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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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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In a letter to my representative, do I mention I didn't vote for them? [closed]
I want to write a serious letter to my local representative. They are my representative because they are the candidate who won in my area, but I didn't vote for them. To be honest, I would never vote ...
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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 ...
CDJB♦
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 ...
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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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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 ...
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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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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 ...
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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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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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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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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 ...
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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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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 ...
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How is Massachusetts' requirement to sell only zero emissions vehicles by 2035 being implemented?
Several news outlets are reporting on this story this week:
The Hill: "Massachusetts to require 100 percent of car sales to be electric by 2035"
Car and Driver Magazine: "Massachusetts ...
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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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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 ...
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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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Where can I find data on US party affiliations, broken down geographically?
Where can I find data on US party affiliations, broken down geographically?
I'd like to do some statistical analysis on party affiliations within states, broken down geographically.
Here's the kicker: ...
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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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How do progressive US political thinkers explain anti-black police discrimination in cities where the population and government are majority black?
There is a common narrative among progressive political and racial thinkers in the United States that all or almost all police departments are systematically racist in a way that does significant and ...
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What organizations made more than 100 endorsements in US state and local judicial races between 2009 and 2018?
Other than bar associations and trade associations, what organizations made more than 100 endorsements in US state and local judicial races between 2009 and 2018?
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What can local governments do to reform the police & policing? [closed]
Much of the oversight power for police departments and sheriff departments is with local government.
For example, in Michigan, the elected officials that oversee police departments in cities are City ...
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Which US states forced nursing homes to bring in COVID-positive patients?
I was doing some digging on why a large portion of the COVID deaths were from elderly citizens and I found out that governors like Cuomo (Gov of New York) were forcing nursing homes to take infected ...
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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 ...
CDJB♦
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How much, in taxes, does a typical American taxpayer pay toward public libraries?
I'm looking for an average or estimation of how much money public libraries cost a typical American taxpayer.
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How do I change my city's ordinance to allow more chickens on my residential land?
I am asking this based on a state or local level, i.e. zoning and health. I assume that in Oregon, which is where I live, and Hillsboro, the city of which I reside to be specific, is primarily ...
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Have any countries used blockchain voting in elections?
Have any countries used blockchain voting in national or local elections?
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Why did Berlin freeze the rent prices as opposed to letting the market set the price?
This EuroNews article tells us about the Berlin freezing of rent prices:
Berlin is freezing the rents of 1.5 million apartments for the next
five years starting this Sunday in a controversial ...
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Who would be in charge of quarantine decisions in this situation?
Sorry if this is the wrong StackExchange, but I figured it was more appropriate here than on Writing. I'm writing a story with a sequence where city authorities decide to block travel out of the city ...
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