for example the Brown v Board of Education of Topeka regarding the segregation in public school. Each “states had followed their own policies regarding segregation. “Separate but equal stated states could segregate races as long as equal facilities were provided, that was overturn in 1954 and Texas was one of the states that delay for decades the end of legally created segregation in public school”, (Champagne & Harpham, 2013, p.
As Rosa Parks said, “As Americans, we still have many challenges to face and many more problems to overcome,”. One of those problems is segregation, which is the action of setting someone/something apart from others. Ghettos have played a major role in helping achieve segregation by separating the minorities from the majority; thus, making it hard for social mobility and equal opportunities for all. Ghettos first started with Jewish people and now have evolved into urban ghettos housing many minorities. This has lead to a rift between certain ethnicities. Not to mention that ghettos are always overcrowded and impoverished, causing the people who live there to fight amongst themselves.
Assessing this quote, “Ultimately, the Civil War reduced sectional antagonism and made the United States truly ‘one nation.” This quote is ethical and reasonable, which defines it as being true.
Everyone has a special place that people will never forget. Sometimes it is because there were places that people experienced great joy or comfort. A special place represents peoples’ special memories either good or bad. Memory will following people whole life, and store people’s heart deeper. Good memory will coming all time. My special place and my memory is my grandparent’s house; my grandparent’s house practically is my second home. I would never forget that special place because of things going on my grandparent’s house, which is symbolized by my grandparent’s love.