State and Local Government

State and Local Government — page 3 — INTRODUCTION The true privilege of being mayor is that I have the opportunity to be everyone’s neighbor said former Boston mayor Thomas Menino STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT Menino was mayor for nearly 21 years longer than anyone else in the city’s history During that time he became famous for his close con nection with residents in a 2009 poll by the Boston Globe nearly 60 percent of the respondents said they’d personally met him He was also attentive to details such as potholes abandoned cars and how many kids had summer jobs Menino was exceptionally successful but his to-do list would be similar to that of most elected officials of state and local governments However in an era in which big govern ment is often cast as a villain the state and local versions by being everywhere are also like the neighbor you see every day They are tru ly government of the people by the people 4

State and Local Government — page 4

State and Local Government — page 5 — EARLY FORMS OF U S GOVERNMENT The colony of Virginia established a House of Burgesses in 1619 Members were elect ed by property owners in the colony They passed their own laws subject to approv al by the king of England It was the ﬁrst legislature in the colonies MAYFLOWER COMPACT English Puritans drew up the Mayﬂower Compact named for their ship It was the ﬁrst written framework of government in what later became the U S It declared the group free of English law and remained in eﬀect until 1691 HOUSE OF BURGESSES Following the Revolutionary War the new country was governed by a document called the Articles of Confederation In stead of giving too much power to a cen tral national government the Articles set up a nation of loosely connected states ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

State and Local Government — page 6 — CHAPTER NO_ 1 IT STARTED LOCALLY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT W hen the New World was first explored and set tled government seemed a distant thing Lands were claimed by kingdoms across the oceans But actual control was difficult since the rul ers were so far from their subjects So a strong tradition of com munity self-government got started The colony of Virginia established a House of Burgesses in 1619 Members were elected by property owners in the colony They passed their own laws subject to approval by the king of England It was the first legislature in the colonies The next year English Puritans seeking religious freedom landed in Massachusetts That was far north of the territory they’d aimed for where laws were already in place They needed to establish their own rules to avoid conflicts So they drew up 7

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