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84-453: For awards, a short list (or 'shortlist') is often made public, these are the works which will be looked at closely by judges, and from which winners will eventually be chosen. Sometimes a 'long list' is prepared beforehand, from which the later short list will be selected. This is also sometimes made public. In US politics , short list is most frequently used in two instances: first a list of prospective vice presidential nominees compiled for

168-483: A faithless elector ). Both federal and state laws regulate elections. The United States Constitution defines (to a basic extent) how federal elections are held, in Article One and Article Two and various amendments . State law regulates most aspects of electoral law, including primaries, the eligibility of voters (beyond the basic constitutional definition), the running of each state's electoral college, and

252-426: A plurality of votes cast (i.e. more than any other candidate, but not necessarily a majority). Suffrage is nearly universal for citizens 18 years of age and older, with the notable exception of registered felons in some states. The United States is a constitutional federal republic , in which the president (the head of state and head of government ), Congress , and judiciary share powers reserved to

336-491: A sole commissioner , who is assisted by boards to supervise taxes and elections. Town or township governments are organized local governments authorized in the state constitutions and statutes of 20 Northeastern and Midwestern states, established as minor civil divisions to provide general government for a geographic subdivision of a county where there is no municipality. In New York, Wisconsin and New England, these county subdivisions are called towns . In many other states,

420-631: A Supreme Court. In this system the Supreme Court is always the final authority, but criminal cases have four stages, one more than civil law does. On the court sits a total of nine justices. This number has been changed several times. Japan 's process for selecting judges is longer and more stringent than in various countries, like the United States and in Mexico . Assistant judges are appointed from those who have completed their training at

504-621: A candidate for office, but deciding who will be the party's candidate in the general election is usually done in primaries open to voters who register as Democrats or Republicans. Furthermore, elected officials who fail to "toe the party line" because of constituent opposition said line and "cross the aisle" to vote with the opposition have (relatively) little to fear from their party. Parties have state or federal committees that act as hubs for fundraising and campaigning (see Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee ) and separate campaign committees that work to elect candidates at

588-459: A collection of new laws. The Corpus Iuris Civilis consisted of four parts: During the late Middle Ages, education started to grow. First education was limited to the monasteries and abbeys, but expanded to cathedrals and schools in the city in the 11th century, eventually creating universities. The universities had five faculties: arts, medicine, theology, canon law and Ius Civile , or civil law. Canon law, or ecclesiastical law are laws created by

672-511: A defined area, generally corresponding to a population center rather than one of a set of areas into which a county is divided. The category includes those governments designated as cities, boroughs (except in Alaska ), towns (except in Minnesota and Wisconsin), and villages. This concept corresponds roughly to the " incorporated places" that are recognized in by the U.S. Census Bureau, although

756-814: A law degree during the five years preceding their nomination. United States Supreme Court justices are appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the United States Senate . The Supreme Court justices serve for life term or until retirement. The Supreme Court is located in Washington, D.C. The United States federal court system consists of 94 federal judicial districts . The 94 districts are then divided up into twelve regional circuits. The United States has five different types of courts that are considered subordinate to

840-657: A mass base, although appeals for small donations over the Internet have been successful. Opponents of campaign finance laws allege they interfere with the First Amendment 's guarantee of free speech. Even when laws are upheld, the complication of compliance with the First Amendment requires careful and cautious drafting of legislation, leading to laws that are still fairly limited in scope, especially in comparison to those of other developed democracies such as

924-538: A part of the county government. In others, survey townships are non-governmental. Towns in the six New England states and townships in New Jersey and Pennsylvania are included in this category by the Census Bureau, despite the fact that they are legally municipal corporations , since their structure has no necessary relation to concentration of population, which is typical of municipalities elsewhere in

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1008-402: A political career if a candidate is frequently discussed but never chosen. (Note that this is somewhat analogous to, but distinct from, the also-ran status of the perennial candidate ). US politics [REDACTED] [REDACTED] In the United States , politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal republic . The three distinct branches share powers :

