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Government Is Important in Citizens’ Daily Lives
Imagine a town without government. At first, such a place may seem like a fantastic place to live, there would be no laws, no fines, and no taxes. But look a little closer and you’ll notice mounds of reeking trash heaped along sidewalks and by doors, sewage oozing from pipes and seeping into the soil, and streets and roads in horrible states of disrepair. Buildings would burn to the ground for lack of fire departments, and schools, no longer supported by tax dollars, would become empty and silent. While it may seem that government officials do nothing but argue and impose taxes, without them a community couldn’t function. Some of the amenities we take for granted now as Americans are a direct result of our local government’s actions.
Many of the innovations we enjoy daily as well as services we have come to regard as necessities are provided by a municipal government. Running water and sanitary systems like sewers are two examples without which our lives would be very different and likely harder. Though the idea...
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.
The municipal restructuring in Ontario from 1996 to 1999, whether voluntary or involuntary, was the most comprehensive process of municipal reforms since the Baldwin Act of 1849 (Frisken 30). After the election of Harris’ Conservative government in 1995, municipal reform took on a life of its own as it was followed with substantial activity between 1996 and 1999 (Sancton 135-56). This research paper looks to categorize, describe and evaluate the substantial activity that took place between the province and its municipal subordinates. While other papers have argued whether the change of the fiscal relationship was to benefit the province or if the structure of local government had simply become outdated, the issues of why the reforms occurred is not the focus of this research. However, what this paper will evaluate is whether the substantial activity made any long-term changes in the system by outlining the numerous reforms and examining their impact. This paper will begin by assessing the financial reform, which was the starting point for more extensive changes, followed by functional, structural and legislative reforms during 1996 to 1999.
Municipal control or an alternative delivery method? This is the question that has intrigued all levels of local government and created intense debates between taxpayers across municipalities. The services that municipalities provide are often vital to the existence of a local area. The issues of accountability, cost savings, quality of service and democracy often arise when choosing the best options to deliver services to a municipal area. In recent years the concepts of privatization, alternative service delivery and public-private partnerships are often promoted as ways cut down on overburdened annual city budgets and promote a higher quality of service to citizens. Municipalities have historically always provided basic services such as fire protection, water purification/treatment and recreational facilities. However, would private companies or another municipality be able to better deliver the same services more efficiently or at a lower cost? The city or town often provides a political grass roots approach to most local problems. Municipalities are better positioned and have a wider scope to provide services to their constituents in order to ensure quality of service that does not erode accountability and transparency, or drive the municipality deeper into debt.
After tracing the evolution of the provincial-local financial relationship in Canada it has become apparent that the trend, throughout history, has been towards greater Provincial control and in turn less fiscal autonomy for the municipality. There has been an increase (due to demand as well as downloading from the provinces) in the functions and responsibilities of the municipality, as well as the cost of these functions, and a decrease in fiscal resources and revenue sources.
In the twentieth century, governmental agencies and private developers acting together cleared out the central city to make room for the federal government. The government was able to do this through its unique economic and legislative relationship to the city, and through a heightened symbolic architectural and verbal language which supported its valorization. The symbolic language and the government's dominance in the local economy are mutually supportive. Symbolism removes ownership of the city from local residents and makes it national. It also masks the federal government's failure to prove economically beneficial to all sections of the city and to all its races and classes, as a 'trickle down' theory of dominant economies argues. Because of the government's importance in the local economy, its symbolic self-representation goes unchallenged.
Thomas Jefferson believed that states could best govern the domestic matters within its state, but a strong Central Government is needed as well to deal with foreign affairs and to keep the country strong as a unified nation. "While smaller governments [states] are better adapted to the ordinary objects of society, larger confederations more effectively secure independence and the preservation of republican government."-Thomas Jefferson to the Rhode Island Assembly, 1801. What Thomas Jefferson was saying in this quote is that small governments like our state and our towns are the ones best fit to deal with the concerns of the people. In turn helping the people live the best and happiest lives possible. Which is the reason we have government.
The government has been involved with society for many years. Whether it is just helping people out or controlling taxes, they have developed over time to be even more involved with people’s lives than they were just 10 years ago. Although some societies have their government involved more than others, it is seen in every country and state. In the movie Divergent and the book 1984, it expresses a dystopian society where the government has complete control over one large group of people. They can watch what they are doing every second, and they know everything about the citizens. Both 1984 and Divergent express the same theme of rebellious citizens and complete government control as a whole.
Kristin Gotts, et al (no date) Better Together Saguaro Seminar on Civic Engineering in America; John F. Kennedy School of Government, Caimbridge MA
Would everyone like to see how the community is affected ? The community and neighborhood is facing some major consequences. According to “Excerpts Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau described how this one person refused to pay the taxes to the government he decides to say something but his saying resulted to him being sent to prison for trying to stand up to the government. The government has not been telling us the actual issues . Based on the excerpt from the “Civil Disobedience” there are exactly three main points to the story. The first main idea is the people have been using their own ideas to try to get a way to end the government way for all of us to live because we need to see the point for all of us to live a life in
We often wonder about the importance of government. Is it necessary? Does it really benefit society? The answer is yes. Many countries have diverse forms of government such as totalitarian, monarchy, theocracy, and much more. The United States of America specifically runs a democratic type of government. A democratic government gives power to the people. Citizens over the age of eighteen are allowed to elect leaders based on their individual opinions through voting rights. The main purpose of the American government is, to protect people’s inalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness as our Founding Fathers intended.
Government effects my life everyday in a vast variety of ways. From the quality of the milk that I drink in the morning, to the license and Insurance I need to drive my vehicle to school and work. Government also effects the taxes that are deducted from my salary. The government uses this money to protect consumers and provide services for the public amongst many other things.
So often people complain about present situations and wish for things to return to the state they were in the ‘good ole days’, when in fact there’s never been such a thing! Presidential candidates, Senators, Representatives, even mayors and city councilmen promise to return local and national levels of government back to ...
International City Management Association. Service Delivery in the 90's: Alternative Approaches for Local Governments: Washington D.C.: International City Management Association, 1989.
Public Administration involves the development, implementation and management of policies for the attainment of set goals and objectives that will be to the benefit of the general public. Since Public Administration involves taking decisions that affect the use of public resources there is often the question of how to utilize public resources for maximum public good. The National Association of Public Administration has identified four pillars of public administration: economy, efficiency, effectiveness and social equity. These pillars are equally important in the practice of public administration and to its success. This paper seeks to explain the role of each of the pillars in the practice of public administration.
This essay discusses the radical transformation of the principles and foundations of public administration from traditional to New Public Management. Firstly the essay will attempt to define the key terms of traditional public administration and the doctrine of New Public Management. Rabin J. (2003) explains that New Public Management embodies “a process in public administration that uses information and experiences obtained in business management and other disciplines to improve efficiency, usefulness and general operation of public services in contemporary bureaucracies.“Traditional Public Administration progresses from governmental contributions, with services perceived by the bureaucracy.