Comparative Study of State and Local Governments - Research Paper Example

? Comparative Study of and Local Governments Comparative Study of and Local Governments Introduction In the American democracy, different states have different and exclusive ways of conducting and running daily businesses. This occurs due to differences in ideology that exist between the people responsible for implementing related laws. For instance, new governors in states and governments come up with their own reforms that are biased to fit their leadership styles. This paper will give distinguishing features that bring out a difference in running of the states and governments. This paper seeks to answer the question: Do the governments of various states offer residents quality services based on their distinctive features? Government of California The Californian government differs from other governments in a number of ways - from the laws to how it offers its services to its residents. It possesses one of the longest constitutions in the history of the world, caused by construed individual provisional rights that have been made broader than any other bill of rights. These rights help protect individual against oppression and illegal practices in relation to securing their life and rights of living. The law extrapolates on how every citizen is dealt with in any case of any happening or occurrence. The difference is also triggered by execution of three branches of governance which are: the executive, the legislative and the judicial branch. The California government differs from other states and governments in that it has an institution, even though not stipulated in the constitution but plays a major role in implementing laws. The institution comprises of the governor, assembly speaker, assembly minority leader, president of the senate and senate minority leader. The big five meet in private closed meetings to discuss pending bills in the formal legislature since it is an informal institution. California’s direct democracy system is approached with high aggressiveness contrary to all other states. It gives the population free will of giving their unprecedented opinions collectively in choosing good governance rather than electing representatives. Its gives the people pure and preferred choice in passing executive motions, conducting trials, making laws, election of officials and dismissing errant officials. The Californian system of direct democracy has positive effects on the government, in that it protects grievances of the people majorly done by them. This type of government gives audience to all its residents and deals with each of their problems. Contrary, a representative government will only shed light to problems that affect particular areas especially when they accrue vested interest. Such a government ensures that services are consumer friendly so as to reduce uproars from the population. When such a population decides to take on the streets for a demonstration, the whole economy is left at a stand still. The governor in California State has accrued extensive powers in running the state. He or she heads the executive branch, which includes lieutenant governor, attorney general, state secretary, state treasure and state controller. The governor has powers and responsibilities to sign laws passed by legislature, appoint judges, command state militia, propose state budget and grant pardons among others. These aspects grant the governor more powers than the legislature since he approves all the decisions and without his consent, they are doomed for failure. Provision of funds to state and local governments have given a boost to direct democracy in that the channels of communications are dropped to reach people at grass root levels. This idea attributes many people in bringing out their opinions on possible castigations they are experiencing and end up with a rapport with the government. Similarly, local governments and states reduce the distance covered by people when they require services from the government. Funs provided are used to construct offices and support centers in accessible places, influencing the people to be attracted to the services. Direct democracy accrues California’s residents quality and effective services at all times. This happens as they decide on their needs and how they are to be served. The masses settle on a majority rule hence good response. However, mismanagement of resources is on the rise since they have to go through a number of mediators before official jobs are implemented. French governance on Louisiana state government Louisiana state government is the only state that has adopted governing by use of parishes. Parishes are political subdivisions in the local government, which replace work done by counties. They are grade in terms of population and area. East Banton establishes the largest population while Cameron parish comes first in land area size. The state also records a high proficiency of multicultural and multilingual heritage, uprising from previous French, Spanish, Indian and African culture exposure. Louisiana State differs from other states because of its governance procedures of using parishes instead of counties. The parishes have drastically changed the running of state practices due to difference in structure of governance. The parishes have different avenues of attaining decisions which makes them different from other states. Due to availability of different cultures, the state laws are drafted in different ways to adhere to respect accorded to different cultures all at once. This signifies that the laws have to be flexible in attaining justice and during administration. Similarly, it calls for translation of some of the laws in different languages to suit people who may not understand each other during communication. The governor of Louisiana, who is the chief executive officer of the state, is responsible for administration and reinforcement of constitutional laws passed by the legislative branch. The powers of governor in Louisiana are lower as compared to legislature since he or she shares control of the state with a large number of officials. The people of Louisiana are responsible for electing and voting the representatives that will help the governor in controlling the state. The governor in Louisiana has minimal powers in making decisions on his own before collaborating with fellow statesmen and come with a concrete decision. This strategy helps in producing best results in terms of steps taken when a problem arises. However, the governor is responsible for preparing and submitting fiscal year budget and a five year capital outlay program for amendments and approval. The governor may also call the legislature in special meetings and can often suggest other legislatures, which helps in giving serious considerations to the fiscal budget. Provision of funds to the Louisiana governance provides support functions necessary to advocate for better livelihood for people. It regulates a wide range of activities such as disposal of hazardous waste materials, supervision of local government services, educational activity support and promotion of innovativeness in businesses. This brings out the positivity of the direct governance as it exposes funds at people’s disposal and service to residents is accorded with heightened responsibility. This type of governance in Louisiana is capable of providing direct and basic services to needy people such as medical care for poor people. It looks forward to serving all its citizens without nepotism, which is advantageous. Such a measure creates avenues for complete and planned usage of funds that are cited for development projects, purchasing, personnel and budgeting. Secondly, this type of governance creates equal distribution of services including people who have disabilities since they have elected their own representatives. The Louisiana governance is disadvantageous in that it has to use a large amount of funds to offset pay to the elected representatives yet the governor has advisors that could embark on