1092-418: A political party or seek public office as independents. Each state has significant discretion in deciding how candidates are nominated and thus eligible to appear on a given election ballot. Major party candidates are typically formally chosen in a party primary or convention , whereas candidates from minor parties and Independent candidates must complete a petitioning process. The current two-party system in

1176-400: A process of reception and acculturation started with both laws. The final product was known as Ius Commune . It was a combination of canon law, which represented the common norms and principles, and Roman law, which were the actual rules and terms. It meant the creation of more legal texts and books and a more systematic way of going through the legal process. In the new legal process, appeal

1260-411: A specific level but do not direct candidates or their campaigns. In presidential elections, the party's candidate serves as the de facto party leader, whose popularity or lack thereof helps or hinders candidates further down the ballot. Midterm elections are usually considered a referendum on the sitting president's performance. Some (e.g., Lee Drutman and Daniel J. Hopkins before 2018) argue that, in

1344-1078: Is dominated by two parties , which since the American Civil War have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party , although other parties have run candidates . Since the mid-20th century, the Democratic Party has generally supported left-leaning policies, while the Republican Party has generally supported right-leaning ones. Both parties have no formal central organization at the national level that controls membership, elected officials or political policies; thus, each party has traditionally had factions and individuals that deviated from party positions. Almost all public officials in America are elected from single-member districts and win office by winning

1428-442: Is on the short list comes closer to being chosen by the presidential nominee. The media frequently claims to obtain and announces the names of individuals whom they believe to be on the short list. Presidential nominees' staffs may also quietly disclose the name of a candidate as being on the short list, in an attempt to gauge public opinion. Typically, the most prominent individuals on the short list are those who competed well in

1512-548: Is sometimes called stare decisis . In the United States court system , the Supreme Court is the final authority on the interpretation of the federal Constitution and all statutes and regulations created pursuant to it, as well as the constitutionality of the various state laws; in the US federal court system , federal cases are tried in trial courts , known as the US district courts , followed by appellate courts and then

1596-557: The Corpus Juris Canonici . It was used by canonists of the Roman Catholic Church until Pentecost (19 May) 1918, when a revised Code of Canon Law ( Codex Iuris Canonici ) promulgated by Pope Benedict XV on 27 May 1917 obtained legal force. The Decretalists , like the post-glossators for Ius Civile , started to write treatises, comments and advises with the texts. Around the 15th century,

1680-561: The American Civil War , although other parties have existed . There are major differences between the political system of the United States and that of many other developed countries , including: The federal entity created by the U.S. Constitution is the dominant feature of the American governmental system, as citizens are also subject to a state government and various units of local government (such as counties , municipalities , and special districts ). State governments have

1764-617: The Farmer-Labor Party , Wisconsin Progressive Party , Conservative Party of New York State , and the Populist Party ); or continued to run candidates for office to publicize some issue despite seldom winning even local elections ( Libertarian Party , Natural Law Party , Peace and Freedom Party ). Factors reinforcing the two-party system include: Judicial power The judiciary (also known as

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1848-747: The Glossators to start translating and recreating the Corpus Iuris Civilis and create literature around it: Accursius wrote the Glossa Ordinaria in 1263, ending the early scholastics. The successors of the Glossators were the Post-Glossators or Commentators. They looked at a subject in a logical and systematic way by writing comments with the texts, treatises and consilia , which are advises given according to

1932-524: The Insular Cases , which were a series of 1901 Supreme Court cases that some consider to be reflective of imperialism and racist views held in the United States. Unequal access to political participation in US territories has also been criticized for affecting US citizens who move to territories, as such an action requires forfeiting the full voting rights that they would have held in the 50 states. As in

