I know about the federal and state governments. I know that a state is like a country on its own. But how many levels of administration does a state usually have? A county, a city, a town? With so much land the US has, I imagine that even a town can be as big as a province in other countries.

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  2. Los Angeles County has over 10 million people. Within the County, there are 56 cities, the city of Los Angeles being the biggest of them. Other cities that you may have heard of are Compton, Long Beach, Malibu, Burbank, and Beverly Hills. There are also areas that are *just* considered L.A. County, but these are either empty wilderness or unincorporated settlements.

    The city of Los Angeles has its own police department, the world famous LAPD. Many of the cities have their own police departments, such as Beverly Hills (featured in the movie ‘Beverly Hills Cop’, where Eddie Murphy played a police detective from Detroit who was working with them).

    Some of the cities contract out to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department rather than maintain their own police department; Compton used to have their own police department but now they’re Sheriff’s territory. They also cover Malibu and other towns. The Sheriff’s also patrol unincorporated areas of the county.

    The County is overseen by a Board of Supervisors. Each city has its own self-contained government, usually with a mayor and city councillors. Above L.A. County, and the various cities contained therein, is the State of California.

  3. In the US, local government typically has three levels: county, city, and town (or township). However, it can vary from state to state. Some places also have additional divisions like boroughs, villages, or parishes. Also, it’s worth noting that not all states have both cities and towns, as some use one term for all their smaller jurisdictions.

    The size of these local jurisdictions can indeed vary significantly. Some counties, cities, or towns might be larger in land area than an entire province in other countries, while others can be quite small. To govern effectively, responsibilities are distributed among these levels of government, with each level handling matters that are appropriate for its scale.

    For example, county governments typically manage things like law enforcement, public health, and regional transportation planning. City and town governments usually focus on more localized services such as zoning and land use, utility management, and public safety (police, fire, etc.).

    The intricacies of each local government can vary quite a bit, but in general, the system allows for efficient governance tailored to the specific needs of communities varying in size and character across the vast country.

  4. Federal > state > county > city (in most cases)

    Yes, cities can be large but that means the city government is large as well. The City of San Diego’s website says there are ~11k city government employees.

  5. > how do they govern effectively

    We could argue the idea that they “govern effectively”…

    In all seriousness, there is: city, county, state, federal. There are some cities that are “unincorporated” which means they don’t have a local government of their own (so for these places the line would stop at “county”), but this is the exception to the rule.

    So in other words, there are local laws specific to my town/city, but those laws have to follow the laws of my county. And the laws of my county have to follow the laws of my state. And the laws of my state ultimately have to follow federal laws.

  7. Government goes down to the city level, then to the county above that, then state, then federal. Some cities *eg* Philadelphia administer the county and the city simultaneously, such that cities so governed and administered would have *eg* a county sheriff and a police commissioner for the city.

  8. In my state, all land is incorporated into some form of municiplity (town, borough, city, village, township). So for us it’s: City>County>State>Federal. The county has little power (beside services and maintaining certain roads) so local politics depends largely on individual municipalities.

    To my surprise, however. In many states, there aren’t many municipalities (there may be one that acts as the county seat) so the county is the primary local gov

  9. I mean, there may be some tiny provinces out there but our towns do get pretty small, we just have more of them. Maybe the bigger counties might be as big as a province. Especially in the big Western states (Utah, Wyoming, Nevada) there is a lot of empty space and fewer population centers. A state usually contains counties and counties contain cities and towns (although there are spots where counties aren’t a thing).

  10. I’m Virginia you have a city OR a county, but not both. When you’re in an independent city, you are not within any county border.

    So: city/county, state, federal. Only ever three levels of government.

  11. The system across the US is that:
    – the feds handle the military, public pensions, and old-age health benefits. They do some other stuff too, but these things + debt interest take up ~85% of their budget
    – States handle the rest; states are very autonomous. The biggest budget items for any state are schools, public universities, public infrastructure, and health benefits for low-income people
    – Most states (much of new england as the exception, where a french-style municipality system is more common) are separated into counties, which generally are 30-100 km across and are empowered to administer public services for the state; they do lots of public paperwork, handle criminal justice, handle public transportation, etc.
    – Cities exist as municipal corporations; they have to apply to their county to cover X area and have the power to do Y. So cities only cover part of the map; either you live in one & they take care of your plumbing/electric/etc., or you report directly to your county. I believe Canada has the same system; this allowed us to draw these county lines on maps & grow into them later

    So it’s not like US jurisdictions get in each others way; they handle different stuff

  12. It varies across the country, but generally it goes:

    * State
    * County (or Parish/Borough)
    * Municipality (City/Town/Village)

    In much of the country most of local government is consolidated at either the country or municipal level.

