Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8A

1. Characterize the comparative sizes of local governments in the US, both currently and across time from 1957-2007.  Explain the changes.

2. Discuss the relationship between the populations of states and the number of local governments within each state.  Explain how Texas, Kansas, and Nevada help us understand the nature of the relationship.

3. Describe how own-source revenue from the average local government was broken down in 2010.  Include major components and describe the breadth.

4. Describe how spending by the average local government was allocated in 2010. Include major components and describe the breadth.

5. Explain the historical role of county governments in the US and how they serve as dual-purpose entities today.

6. Describe the typical roles within a county government in the US.

7. Sketch or describe the general organizational structure of a typical Texas county government starting with the voters and working downward.  Explain the different supervisory structures and their pros and cons.

8. List the breakdown of typical revenue sources of county governments.

9. List the breakdown of typical expenditures by county governments

10. Describe the “equity problem” in county government expenditures.

11. Describe the nature, purpose, and types of municipal charters in Texas.

12. Characterize the types and frequency of the main types of municipal governments in the US.

13. Describe the organizational structure of the Mayor-Council type of municipal government and explain what makes it unique.

14. Compare and contrast the strong and weak forms of the Mayor-Council type of government with respect to their strengths and weaknesses, historical usage, and prevalence today.

CHAPTER 8B

1. Describe the organizational structure of the Council-Manager form of local government.

2. Describe when and where this form occurs in Texas.

3. Explain the role and the job of the city manager, as well as the size of the supervisory and budgetary tasks in for the city manager in College Station.

4. Discuss the efficiency advantages of this form of government.

5. Discuss the role of the mayor, if present, in a Council-Manager city.  Use the mayoral duties in B/CS to illustrate that role.

6. Compare and contrast single-member and at-large seats on a city council, including their advantages and disadvantages.  Explain how a petition to alter the Bryan City Council composition was an example of the winner-loser approach to local politics.

7. Describe the organizational structure of the Commission form of municipal government.

8. Explain the background from which this form of government was first created in Galveston at the start of the 20th century.  Include why it was considered innovative and why it failed in Galveston and many other locations.

9. Explain which types of municipalities might prefer either the Council-Manager form of government or the Mayor-Council form, specifying the differences between the strong and weak-mayor subtypes.

10. Complete and explain a Municipal Government Comparison table like the one included in the lecture.

11. List the major categories for municipal expenditures and specify which ones make up, when combined, about half of the budget.

12. Characterize the influence of the form of government, the type of elections, and city size on measures such as voter turnout, per capita taxes, etc.

13. Describe the empirical relationship between median family income of a city and the city taxes paid per capita, commenting specifically on the predictability of the amount of taxes paid given a median family income.

14. Describe the organizational diagram of a school district.

15. Explain the relationship between school districts and the council-manager form of government.

16. Describe the theoretical and de facto relationship between a school board and the school district’s superintendent.  Explain the reasons for this mismatch.

CHAPTER 8C

1. Describe the organizational diagram of a special district.

2. Characterize the different purposes of special districts, the permissive limits on their jurisdiction, and who hires and supervises their workers.

3. Explain the original rationales for establishing special districts.

4. Describe the incidence of special districts in Texas since the 1950s.

5. Explain how land developers have learned to use special districts, as well as the personal and professional advantages they obtain and the tax burden they impose.

6. Describe how local government jurisdictions overlap.

7. Describe how local government jurisdictions overlap.

8. Explain the inherent conflict between states and their local governments.

9. Describe how this conflict occurs in each of these situations in Texas:

    a. Matters of school funding and local debt.

    b. Energy production

    c. Bans on discrimination

    d. Bans on plastic shopping bags

    e. Sanctuary laws or behavior

10. Provide examples of this conflict that has occurred in other states

11. Characterize the types of local-control bills considered in the 2015 Texas legislative session.

12. Explain the paradox that is presented by assertions of local control by a conservative state government and describe the arguments used by both sides.