2016-642: The Mexican Supreme Court are appointed by the President of Mexico , and then are approved by the Mexican Senate to serve for a fifteen-year term. Other justices are appointed by the Supreme Court and serve for six years. Federal courts consist of the 11 ministers of the Supreme Court, 32 circuit tribunals and 98 district courts. The Supreme Court of Mexico is located in Mexico City . Supreme Court Judges must be of ages 35 to 65 and hold

2100-598: The Mos Maiorum was written down in the Twelve Tables . L' were rules set by the leaders, first the kings, later the popular assembly during the Republic. In these early years, the legal process consisted of two phases. The first phase, In Iure , was the judicial process. One would go to the head of the judicial system (at first the priests as law was part of religion) who would look at the applicable rules to

2184-553: The New Deal , and increasingly since the 1960s, the Democratic Party has generally positioned itself as a center-left party, while the Republican Party has generally positioned itself as center-right ; there are other factions within each. Unlike in many other countries, the major political parties in America have no strong central organization that determines party positions and policies, rewards loyal members and officials, or expels rebels. A party committee or convention may endorse

2268-532: The Northern Mariana Islands , Puerto Rico , and the U.S. Virgin Islands ; as well as minor outlying islands such as Baker Island , Howland Island , Jarvis Island , Johnston Atoll , Kingman Reef , Midway Atoll , Navassa Island , Palmyra Atoll , Wake Island , and others. American Samoa is the only territory with a native resident population and is governed by a local authority. Despite

2352-713: The Progressive Era ; they are written into several state constitutions, particularly in the Western states, but not found at the federal level. The United States Census Bureau conducts the Census of Governments every five years, categorizing four types of local governmental jurisdictions below the level of the state: In 2010, there were 89,500 total local governments, including 3,033 counties, 19,492 municipalities, 16,500 townships, 13,000 school districts, and 37,000 other special districts. Local governments directly serve

2436-680: The Scholastics , which can be divided in the early and late scholastics. It is characterised with the renewed interest in the old texts. The rediscovery of the Digesta from the Corpus Iuris Civilis led the university of Bologna to start teaching Roman law. Professors at the university were asked to research the Roman laws and advise the Emperor and the Pope with regards to the old laws. This led to

2520-525: The U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legislative body comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate ; the executive branch , which is headed by the president of the United States , who serves as the country's head of state and government ; and the judicial branch , composed of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, and which exercises judicial power . Each of

2604-509: The United Kingdom and in other similar parliamentary systems , in the U.S. Americans eligible to vote, vote for an individual candidate (there are sometimes exceptions in local government elections) and not a party list. The U.S. government being a federal government, officials are elected at the federal (national), state and local levels. All members of Congress , and the offices at the state and local levels are directly elected, but

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2688-498: The United Kingdom , France or Canada . The United States Constitution never formally addressed the issue of political parties , primarily because the Founding Fathers opposed them. Nevertheless, parties—specifically, two competing parties in a " two-party system "—have been a fundamental part of American politics since shortly after George Washington's presidency. In partisan elections, candidates are nominated by

2772-408: The executive powers, including law enforcement and provision of services, to a highly trained and experienced professional city manager. The council-manager plan has been adopted by a large number of cities. Under this plan, a small, elected council makes the city ordinances and sets policy, but hires a paid administrator, also called a city manager, to carry out its decisions. The manager draws up

2856-403: The judicial system , judicature , judicial branch , judiciative branch , and court or judiciary system ) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law in legal cases. The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets, defends, and applies the law in the name of the state . The judiciary can also be thought of as

2940-462: The power to make laws on all subjects that are not granted to the federal government nor denied to the states in the U.S. Constitution . These include education , family law , contract law , and most crimes . Unlike the federal government, which only has those powers granted to it in the Constitution, a state government has inherent powers allowing it to act unless limited by a provision of