    If you live in a city there might be wards, districts or other further subdivisions.

    If you live in the suburbs, you might have an HOA which is like a private local government. Kind of a scam since you pay the HOA for services normally provided by the local government.

    In New York it’s:

    * County
    * City or Town

    There’s also:

    * Village: Incorporated area part of a town with its own government. You pay extra to live here, but benefit from having better services.
    * Hamlet: Unincorporated area part of a town without a full fledge government, but might have a local business association or community organization.

    NY has full fledged county and municipal governments, which is why taxes are higher here. Nobody wants to give up their dedicated police force or parks and recs departments, so consolidation isn’t popular.

    NYC is the exception since it’s 5 (small) counties that make up the city.

  13. Illinois has more units of local government than any other state. Last time I checked, there are about 6,900. I audit local governments for work, so off the top of my head, I’ve run into counties, various municipalities, townships, school districts, police and fire districts, library districts, park districts, mosquito abatement districts, and more.

  14. Usually it goes, federal, state, county, municipal.

    New England states don’t really have county governments, at least not legislatures. They have the courts and sheriffs at the county level but that’s pretty much it. So most New England states go federal, state, municipal.

    There are school boards which go by school districts which may or may not match up with county or municipal lines. Like my kid’s school district is 3 municipalities joined together.

    Then there are some other more niche governing entities like water/fire districts which manage certain land for extracting water. They can be elected but are mostly appointed boards.

    Another one is villages, in some states, they are like a sub-municipal government that usually is in place to manage specific historic villages that are incorporated in a municipality. They usually have very limited power mostly related to the distinct historical nature of the village.

    Unincorporated townships in Maine (areas with extremely low if any population are governed directly by the state so people that live there basically just have federal and state government.

  15. New York State is unusual compared to other states in the sense that it adds a fifth level, the village, which can be part of a town and sometimes more than one town, and which can offer very local services such as garbage collection. [The Wikipedia page on New York’s Administrative divisions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_New_York_(state)).

    And that’s not counting the exception that’s NYC, which contains five counties corresponding to the five boroughs. But there are cities in other states that don’t fit the usual model either, typically because they’re either not part of a county or are the entire county with a single government.

  16. In my state it’s just town/city, state, federal.

    We do not have County Government in Connecticut, but lots of states do.

  17. Here in South Dakota and probably similar in some other states the land is divided into townships. In a rural area with no towns they will have a board of residents that decides where taxes and other money they receive from the state is spent (Mostly this is just road maintenance). Some townships will also have a volunteer fire department actually even most small towns here are too.

    Law enforcement and almost everything else is run by the county of the state.

  18. At the smallest level is cities, townships, and buroughs. These are typically the least corrupt and the closest to you and your interests.

    Then county, then state, then federal. Every step of the way can have its own services such as police, courts and even laws etc.

    This gradual diffusion of power is how it functions.

    Its why many argue that the Fed has grown overlarge and bloated and why bureaucracy is rampant.

    As an example as a Pennsylvanian, I can live in the borough of Highspire, which is the self governing area of the greater Harrisburg City metropolitan area. But fall under Dauphin County. Which is in the state of Pennsylvania which is a commonwealth in the USA. Commonwealths are legally and mostly identical to states.

    As a result of this, as an example, Highspire has its own police force and Harrisburg city cops cant interfere despite being in the same metro area, state cops can go to both areas as needed. There are no fed cops in principal but in practice the three letter organizations function this way.

    And maybe out in the middle of the country with giant square counties it may be true that they are larger than some provinces. Much less populated though and mostly ignored as farmland or statelands.

