Questions tagged [local-government]
Use for questions relating to the governance of areas within a country (e.g. states, cities, etc.)
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Are there countries where all homeowners associations are prohibited from exercising control over non-common property?
Many housing developments in the US and Canada have a homeowners association (these go by many forms, such as strata corporations in some jurisdictions) that helps manage the common property of the ...
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Why has Alpine County in California become so Democratic in the last few presidential elections?
Based on this picture of the 2020 Presidential election, most Northern California counties outside the coast tend to be Republican leaning. However, Alpine County has voted Democratic since 2004 as ...
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What could a city council and mayor in Canada actually do to support vegan food?
Civic elections are coming up in my city, and this got me wondering...
If the electorate decided to elect a mayor and council where a majority wanted to use their powers as elected officials to ...
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Did the super-centralized model of democracy that the US promoted in Afghanistan (with no local/regional elections etc.) work well anywhere?
One of the perhaps lesser known facts about the [now fallen] Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is that the model of democracy promoted by the US there was quite unlike what they did in Iraq nearly ...
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By which reasoning is Birmingham "the largest local authority in Europe"?
In recent reports, the BBC has used this superlative in relation to the City of Birmingham multiple times:
The largest local authority in Europe is to halt all spending other than services it must ...
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Did China bail out its local governments in 2011?
There's this rumor-ish CNBC piece from 2011 (which is actually quoting Reuters on this part) claiming that:
China’s regulators plan to shift 2-3 trillion yuan ($308-463 billion) of debt off local ...
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Why does nobody seem to care about the municipal elections in Maharashtra?
Maharashtra is a major Indian state, home to the richest city Mumbai.
Almost all of the municipal corporations in Maharashtra have elections overdue for over a year now (i.e. should have taken place ...
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Has any head of state/government or other politician in office performed their duties while legally imprisoned, arrested or paroled/on probation?
According to current political legal doctrine, there is no rule that states being in prison disqualifies a US politician from performing their legally required duties, and in fact there are even rules ...
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Why does England not have its own government?
There is the Welsh Government, The Northern Ireland Assembly, and The Scottish Government. All those countries are also under the Westminster government. Why does England not have its own devolved ...
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Will we know after the election how many people are denied a vote because of the new ID rules?
In the UK on Thursday 4 May 2023, local elections are taking place across England. To vote at a polling station, you will need to bring photo ID. This is a new law introduced by the current ...
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How can central government intervene when a council declares itself bankrupt?
As quoted by the Guardian and a local news website, Woking borough council is on the verge of bankruptcy (due to failed investments and financial mismanagement.) To put in context how much debt the ...
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Do tiny communes in France have any practical significance?
The French commune of Rouchefourchat has exactly one inhabitant.
I imagine that would make mayoral elections rather boring.
Joking aside, do such tiny municipalities even have a mayor or local ...
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What motivated the amendment to the Algerian constitution allowing a 'special system' to be conferred upon municipalities?
In November 2020, Algerians approved a new constitution by referendum. One of the changes was to Article 16, to which the sentence in italics was added:
The local authorities of the State shall be ...
CommunityBot
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How do Oregon's mayoral elections work?
I'm writing an RPG campaign that takes place in a city of Oregon. However, taking a look in lists of mayors of some cities, I found that some mayors have mandates of only one year, despite others ...
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Is it true that in Paradise, Nevada the services for streets, sewer, security and energy supply are private?
In Paradise, Nevada, The Clark County Commission is the governmental organization that governs and runs Clark County, providing services.
Paradise is an unincorporated area.
I heard that the services ...
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Name for phenomenon in which attempting to solve a problem locally can seemingly fail because they absorb the problem from elsewhere?
Examples:
City has a homelessness problem. They increase services for the homeless, but because all the surrounding cities also have homelessness problems, homeless people from those cities move in ...
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Why do government employees pay income taxes?
Government employees' salaries are paid for by taxes levied by the government on the labour income of employees among other. Why do governments not simply pay their own employees tax-free salaries?
I ...
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County Clerk of Court, elected office, general information request
I'm doing candidate research for the local election at the end of the month. Where can I find general information about the role of the County Clerk of Court? What I know:
County Clerks do a lot of ...
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Limits of Charter City authority in California
Can charter cities in California legalize the use of recreational drugs? Can they control the structure of their police departments? I know they can have novel forms of government, and that they are ...
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Why does Illinois have over 8000 administrative divisions? Was there any official rationale for the huge expansion of local governments?
The exact count differs by source with the most being 8923 divisions reported by the Chicago Civic Federation and 6042 divisions reported by the Illinois Department of Revenue. See https://www....
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Is Ted Hickman right that he should've won his election in 2018? [closed]
Ted Hickman was the Vice-Mayor of Dixon, California, who prior to election penned a column insulting homosexuals and calling for a "Straight Pride month". After he lost his election he said ...
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Have the Taliban held/allowed any multi-candidate elections since coming to power?
Interestingly, the Taliban of 2022 appear to hold some limited local elections, although the example given there involved open (one vote per household) voting and (more importantly) one candidate, at ...
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Does anyone know of a modern city council with more than two dozen members?
Does anyone know of a modern city council with more than two dozen members?
As part of his reforms Emperor Diocletian made Ovilava the capital city of the province of Noricum Ripensis. It was ...
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Do sub-national governments spy on each other?
It's well-known that even "friendly" or "allied" countries regularly spy on each other. Considering this, I started to wonder whether sub-national entities spy on each other too. ...
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When can the first Mexican mayors be reelected?
Historically, mayors in Mexico were limited to a single 3-year term and could not run for reelection. In 2014, Mexico amended the Constitution, extending the term limit to two terms. When will be the ...
