State and Local Politics
•The location of
power
• A.
State and Local governments are important
• 1.
87,500 local governments
• 2. Employ most government workers
• B.
Analyzing patterns of power
• 1. The operations and problems of state and
local government can be
understood by calling attention to the core problems of democratic governance: citizen participation, liberty, constitutional checks and balances, representation,
and responsible
leadership
• 2. The question, who governs?, throws
light on all the problems
of state and local government
• 3. Relying on various research methods,
social scientists have
studied patterns of power in communities and have come up with varied findings