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GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND REPRESENTATION
1. NUMBER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS Definition: This indicator represents the number of local governments, by type, for the southeast. “For U.S. Census Bureau statistical purposes, a government is defined as an organized entity subject to public accountability, whose officials are popularly elected or are appointed by public officials, and which has sufficient discretion in the management of its affairs to distinguish it as separate from the administrative structure of any other government unit. The Census Bureau recognizes five basic types of local governments: counties, municipalities, townships, school districts, and special districts.” [i] Significance: “There are 87,900 government units in the U.S. as of June 30, 2002, according to the preliminary information. In addition to the federal and 50 state governments, there are 87,849 units of local governments. Of these, 38,971 are general purpose local governments, 3,034 county governments and 35,937, sub-county governments, including 19,431 municipal governments and 16,506 township governments. The remainder, which comprises over one-half of the totals, consists of special purpose local governments, including 13,522 school district governments and 35,356 special district governments.”[ii]
ANALYSIS, Number of Local Governments[iii]
Source: United States Census Bureau, Census of Governments
2. PER CAPITA REPRESENTATION IN STATE LEGISLATURE Definition: This indicator represents the number of senators and representatives per capita in state legislatures for the southeast. Significance: State legislatures make laws, raise revenue, and appropriate expenditures. Through debate, conflict and resolution, senators and representatives address issues and problems affecting their respective states and their individual constituencies. They set priorities and make public policy. As state senators and representatives, they are close to the people and epitomize representative government.
ANALYSIS, Per Capita Representation in State Legislature, 2006
Source: Council of State Governments (2006). The Book of the States. Lexington, KY: p. 72. Population Data: United States Census Bureau’s American Community Survey
Selected State Rankings, Number of Citizens Represented per State Senator, 2006[iv] (“1” represents state with highest number of persons per Senator)
Selected State Rankings, Number of Citizens Represented per State House Member, 2006 (“1” represents state with highest number of persons per House Member)
Rev. 10.11.2007 [ii] Ibid. [iii] Note: “North Carolina has no independent school district governments. North Carolina statutes authorize the following types of dependent public school systems: Systems dependent on county governments (175): County and city school administrative units (117); Community colleges and technical colleges (58). School administrative units in North Carolina are not counted in census statistics as independent local governments, but are classified as dependent agencies of the county governments. This classification applies to the 17 ‘‘city’’ administrative units that administer schools in and near various municipalities, as well as to the 100 county administrative units that are directly concerned with other schools. County administrative units have elected boards.” United States Census Bureau. [iv] Note: Nebraska is the only state with a unicameral legislative body. As such, the per capita representation was the same for both the Senate and House rankings.
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