3024-567: The 21st century, along with becoming overtly partisan , American politics has become overly focused on national issues and "nationalized" that even local offices, formerly dealing with local matters, now often mention the presidential election. "Third" political parties have appeared from time to time in American history but seldom lasted more than a decade. They have sometimes been the vehicle of an individual ( Theodore Roosevelt 's "Bull Moose" party , Ross Perot 's Reform Party ); had considerable strength in particular regions ( Socialist Party ,

3108-414: The 50 individual state governments has the power to make laws within its jurisdiction that are not granted to the federal government nor denied to the states in the U.S. Constitution. Each state also has a constitution following the pattern of the federal constitution but differing in details. Each has three branches: an executive branch headed by a governor , a legislative body, and a judicial branch. At

3192-445: The Census Bureau excludes New England towns from their statistics for this category, and the count of municipal governments excludes places that are governmentally inactive. About 28 percent of Americans live in cities of 100,000 or more population. Types of city governments vary widely across the nation. Almost all have a central council, elected by the voters, and an executive officer, assisted by various department heads, to manage

3276-666: The Legal Training and Research Institute located in Wako . Once appointed, assistant judges still may not qualify to sit alone until they have served for five years, and have been appointed by the Supreme Court of Japan . Judges require ten years of experience in practical affairs, as a public prosecutor or practicing attorney. In the Japanese judicial branch there is the Supreme Court, eight high courts, fifty district courts, fifty family courts, and 438 summary courts. Justices of

3360-553: The Pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church. The last form was also called secular law, or Roman law. It was mainly based on the Corpus Iuris Civilis , which had been rediscovered in 1070. Roman law was mainly used for "worldly" affairs, while canon law was used for questions related to the church. The period starting in the 11th century with the discovery of the Corpus Iuris Civilis is also called

3444-403: The Supreme Court. State courts , which try 98% of litigation , may have different names and organization; trial courts may be called "courts of common plea", appellate courts "superior courts" or "commonwealth courts". The judicial system, whether state or federal, begins with a court of first instance, is appealed to an appellate court, and then ends at the court of last resort. In France ,

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3528-715: The Supreme Court: United States bankruptcy courts , United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit , United States Court of International Trade , United States courts of appeals , and United States district courts . Immigration courts are not part of the judicial branch; immigration judges are employees of the Executive Office for Immigration Review , part of the United States Department of Justice in

3612-616: The United States is made up of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party . These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856. From time to time, a third party , such as the Green and Libertarian Parties , has achieved some minor representation at the national and state levels. Since the Great Depression and

3696-606: The United States. In particular, towns in New England have considerably more power than most townships elsewhere and often function as legally equivalent to cities, typically exercising the full range of powers that are divided between counties, townships, and cities in other states. Township functions are generally overseen by a governing board, whose name also varies from state to state. Municipal governments are organized local governments authorized in state constitutions and statutes, established to provide general government for

3780-455: The benefit of a party's presidential nominee , and a list of people who might be nominated by an executive office holder to a judicial or lower executive office. In the latter instance, the short list may be compiled by the party election committee, after conducting research and undergoing a process of elimination, selecting individuals judged fit and capable of successfully completing any processes needed for acceptance. It may also be used for

3864-440: The body of constitutional law. This is a more general overview of the development of the judiciary and judicial systems over the course of history. The most important part was Ius Civile (Latin for "civil law"). This consisted of Mos Maiorum (Latin for "way of the ancestors") and Leges (Latin for "laws"). Mos Maiorum was a set of rules of conduct based on social norms created over the years by predecessors. In 451–449 BC,

3948-473: The case. Parties in the case could be assisted by jurists. Then the second phase would start, the Apud Iudicem . The case would be put before the judges, which were normal Roman citizens in an uneven number. No experience was required as the applicable rules were already selected. They would merely have to judge the case. The most important change in this period was the shift from priest to praetor as

4032-414: The city budget and supervises most of the departments. Usually, there is no set term; the manager serves as long as the council is satisfied with their work. Some states contain unincorporated areas , which are areas of land not governed by any local authorities below that at the county level. Residents of unincorporated areas only need to pay taxes to the county, state and federal governments as opposed to