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Nationally-mandated term limits for mayors?
Are there any countries that impose term limits for mayors? Are there any good arguments in favour of such a rule? I could only find some links about the ambiguous situation in Portugal,
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Do any cities formalize preferential homeless services to "locals"?
Homelessness is a pervasive problem in many places but seems especially concentrated in some bigger cities.
Given that many cities struggle with providing support when the problem becomes acute, do ...
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Did Jackie Weaver have the legal authority to remove the chairman of the parish council during a meeting?
During a meeting of the Handforth parish council on December the 10th seen here, the chairman of the council was removed from a Zoom meeting by the Zoom meeting host. The recording of this meeting has ...
CDJB♦
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Are cities with nonpartisan mayoral elections more likely to elect Republican mayors?
I thought about the fact that cities in the US elect mayors in many different ways. Most notably for this question, some elect mayors on partisan ballots others do not.
Given that most or all of the ...
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Why are many US school boards elected?
I think it is odd that school boards are elected in many if not most school districts in the United States. This makes me wonder what the political and historical reasons for electing school boards.
...
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Why is Buckinghamshire Council so enormous?
Buckinghamshire Council has 147 seats. This is a huge number, which is more than the Scottish Parliament (129), the Israeli Knesset (120), and the Parliament of New Zealand (also 120), or the entire ...
CommunityBot
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What previous actions had been taken by Bristol city council regarding the statue of Edward Colston?
During the George Floyd protests in Bristol on June 7th, a statue of Edward Colston was pulled down and thrown into the city harbour by demonstrators. According to the BBC:
Earlier in the day, in ...
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How do I find a schedule for my local government elections?
I would like to have a say in who is on the counsil in my small village in Michigan. How can I find out when the next election is? The village website doesn't say anything about an election schedule. ...
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Who is in charge of county-level redistricting in each state?
Many counties elect commissioners, who represent a district within the county. Who is in charge of drawing these lines in each state?
Note: Not looking for state level offices like the State House of ...
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NYC general election mayor polls: have any been released in 2021?
I have been wondering about the NYC mayor election. I paid a lot of attention to this primary, which had one of the highest turnouts out of any NYC Democratic primary. However, now that the candidates ...
CDJB♦
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Can employees of councils criticize the PM or the Government in the UK?
Watching this video, at the 1:38 timestamp, an employee of the council says that she needs to be careful of what is she saying.
Unrepeatable, basically - err, I work for the council though, so I need ...
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How wealthy are state legislators in Texas?
Something you see in political publications from time to time is a piece about "the top 50 wealthiest members of Congress", or "the average wealth of senators". However, I've found that information ...
JJJ♦
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Do non partisan elections have lower turnouts in the United States?
In the United States, local elections in odd numbered years have lower turnouts. School boards in general have the lowest turnouts.
For example, there was a nonpartisan school board election in a ...
CDJB♦
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Do any local/state/provincial/... governments maintain 'embassies' (within or outside their country)?
Are there any cases - anywhere in the world - of municipal governments maintaining something like a diplomatic mission 'abroad' in other municipalities, or of state/provincial governments doing the ...
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Are there examples of states opening consular representatives outside their territory?
As an example, many people with a New York driving license spend their winters in Florida. In theory New York state could open a DMV office in Florida to help their residents renew or update their ...
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What's the point of offline public hearings in the 21st century?
As an example, the City of Vancouver is currently holding a public hearing on rezoning the city's neighbourhoods to allow for duplexes. As a resident of Vancouver who has an opinion on the matter in ...
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Does current English law allow for a regional elected deputy mayor?
I will absorb the post into the West Midlands Combined Authority as an elected deputy mayor.
-- Jon Hunt, candidate for West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner
I'm pretty sure this wouldn't be in ...
CDJB♦
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Right of attendance at a Parish Council Meeting [closed]
My Parish Council has chosen to hold a face to face meeting on 12th April in the village hall. Parishioners have been sent an email saying that it is probably not legal for them to attend due to covid ...
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How are UK devolved nation’s budget deficits funded?
The Scottish Government has tax raising powers and, over the past several years, expanded spending powers too.
However, I’m wondering how budget deficits for these devolved administrations are funded. ...
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What is the largest political entity that lacks legislative power?
Lets define some examples to clarify what I'm talking about.
United States: has a legislature in the form of the US Congress
New York: has a state legislature
New York City: can issue its own ...
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Are there any online resources for finding all public officers for a given zip code in the United States?
Looking for something akin to CallMyCongress dot com, but for local public officials. The best I can find so far through research is that some town/municipality websites are very helpful, in that ...
CommunityBot
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Have Georgia election officials offered an explanation for the alleged "smoking gun" at the State Farm Arena? [closed]
Now hitting Fox News, yesterday's Georgia Senate committe(s) hearings are apparently providing new ammunition to governor Kemp to request another signature audit:
Gov. Brian Kemp, the Georgia ...
CommunityBot
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Is it economically viable to replace property taxes and consumption taxes with local income taxes? What are the downsides of such a proposal?
In the United States, most counties and cities levy property taxes and consumption taxes to fund local budgets.
Consumption taxes are regressive, and property taxes can be burdensome on senior ...
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Why do many states in the US often elect state cabinet members?
When I first learned various states hold elections for state cabinet positions I was puzzled, because there are no such elections for federal secretaries. Why do so many states do it like this, ...
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Is Michigan the only US state without a State of Emergency (or similar type of order)?
On October 2, 2020, the Michigan Supreme Court (MSC) released an opinion regarding the Governor's state of emergency renewals. The syllabus of the opinion states that:
The Governor did not have ...
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