Terminology:
- administrative federalism:
- annexation: the legal process by which a city or other municipality acquires land as its jurisdictional territory (as opposed to simply owning the land the way individuals do).[1] The annexed land is typically not part of any other municipality.
- auditor: A government auditor evaluates whether public funds were used according to the mandate associated with the funds. The position is typically divided into internal and external auditors. Internal government auditors check the financial records of government agencies to ensure compliance with financial standards. External government auditors check the activities of non-governmental third-party recipients of government funds to ensure the funds were spent in accordance with the agreements governing the allocation of public money.
- city charter: a charter city is a city in which the governing system is defined by the city's own charter document rather than solely by general law. In states where city charters are allowed by law, a city can adopt or modify its organizing charter by decision of its administration by the way established in the charter. These cities may be administered predominantly by residents or through a third-party management structure, because a charter gives a city the flexibility to choose novel types of government structure. Depending on the state, all cities, no cities, or some cities may be charter cities.
- commissioners court: The commissioners court conducts the general business of the county and consists of the county judge and four commissioners. The court: Adopts the county’s budget and tax rate, Approves all budgeted purchases of the county, Fills vacancies in elective and appointive offices,
Sets all salaries and benefits, Has exclusive authority to authorize contracts, Provides and maintains all county buildings and facilities.
- constable: a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other people may be granted powers of a constable without holding this title. A constable is a licensed peace officer and performs various law enforcement functions. They also serve legal documents and perform other duties.
- contract outsourcing: a contract formed between a company and a service provider wherein the provider promises to deliver specified services. An example would be data processing from a service provider that utilizes its own staff and equipment, typically working from their own location as well.
- county attorney: The county attorney represents the state in the justice of the peace and county courts, defends suits in which the county is interested, and serves as legal advisor to county and precinct officials. If the county has no district attorney, the county attorney also represents the state in district courts.
- civil service: a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil servant, also known as a public servant, is a person employed in the public sector by a government department or agency for public sector undertakings. Civil servants work for central and state governments, and answer to the government, not a political party.
- county civil service commission: have authority to adopt, publish, and enforce rules regarding the selection and classification of county employees covered by Civil Service including: competitive examination; promotions; seniority and tenure; layoffs and dismissals; disciplinary actions; grievance procedures; and other matters relating to the selection of county employees and procedural and substantive rights, advancement, benefits, and working conditions of county employees. They provide employees with an opportunity of fair and equitable employment opportunities, job protection, due process, and an avenue of appeal.
- county clerk: The main duties of the county clerk are to serve as clerk of the county court and the county commissioners court, act as recorder of deeds and other instruments, issue marriage licenses and take depositions. The clerk is also responsible for conducting countywide special and general elections and for handling absentee voting.
- Dillon’s Rule: The Dillon Rule is the principal that local government only exercises (1) powers expressly granted by the state, (2) powers necessarily and fairly implied from the grant of power, and (3) powers crucial to the existence of local government.
- fiscal federalism: Fiscal federalism refers to how federal, state, and local governments share funding and administrative responsibilities within our federal system. The funding for these programs comes from taxes and fees.
- general law city: a municipality whose government structure and powers are defined by the general law of its state. This is in contrast to a charter city or home-rule city, whose government structure and powers are defined by a municipal charter.
- home rule city: an authority of a constituent part of a U.S. state to exercise powers of governance delegated to it by its state government. (It is related to the colonial principle of home rule used by some nations.) In some states, known as home rule states, the state's constitution grants municipalities and/or counties the ability to pass laws to govern themselves as they see fit (so long as they obey the state and federal constitutions).
- justice of the peace (JP): The justice of the peace presides over the justice court in cases involving misdemeanors, small civil disputes, landlord/tenant disputes and more. They also conduct inquests and may perform marriage ceremonies.
- machine politics: a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership control over member activity. The machine's power is based on the ability of the boss or group to get out the vote for their candidates on election day.
- majority election: an electoral system in which the winner of an election is the candidate that received more than half of the votes cast. In the event that no candidate wins an outright majority, a runoff election is held between the top two vote-getters. For this reason, majority systems are sometimes referred to as two-round systems.
- merit-based civil service system: The merit system is the process of promoting and hiring government employees based on their ability to perform a job, rather than on their political connections. It is the opposite of the spoils system.
- municipal bond: The term “municipal bond” refers to a type of debt security issued by local, county, and state governments. They are commonly offered to pay for capital expenditures, including the construction of highways, bridges, or schools. Municipal bonds act like loans, with bondholders becoming creditors. In exchange for borrowed capital, bondholders/investors are promised interest on their principal balance—the latter being repaid by the maturity date. Municipal bonds are often exempt from most taxes, which makes them attractive to people in higher income tax brackets.
- municipal utility district (MUD): A municipal utility district is one that is formed under specific circumstances to provide utility services to a designated area.
- ordinance: An ordinance is a law or decree by a municipality. Put differently, an ordinance is a local law. Usually ordinances forbid or restrict some type of activity. For example, § 4-03 of The Rules of the City for New York City states that, “vehicular traffic facing such signal [a steady red light] shall stop before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection or, if none, then before entering the intersection and shall remain standing until an indication to proceed is shown. In other words, in New York City, no turn on red. Municipal governments can pass ordinances on matters that the state government allows to be regulated at the local level. The ordinance carries the state’s authority and has the same effect as a state statute.
- partisan election: an election when a candidate for public office is required to declare his or her political party allegiance, affiliation or affinity, or list "none" as the alternative. An individual is partisan to the extent she or he adheres to the values and perspectives articulated by a particular political party, faction , ideal or cause. The more partisan one is ( referred to as "partisanship"), the more likely one is to exhibit uncritical allegiance. Nonpartisan, on the other hand, is an election when no declaration of political party allegiance, affiliation or affinity is allowed by the jurisdiction holding the election.
- plurality election: electoral systems in which a candidate(s), who poll more than any other counterpart (that is, receive a plurality), are elected
- privatization: most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when a heavily regulated private company or industry becomes less regulated. Government functions and services may also be privatised (which may also be known as "franchising" or "out-sourcing"); in this case, private entities are tasked with the implementation of government programs or performance of government services that had previously been the purview of state-run agencies. Some examples include revenue collection, law enforcement, water supply, and prison management.
- sheriff: The sheriff acts as a conservator of the peace and the executive officer of the county and district courts, serve writs and processes of the courts, seizes property after judgment, enforce traffic laws on county roads and supervises the county jail and prisoners. In counties of fewer than 10,000 residents, he may also serve as ex officio tax assessor and collector.
- tax assessor: The tax assessor-collector calculates property tax rates for the county, collects taxes for the county (and sometimes for additional local taxing entities) and collects various other fees for the state and county.
- zoning policy: a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a single use (e.g. residential, industrial), they may combine several compatible activities by use, or in the case of form-based zoning, the differing regulations may govern the density, size and shape of allowed buildings whatever their use. The planning rules for each zone determine whether planning permission for a given development may be granted.