4116-465: The city's affairs. Cities in the West and South usually have nonpartisan local politics. There are three general types of municipal government: the mayor-council , the commission, and the council-manager . These are the pure forms; many cities have developed a combination of two or three of them. This is the oldest form of city government in the United States and, until the beginning of the 20th century,

4200-461: The city), and often is responsible for preparing the city's budget. The council passes city ordinances, sets the tax rate on property, and apportions money among the various city departments. As cities have grown, council seats have usually come to represent more than a single neighborhood. This combines both the legislative and executive functions in one group of officials, usually three or more in number, elected city-wide. Each commissioner supervises

4284-425: The county; in the larger ones, supervisors represent separate districts or townships. The board collects taxes for state and local governments; borrows and appropriates money; fixes the salaries of county employees; supervises elections; builds and maintains highways and bridges; and administers national, state, and county welfare programs. In very small counties, the executive and legislative power may lie entirely with

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4368-429: The current U.S. presidential and vice-presidential nomination regime, the presidential nominee's selection of running mate is authoritative, and will almost never be rejected by party convention delegates . As a prospective vice presidential nominee is placed onto the short list they are typically subject to thorough vetting . The scrutiny involved in the vetting process usually increases as any given person whose name

4452-450: The district's charter or other founding document, and with sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments; known by a variety of titles, including districts, authorities, boards, commissions, etc., as specified in the enabling state legislation . The United States possesses a number of unincorporated territories , including 16 island territories across the globe. These are areas of land which are not under

4536-644: The early presidential primary and caucus contests, but who are judged as non-threatening by the presidential nominee (for example, John Kerry 's selection of John Edwards in 2004.) There are several individuals who are perennially listed as being on the short list, such as Evan Bayh and Bill Richardson for the Democrats, and Orrin Hatch for the Republicans. Although such public disclosure may be considered an honor or mark of distinction, it can also harm

4620-453: The edicts collected in one edict by Hadrian . Also, a new judicial process came up: cognitio extraordinaria (Latin for "extraordinary process"). This came into being due to the largess of the empire. This process only had one phase, where the case was presented to a professional judge who was a representative of the emperor. Appeal was possible to the immediate superior. During this time period, legal experts started to come up. They studied

4704-623: The fact that an organic act was not passed in Congress, American Samoa established its own constitution in 1967, and has self governed ever since. Seeking statehood or independence is often debated in US territories, such as in Puerto Rico, but even if referendums on these issues are held, congressional approval is needed for changes in status to take place. The citizenship status of residents in US unincorporated territories has caused concern for their ability to influence and participate in

4788-656: The final authority on the interpretation of the law is the Council of State for administrative cases, and the Court of Cassation for civil and criminal cases. In the People's Republic of China , the final authority on the interpretation of the law is the National People's Congress . Other countries such as Argentina have mixed systems that include lower courts, appeals courts, a cassation court (for criminal law) and

4872-511: The head of the judicial system. The praetor would also make an edict in which he would declare new laws or principles for the year he was elected. This edict is also known as praetorian law. The Principate is the first part of the Roman Empire, which started with the reign of Augustus . This time period is also known as the "classical era of Roman Law" In this era, the praetor's edict was now known as edictum perpetuum .which were all

4956-454: The judicial branch has the power to change laws through the process of judicial review . Courts with judicial review power may annul the laws and rules of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher norm, such as primary legislation , the provisions of the constitution , treaties or international law . Judges constitute a critical force for interpretation and implementation of a constitution, thus in common law countries creating

5040-469: The jurisdiction of any state, and do not have a government established by Congress through an organic act . Citizens of these territories can vote for members of their own local governments, and some can also elect representatives to serve in Congress—though they only have observer status. The unincorporated territories of the U.S. include the permanently inhabited territories of American Samoa , Guam ,