  19. As with most things in the US, it depends on the state. Most states are divided into counties, the government of which generally administers things like schools, infrastructure, and fire/rescue services, as well as governing any unincorporated land (that is, communities which have not formally been granted the status of “city/town”). Cities and towns then have their own government. But then, for example, in Virginia, all cities are legally independent, that is, not part of the county that surrounds them (except for Arlington, which is not actually a city but a county itself). And in Connecticut, where I grew up, there is both no county government at all (the counties are purely historical and traditional boundaries) and no unincorporated land, so the next level of government after the state is the municipality.

  21. Like others said, generally City, County, State, Federal. It’s not really hierarchical though, different levels have different responsibilities. While it’s true Federal laws trump State laws and State laws trump County and City laws when they’re in dispute, that’s not really the primary purpose of the system. The Federal government’s responsibility lies mainly in dealing with foreign affairs on behalf of the States, settling disputes between States, and ensuring the rights of US Citizens. The States have a lot more power given by the Constitution, their primary concern is ensuring their citizens are properly represented on the Federal level, making laws and engaging in activity to benefit the citizens of the State, maintaining state highways and often federal highways and handling large scale emergencies. The County generally provides the court for the more localized area, as well as a police force (Sheriff’s office) to assist municipalities and enforce laws outside of municipalities, maintaining county roads and parks. The City is often concerned with ensuring representation on the State and Federal level, providing a police force (Police Department), providing a Fire Department, city services such as water, sewer, electricity, maintaining and building roads, approving development projects, maintaining parks, as well as smaller scale social services like housing assistance.

  22. >how do they govern effectively?

    Why would we want them to do that? The idea is to limit how much trouble they can cause.

  23. In CT it goes Federal, State and then 169 fiefdoms we call “towns”.

    Haven’t had counties for awhile.

  25. At a constitutional level, there is the Federal government, and State governments.

    Each state organizes their local governments slightly differently, but a fairly common way is:

    There are county governments (in most states), with the states in the east usually having smaller counties than larger ones out west. The county governments usually provide law enforcement services (normally called a Sheriff’s Department or Sheriff’s Office), a public school system, and maybe some other functions like water and sewer utilities (that may not stretch to areas very remote areas), a local library, and an ambulance service.

    Then there are town/city governments that govern within the limits of a specific settlement. They provide a pretty broad range of government services.

  26. City Government is typically the lowest level but you do have smaller division in mega cities like NYC that have representatives or councils for specific neighborhoods and zones of the city.

    County is the next level but there is a lot of variation as to how much power this level has. In some States they hold a lot, in others they are effectively non-existent.

    State is the next level, then Federal which should both be fairly self explanatory.

    We also have pseudo-governmental entities such as School Boards and Home Owner’s Associations (HOAs). HOAs are voluntary (may be required at purchase of home) organizations that you join signing contracts either at the formation of the HOA or upon purchase of a home within one. They set rules for homes within their jurisdiction (painting color, lawn maintenance, etc) and maintain communal property like pools or parks. School Boards govern the local school districts. They could be in charge of a single school (as with a private school governors board) or in charge of all public schools in the district. The district could be the entire county (or even several in more rural areas) or it could be just a part of a city.

  28. Well, it varies place to place.

    The normal structure is Board/Sub-Entity-> Municipal-> County-> State-> Federal

    However, you also have to account for School Districts, Parks & Rec, and things like Rural Fire Distrcits that may or may not be affiliated with the above and may be independent instead.

    Where I live, the Park Board is under the umbrella of Municpal government, but the School District is not. The School District is an independent political entity. This matters because the Park Board can always petition the City Council for a bigger budget, but the School District cannot.

  29. City, county, state, federal. Some areas also have tribal, which is roughly equivalent to state level. Parts of New England and Alaska do not have county-level government, some areas have consolidated city-counties, some cities occupy parts of multiple counties, and there are unincorporated areas within most counties that are not part of any city.

    Edit: And Hawaii doesn’t have cities, county-level government is the lowest level there.

  30. I think there’s a very good argument that we do NOT govern (or investigate crime) effectively.

  31. For me, it’s just Federal, State, and County. If I lived inside the city limits, add City just after County.

    It works pretty well, because each level of government only deals with things within their jurisdiction. States do things within the state, counties within their county, and cities within that city. You won’t see Congress passing a zoning law, or a city trying to regulate the airlines. That’s just not their job.

