States & Local

The only U.S. territory whose people are U.S. nationals rather than citizens at birth, a South Pacific territory that preserves traditional Samoan land and chiefly systems

Forms of direct democracy that let voters propose and approve state laws and constitutional amendments, available in about half the states

The form of local government in which an elected council sets policy and hires a professional manager to run day-to-day operations

The roughly 3,000 county governments that administer state functions locally, from courts, jails, and elections to roads, health, and property records

The federal capital district, governed by its own elected officials under the ultimate authority of Congress, with no voting representation in Congress

The legal obligation of the United States to protect tribal lands, resources, and self-government, rooted in treaties and in its role as trustee of tribal assets

How the national, state, and local governments work together and clash in practice, through grants, mandates, preemption, joint programs, and lawsuits

The elected chief executives of the fifty states, who propose budgets, sign or veto laws, command the National Guard, and lead in emergencies

An organized U.S. territory in the western Pacific, home to about 170,000 American citizens and major U.S. military bases

How states fill the governor's office after a death, resignation, or removal, and who acts as governor when the governor is absent or disabled

A series of Supreme Court decisions beginning in 1901 that created the doctrine of unincorporated territories, where the Constitution applies only in part

The state officials first in line to succeed the governor in most states, whose duties range from presiding over the state senate to almost nothing

The elected leaders of American cities, and the strong-mayor and weak-mayor systems that divide power between them

The roughly 19,000 incorporated cities, towns, and villages that provide policing, water, zoning, and other services where most Americans live

The state-based reserve military forces that answer to governors in peacetime but can be called into federal service by the President

A Pacific commonwealth of about 47,000 people that chose union with the United States by covenant in 1975, after decades as a UN trust territory

How counties, cities, school districts, and special districts pay for services, through property taxes, fees, state aid, and municipal bonds

The largest U.S. territory, a self-governing commonwealth of about 3.2 million American citizens without voting representation in Congress or electoral votes

Elections that let voters remove state or local officials before their terms end, available for state officials in about 19 states

The roughly 13,000 local school districts and elected boards that run public education, funded mainly by local property taxes and state aid

State officials who in most states run elections, register businesses, and keep official records, a role that drew national attention after 2020

The roughly 18,000 local law enforcement agencies, from elected county sheriffs to city police departments, that carry out most American policing

The nearly 40,000 single-purpose local governments that provide water, fire protection, transit, hospitals, and other services, the most numerous type of local government

The departments, boards, and commissions that carry out state law, from transportation and health to universities and utility regulators

The chief legal officers of the states, who defend state laws, protect consumers, and increasingly sue the federal government and major industries together

How states raise and spend money, from balanced budget rules and sales and income taxes to Medicaid and schools, the largest items in state spending

The fundamental laws of the fifty states, generally longer, more detailed, and far more often amended than the U.S. Constitution, and an independent source of rights

The fifty state judiciaries, which handle the vast majority of American court cases and choose judges by election, appointment, or merit selection

How the fifty state governments are organized, what they do, and how they relate to the federal government

The lawmaking bodies of the fifty states, with 99 chambers and more than 7,000 members, ranging from full-time professional bodies to citizen legislatures

The roughly 16,000 town and township governments of the Northeast and Midwest, from New England town meetings to rural road districts

The governments of the 574 federally recognized tribes, sovereign nations that make and enforce their own laws and maintain a government-to-government relationship with the United States

The five inhabited territories and several uninhabited islands under U.S. sovereignty, home to about 3.6 million people with limited representation in Washington

A Caribbean territory of about 87,000 American citizens, purchased from Denmark in 1917, with its own elected governor and legislature