5124-467: The law and were advisors to the emperor. They also were allowed to give legal advice on behalf of the emperor. This era is also known as the "post-classical era of Roman law". The most important legal event during this era was the Codification by Justinianus: the Corpus Iuris Civilis . This contained all Roman Law. It was both a collection of the work of the legal experts and commentary on it, and

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5208-523: The local level, governments are found in counties or county-equivalents , and beneath them individual municipalities , townships , school districts , and special districts . Officials are popularly elected at the federal, state and local levels, with the major exception being the President, who is instead elected indirectly by the people through the Electoral College . American politics

5292-434: The mechanism for the resolution of disputes. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers , the judiciary generally does not make statutory law (which is the responsibility of the legislature ) or enforce law (which is the responsibility of the executive ), but rather interprets, defends, and applies the law to the facts of each case. However, in some countries the judiciary does make common law . In many jurisdictions

5376-736: The municipal government as well. A notable example of this is Paradise, Nevada , an unincorporated area where many of the casinos commonly associated with Las Vegas are situated. In addition to general-purpose government entities legislating at the state, county, and city level, special-purpose areas may exist as well, provide one or more specific services that are not being supplied by other existing governments. School districts are organized local entities providing public elementary and secondary education which, under state law, have sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments. Special districts are authorized by state law to provide designated functions as established in

5460-443: The municipality and the county have been merged into a unified, coterminous jurisdiction —that is to say, these counties consist in their entirety of a single municipality whose city government also operates as the county government. Some counties, such as Arlington County, Virginia , do not have any additional subdivisions. Some states contain independent cities that are not part of any county; although it may still function as if it

5544-408: The national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments. The federal government is divided into three branches, as per the specific terms articulated in the U.S. Constitution: The federal government's layout is explained in the Constitution. Two political parties , the Democratic Party and the Republican Party , have dominated American politics since

5628-681: The needs of the people, providing everything from police and fire protection to sanitary codes, health regulations, education, public transportation, and housing. Typically local elections are nonpartisan — local activists suspend their party affiliations when campaigning and governing. The county is the administrative subdivision of the state, authorized by state constitutions and statutes. The county equivalents in Louisiana are called parishes , while those in Alaska are called boroughs . The specific governmental powers of counties vary widely between

5712-533: The old Roman law. Canon law knows a few forms of laws: the canones , decisions made by Councils, and the decreta , decisions made by the Popes. The monk Gratian, one of the well-known decretists , started to organise all of the church law, which is now known as the Decretum Gratiani , or simply as Decretum . It forms the first part of the collection of six legal texts, which together became known as

5796-529: The politics of the United States. In recent decades, the Supreme Court has established voting as a fundamental right of US citizens, even though residents of territories do not hold full voting rights. Despite this, residents must still abide by federal laws that they cannot equitably influence, as well as register for the national Selective Service System , which has led some scholars to argue that residents of territories are essentially second-class citizens. The legal justifications for these discrepancies stem from

5880-590: The president is elected indirectly, by an Electoral College whose electors represent their state and are elected by popular vote. (Before the Seventeenth Amendment was passed, Senators were also elected indirectly, by state legislatures.) These presidential electors were originally expected to exercise their own judgement. In modern practice, though, the electors are chosen by their party and pledged to vote for that party's presidential candidate (in rare occurrences they may violate their pledge, becoming

5964-425: The presidential nominations of federal and Supreme Court justices. In the former instance, its main use refers to the context of presidential nominees, as they make their choice for the vice presidential nominee. The list is typically compiled by the presidential nominee's advisers, with an eye to the characteristics of each vice presidential nominee that might boost the combined presidential ticket to victory. Under

6048-550: The right to choose any political figure outside their respective areas and can only elect a non-voting delegate to serve in the House of Representatives . All states and the District of Columbia contribute to the electoral vote for president. Successful participation, especially in federal elections, often requires large amounts of money, especially for television advertising. This money can be very difficult to raise by appeals to

