Civics Education
Local Government in Virginia
Section III. Local Government in Virginia
Guiding Question: How are Virginia’s local governments structured and organized to perform their responsibilities?
Scenario: When thinking about federalism in the United States, we often talk about the “three levels of government” – (1) the federal/ national government, (2) state governments, and (3) local governments. However, the U.S. Constitution only formally establishes the federal government and state governments. Local governments are the products/offspring of individual states, and they play a vital role.
The units of government that deliver the greatest amount of direct services to Virginians are the Commonwealth’s counties, cities, and towns. Public schools, police, courts, libraries, jails, and social services are but a handful of the enormous plethora of activities undertaken by localities. But as they provide these services, they are also required to comply with hundreds of state and federal mandates that may or may not be funded. When they do receive grants from those entities, it is frequently with strings attached. (Morgan & Giesen, Jr., 2012, p. 187)
The nature, structure and powers of local governments in Virginia are defined in Article VII of the Constitution of Virginia. As Smith and Balzer (2011) explain,
The aim of governance is not balanced accounts; revenues and expenditures are means, not ends, for state and local governments. These governments exist to provide public services and programs, respond to citizens’ demands, and address social problems.…The real issue is not simply balancing the books, but trying to figure out how to keep conducting the business of governance on a severely tightened belt.…State and local governments have always been expected to tackle a breath-taking array of enormous policy responsibilities. Education, law enforcement, infrastructure, public transportation…the list goes on and on.…Governments very literally are being asked to do a whole lot more with a whole lot less.…(p. 175-76)
Faced with such growing financial pressures and responsibilities, local governments are required to become more creative in how they go about their day-to-day work.