How much power does our local government really have?

In the United States each state's government must adhere to the US Constituti Similarly, local governments within that state must adhere to that specific state's constit These local governments include our townships, counties, towns, and cities.

Depending on which state you liv Each of these has differing amounts of power.

The two philosophies used to describe these levels of are known as ‘Dillon's Rule and ‘Home Rule Dillon's rule is a theory coined by Iowa Supreme Court Jus John F Dillon in 1868.

He argued municipal corporations owe their origin to and derive their powers and righ wholly from the legislature, meaning that local governments should only have powers explicitly granted to them by the state.

Then there's Home Rule, also known as Cooley's Doctrine, which was first expressed by Thomas Cooley in 1851.

In court, he argued, local government is a matter of absolute right and the state cannot take it away, meaning that local governments should have the freedom to determine their own structure, functions, finances and regulations.

Across the nation, states have struck different bal of these two philosophies.

There are 31 states that lean closer to Dillon's Rul ten that operate under Home Rule and just nine states that only use Dillon's Rule for certain municipalities.

Would you prefer a state representatives to contr your local government?

Or would you rather your city take democracy into their own hands?