6132-451: The rights of the people and a plan for organizing the government, and are generally more detailed. At the state and local level, the process of initiatives and referendums allow citizens to place new legislation on a popular ballot, or to place legislation that has recently been passed by a legislature on a ballot for a popular vote. Initiatives and referendums, along with recall elections and popular primary elections, are signature reforms of

6216-405: The running of state and local elections. Who has the right to vote in the United States is regulated by the Constitution and federal and state laws. Suffrage is nearly universal for citizens 18 years of age and older. Voting rights are sometimes restricted as a result of felony conviction , depending on the state. The District, and other U.S. holdings like Puerto Rico and Guam , do not have

6300-413: The state or national constitution. Like the federal government, state governments have three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The chief executive of a state is its popularly elected governor , who typically holds office for a four-year term (although in some states the term is two years). Except for Nebraska , which has unicameral legislature, all states have a bicameral legislature, with

6384-457: The state) does not operate under a county-level government at all. In areas that do not have any county governmental function and are simply a division of land, services are provided either by lower level townships or municipalities, or the state. Counties may contain a number of cities , towns, villages, or hamlets . Some cities—including Philadelphia , Honolulu , San Francisco , Nashville , and Denver —are consolidated city-counties , where

6468-532: The states. In some states, mainly in New England , they are primarily used as judicial districts. In other states, counties have broad powers in housing, education, transportation and recreation. County government has been eliminated throughout Connecticut , Rhode Island , and in parts of Massachusetts ; while the Unorganized Borough area of Alaska (which makes up about a half of the area of

6552-465: The term town does not have any specific meaning; it is simply an informal term applied to populated places (both incorporated and unincorporated municipalities). Moreover, in some states, the term town is equivalent to how civil townships are used in other states. Like counties, the specific responsibilities to townships vary based on each state. Many states grant townships some governmental powers, making them civil townships , either independently or as

6636-461: The upper house usually called the Senate and the lower house called the House of Representatives , the Assembly or something similar. In most states, senators serve four-year terms, and members of the lower house serve two-year terms. The constitutions of the various states differ in some details but generally follow a pattern similar to that of the federal Constitution, including a statement of

6720-453: The work of one or more city departments. Commissioners also set policies and rules by which the city is operated. One is named chairperson of the body and is often called the mayor, although their power is equivalent to that of the other commissioners. The city manager is a response to the increasing complexity of urban problems that need management ability not often possessed by elected public officials. The answer has been to entrust most of

6804-477: Was a consolidated city-county, an independent city was legally separated from any county. Some municipalities are in multiple counties ; New York City is uniquely partitioned into five boroughs that are each coterminous with a county. In most U.S. counties, one town or city is designated as the county seat , and this is where the county government offices are located and where the board of commissioners or supervisors meets. In small counties, boards are chosen by

6888-606: Was later overturned by the Napoleonic Code . In common law jurisdictions, courts interpret law; this includes constitutions, statutes, and regulations. They also make law (but in a limited sense, limited to the facts of particular cases) based upon prior case law in areas where the legislature has not made law. For instance, the tort of negligence is not derived from statute law in most common law jurisdictions. The term common law refers to this kind of law. Common law decisions set precedent for all courts to follow. This

6972-489: Was possible. The process would be partially inquisitorial , where the judge would actively investigate all the evidence before him, but also partially adversarial , where both parties are responsible for finding the evidence to convince the judge. After the French Revolution , lawmakers stopped interpretation of law by judges, and the legislature was the only body permitted to interpret the law; this prohibition

7056-425: Was used by nearly all American cities. Its structure is like that of the state and national governments, with an elected mayor as chief of the executive branch and an elected council that represents the various neighborhoods forming the legislative branch. The mayor appoints heads of city departments and other officials (sometimes with the approval of the council ), has the power to veto over ordinances (the laws of

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