Focus Question: What are the responsibilities of federal, state and local governments?

 

Image from the Roper Center, Cornell University

Topics on the Page

 

• The Federal System of Government in the United States

 

• State Governments in the United States

 

 eBook Link: Functions of State and National Governments 

 

• Local Governments in the United States

 

• Functions of the State and Local Governments

 

• Federal State and Local Laws 

 

• Law Enforcement
• The FBI in American Politics

 

• Commonwealths 

 

• Education and School Funding Environment

 

• Clashes between Local, State and Federal Governments

 

• Safe and Sanctuary City Resolutions

 

• Environment 

  

• Disease, Vaccinations and Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905)

 

CROSS-LINK: Population and Pandemics 

  

• Protection of Individual Rights

 

Learning Plans

 

 

The Federal System of Government in the United States

  

"The American government is a federal one, which means that authority and jurisdiction are divided among national, state, and local governments. This division and decentralization causes the system to be often unwieldy, slow-moving, and redundant. However, the federal system's value lies in the fact that in such a large and diverse nation, local governing bodies can represent this diversity."

                                                                                                                  -  Brief synopsis from Helium.com US Politics section by Frankie Buda

 

 

State Governments in the United States

 

• State Governments in the United States are constructed in such a way that state laws may differ depending on local circumstance consider the speed limits on local roads, which are often different from state to state. 

    

• Smaller subdivisions are also flexible enough to respond to some unique situation or element of their population.

 

• For example, in heavily Amish areas of Pennsylvania, local school districts have allowed the Amish to establish their own elementary schools. Although these institutions are funded solely by private money, unlike other private schools they violate various state laws regarding such things as teacher certification, curriculum, and length of the school year.

 

 

Local Governments in the United States 

 

• Census Bureau:  There are 89,004 Local Governments in the United States
•  2017 Census on Governments 

  Click here to play a game (Counties Work) about your own county government on the local level

                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 

Functions of the State and Local Government  

•  They plan and pay for most roads, run public schools, provide water, organize police and fire services, establish zoning regulations, license professions, and arrange elections for their citizens. These are functions that directly affect Americans every day and in every part of their lives.

 

• State and local governments have never been totally separate political entities, because they cooperate in services ranging from welfare to transportation, and because they serve the same residents. Nonetheless, the state has the final decision over local functions.

 

• While states are part of the larger entity of a federal system, local governments are creatures of the state. The state government can abolish a local government, merge it with other entities, or give it additional authority. Local authority comes from specific state constitutional provisions or from acts of the state legislatures."

 

 

Federal, State and Local Laws

 

• Click here for a breakdown and differences between federal, state and local laws.

 

 

 

Law Enforcement

 

 Special Topic page:  The FBI in American Politics

 

• Here is more information on Law Enforcement in the United States.

 

• Law enforcement is one of the functions of local governments

 

 

 

 Commonwealths 

                                                                                  

• Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky are called Commonwealths
• Click here to find out the difference between a commonwealth and a state!

 

•  Why is Massachusetts a Commonwealth?  

 

                                                                                                                                                                                             

 

 

 

Education and School Funding                     

• How Progressive Is School Funding in the United States? Brookings (June 15, 2017)

 

• The States That Spend the Most (and the Least) In One Map The Washington Post (June 2, 2015)

 

   How Massachusetts Pays for Its Schools is a WGBH video on how Massachusetts decides to distribute school funding.  

 

 

 

Clashes between local, state and federal governments

 

• This source reveals 10 U.S. Supreme Court Cases that state and local governments conflicted with the Federal government. 

• Here is a video that explains the role of federalism in the United States and how it works. 
• YouTube video from Northwestern professors regarding the conflicts between Federal and State governments during Trump's presidency.
• Clashes of Federal and Local Government

  

• Marriage Equality  
• Research paper by a law student regarding marriage equality, Georgetown University Law Center:
•  Gay is Good:The Moral Case for Marriage Equality and More
• Furthermore, this article talks about marriage equality, and if it should be considered a federal issue or a state issue. This issue has effected many LGBT people and their right to marry.

 

• Safe and Sanctuary City Resolutions
•  A Brief Overview of Sanctuary Cities, ThoughtCo. (May 25, 2019)
•  A “sanctuary city” in the United States is a city or county in which undocumented immigrants are protected from deportation or prosecution for violations of U.S. federal immigration laws.
• Map of Sanctuary Cities, Counties and States, Center for Immigration Studies (2019)

                              In Massachusetts:

• Amherst               
•  Boston
•  Cambridge
• Concord
• Lawrence
• Newton
• Northhampton
• Somerville

 

• Welcoming Cities Resolution, Seattle, Washington (January 30, 2017)

 

• Sanctuary Policy FAQ, National Conference of State Legislatures

 

• Debate:  How Sanctuary Cities in the US Stand Up to Federal Immigration Enforcement, The Conversation (October 28, 2018)

 

 

 

Environment 

Engaging:  What Environmental Policies Can Local Governments Enact to Help Save the Environment?

 

• Fast Facts about Plastic Pollution, National Geographic (December 20, 2018)

 

• Banning Plastic Bags, Town by Town:  A Guide, Earth Institute, Columbia University

 

• State Plastic and Paper Bag Legislation (April 30, 2019)

 

• A Brief History of How Plastic Straws Took Over the World, National Geographic (January 2, 2019)

 

• Why People with Disabilities Want Bans on Plastic Straws to be More Flexible, NPR (July 11, 2018)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nurse immunizing young girl in dress in the1930s

 

Disease, Vaccination and Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905)

History

• The History of Vaccines, College of Physicians of Philadelphia
• Vaccine History:  Developments by Year, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
• Avian Cholera (1879)
• Rabies (1885)
• Polio (1955)
• Measles (1963)
• Mumps (1967)
• History of Vaccines, ProCon.org
• Massachusetts was the first state to promote the use of vaccination.
•  n 1809 the town of Milton, Massachusetts became the first town to offer free smallpox vaccinations, which was followed by a state law that same year requiring the smallpox vaccination.

Are Vaccines Safe?

• History of Vaccine Safety, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

• Just How Safe Are Vaccines?  Here are the Numbers, LiveScience (January 12, 2017)

 

• California Court of Appeals Rejects Challenge to Vaccine Law, Bill of Health, Harvard Law (July 30, 2018)

 

Medical Personal Belief Exemptions

• All 50 states allow medical exemption to vaccination
• States with Religious and Philosophical Exemptions from School Immunization Requirements 

 

School Immunizations and Religious and Medical Exemptions by County in Massachusetts 

Image on Wikimedia Commons by BruceBlaus

• Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905)
• Jacobson v. Massachusetts:  It's Not Your Great-Great-Grandfather's Public Health Law, National Library of Medicine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protection of Individual Rights

• After the election of 1789, an immediate issue that the new Congress took up was how to modify the Constitution. States such as Massachusetts and Virginia had all ultimately supported the Constitution, however they expected explicit protections for individual rights. This being said, the first Congress amended the Constitution by adding the Bill of Rights, which are the first ten amendments of the Constitution and stand as a symbol of American ideals of liberty, limited government and the rule of law.

  

• The Equal Rights Amendment - explained 

 

Helpful Links:

• Watch this video for an overview of how American Government was formed, and how federal, state, and local levels operate.

 

• Click here for an understanding of the events leading up to the creation of the Bill of Rights

 

• Here is a link for more information on women in government and a timeline that explains the role that they have played throughout history.

 

Learning Plans

 

For a website that has interactive games and lessons on US government, here is a link. 

 

Here is a lesson plan that explains the division of powers within the American Government.