    There are issues, of course, because governments are made of people, and people, as a whole, are stupid, but overall, it works as well as can be expected.

  32. For 48 states there is the standard Federal, State, County, City.

    Alaska calls their counties boroughs, but there isn’t really a meaningful difference.

    Louisiana calls their counties for parishes. For the most part they function the exact same, but if memory serves they have a few other random duties.

    What’s also something in larger cities, especially ones with the very large square mileage are townships or boroughs. The best way to think of them is like an HOA or small city and of themselves that apply extra restrictions to an area. These are almost exclusively regarding administrative stuff and taxes, but can extend to some actual laws.

    The US also has independent cities which function without a county level government. You’ll find these across the u.s, but they are most prominent in Virginia where every incorporated city doesn’t actually have a county.

  33. Along with Federal>State>Country>City delination. Some states have “extra” levels of government that handle specific things. Texas has independent school districts (ISD). These ISDs are only subservient to the state not city and county in which they operate. They have elected members and can impose property taxes. They also have their own police forces.

  34. Federal: traditionally handles interstate trade, adminstration of federal lands, national defense.

    State: operates generally like a European country when it comes to domestic affairs–sets the laws people follow, often has its own court system, policing and administrative bodies.

    County, or other administrative subsection of a state–the power varies form state to state, but many have their own sheriff (an elected official who runs a policing group–the sheriff’s department responsible for upholding the law), it’s own county court system, and the like.

    Cities or municipalities, which, along with counties, often administrate the zoning and building regulations, as well as runs its own city police department. (Not all cities have police; some contract with the sheriff’s department. Not all counties have sheriff’s, and sometimes policing is directly handled by a state-run police department. And each has its own nominal things they do–like the California Highway Patrol, a state-level police agency, which is primarily responsible for catching vehicular code violations. Yeah, it can be confusing.)

    You also have other things–such as school districts, which are responsible for the administration of schools up until the 12th grade (high school), and sometimes cities, counties or states may form “compacts” for administrating certain laws or regulations. [There are several interstate compacts that create multi-state governmental agencies in the United States.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_compact)

    Then of course come Indian reservations–which are administrated almost like their own states (though subject to some state laws), and on the other end cities or counties can set up their own specialized governmental administrations that may only apply to a small area within a city–or they may bifurcate administrative offices, such as the city of Los Angeles does, with administrative offices in Van Nuys covering the residents in the San Fernando Valley.

    —-

    Essentially if you’re in a particular place it can be confusing trying to figure out who polices an area or which laws you may be subject to. Fortunately laws between states, between counties or cities, and federal laws generally are fairly similar: rape is generally rape, murder is generally murder. (There are corner cases, and states may handle different crimes differently–but for the most part our criminal laws are fairly uniform and are not terribly dissimilar from the criminal laws in most of the rest of the world.)

    And yes, there are very large cities–Houston is 1,659 square kilometers, bigger in area than Hong Kong. And there are very large counties–San Bernardino County at 52,000 square kilometers is bigger than Denmark, Switzerland or Costa Rica.

    Which is why a lot of people living in rural areas like San Bernardino tend to be self-reliant: when seconds count, the police are about a half-hour away.

    For the most part, however, this mish-mash of administrative and governmental services does serve most Americans very well, and the police can–for the most part–be counted on to protect and serve most Americans in most of our country.

  35. It varies by state, but usually the hierarchy goes: federal->state->county/county equivalent->municipalities (cities, towns, villages, etc). Some states in the Northeast have an intermediary level between counties and municipalities called townships. (although I don’t live in the Northeast, so somebody correct me if I’m wrong) In Virginia, incorporated cities are actually county equivalents, and are independent of counties.

  36. Most states are Federal, State, County, City, Homeowners Association or HOA. I don’t have an HOA but do have a City. Where my mom lives is unincorporated County and no HOA so County is the closest level. We also have special administrative districts like Water Management Districts and Soil Conservation Districts that don’t follow any other boarder.

    In Florida almost everything is public record so you can go to any county property appraisers website and see what district an municipality a property is a part of.

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