decision making process. Secondly, the decision making process may take long to be implemented since many people will have their own options which they will want to air and taken note. This decision making process can adversely affect people especially when an emergency situation is involved. By the time decisions are made, many people may already be affected, which makes the situation worse as compared to sole decision making. New York government The New York government is more centralized than all the other types of state governments in the United States, which is organized under the city charter. The city charter provides a responsive mayor and council system which executes all the city’s responsibilities. The central government is responsible for control and improvement of public education, upgrading of correctional institutions and implementation and running of libraries. They also have a responsibility in public safety, provision of recreational facilities, public sanitation, frequent water supply and apt welfare services. The New York government is distinguished by the fact that it is led by an elected mayor who is responsible for administration of city government. Similarly, the mayor heads the executive branch which includes the public advocate, the comptroller and borough presidents that are responsible for passing and administering of laws. The mayor is responsible of choosing deputy mayors that are responsible for heading major offices within the executive branch of the city government. The mayor is voted in by popular votes, which give him a responsibility to serve the public for a term of four years. The mayor heads a large proportion of city services, controls police and fire protection, enforces all city laws and state laws and administers public agencies and public property. New York State is different in that it is controlled by a mayor who is elected to the position of heading the government. The mayor- council is the basic controller and head of structures in governance. Similarly, the governing council consists of public advocate, a directly elected executive official in place to head public advocate office. He is responsible for fusing public relation with government, investigating complaints by city agencies, mediating disputes and pose as an official mayoral advisor. Secondly, there is a comptroller in the executive council, who acts as an official chief financial officer to the city, elected directly by city voters. The position manages the cities pension plan, embarks on all the cities financial matters and advises the mayor accordingly. The borough presidents, who have limited powers, represent their respective counties in which they were elected from. The New York governance deploys in meritocracy and elects fit professionals who gain control over the available finances thereby influencing positive use. The comptroller makes sure that the finances are utilized in the best ways possible by drafting the budget proposals and giving credible advice to the mayor, who certifies the various projects in the state. This decision making will also involve the public advocate who highlights his view to be included in the decision making. Since the decisions are made by people who are qualified, it deludes retrogressive spending in the implementation. The provision of funds has greatly improved service provision and distribution as it focuses on sustainable living of all the people in the state. The funds have improved buildings, city planning, education, cultural affairs, health and fire fighting equipment. The availability of these finances have halted and reduced life threatening disasters that occur due to negligence by the government and ruling officials. New York City has accrued a range of positivity in terms of service administration to its residence. The governance has effectively increased service provision and reduced time wasted for the services to be offered. The services include health improvement by increasing health centers, development of modern infrastructure and deploying of qualified service providers in public offices. Similarly, the residents have accrued positivity in that they are solidly responsible for voting their own representatives to governance. The people have a free will of choosing a responsible leader who can focus on fostering the needs of the people who are responsible for election as compared to people who assume office by being chosen. A major disadvantage that occurs in this type of governance is that the people have no direct representation of their grievances but have to use elected people. The information from the actual people who are experiencing the problem does not reach the responsible authorities with the seriousness it deserves, therefore attracting low response. In worse situations, the problem is not dealt with till a further notice is given. Comparison and contrast California, Louisiana and New York have a group of commonality in terms of management. First they all have governance based mostly on elected leaders. The elected leaders support and pass information from the people they represent to the government for possible actions, especially solving persisting problems. The people who are voted or chosen for the leadership in these three states have a specified working period which elapses after the said years are over. After the lapse of working period, the states accept a second chance for the electorates to vie for the same seat, if they have been working in accordance to the constitution. The states have a linking point in decision making. The three states rely solely on the executive governance for approval of decisions pertaining finance and steps to be taken. Decisions from other avenues are not accepted nor implemented since they have not been certified by responsible parties. The states have a similarity in that they all work under a stipulated fiscal budget for a year and have to produce audit results to ascertain the usage of the finances. This strategy is widely used in the states to reduce embezzlement of finances, improve accountability and foster quality service provision. The first difference in these three states occurs in the heads of executive governments. The California executive is headed by a governor who controls a large proportion of executive powers of the legislature. The governor also controls the activities of the legislature as he solely decides on actions to embark on. New York State is headed by a mayor who is voted by electors from various councils. The mayor heads the executive council with subdued assistance from public advocate and comptroller. The latter, assist the mayor in coming up with strategies that accrue best performance. On the other hand, Louisiana State has a governor who heads leaders elected by parishes in the state but their powers and positions differ. The Louisiana governor is helped by the parishes in core decisions that include running and execution of plans. The New York governance is dominated in ruling by means of councils. The different councils elect their leaders who in turn elect a mayor responsible to head the executive council. Louisiana residents have a different way in that, they elect leaders who head parishes and in turn elect a governor. The governor heads the parishes in accordance to the law as they share in decision making. On the contrary, California State has a governor who is in complete control of the executive board and oversees all the activities that are conducted. References Development Studies (IDS) Triumph, Deficit or Contestation? Deepening the 'Deepening Democracy' Debate'( 2006) . Institute of Working Paper 264 July Government Code Section (2009). State of California Legislative Council. P. 24, Local Government Handbook - Legislative Leadership"(2009) New York State Department of State, 6th edition. pp. 70–74 Local Government Handbook - New York City" New York State Department of State. 2009, 6th edition. p 56–58 68–70). The History of Louisiana State". (2009).LSU Office of Communications & University Relations. January 28, Read More