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Evolution and Change <br />Characterize Council-Manager <br /> Government <br /> <br />William H. Hansell, Jr. <br />ICMA Executive Director <br /> <br />Tt c 20th century could well be called the century of local government in American democracy. <br />The/~mer-ican system of governance is based on a federal system, which divides the powers of <br />s~vercigm governance between, on the one hand, a central or national government and, on the other, <br />50 state entities. The powers of the national government are limited to those'specifically delineated <br />in the United States Constitution. All. other powers are reserved for the people or ~ven to each of <br />tim 50 states. <br /> <br /> This preference for decentralized go~,ernment has been advanced by the 50 states as they <br />empower their local governments, resulting in the strongest and most decentralized local <br />g~vernments in history. Throughout the 50 states, 'for example, there are 27' large consolidated <br />c/ties/counties, 3,043 independent counties, 19,279 municipalities, 16,656 towns and townships (in <br />20 o F the states), 14,422 independent school districts educating American children, and 31,555 <br />special distr/cts. <br /> <br /> This is a significant amount of local government for 275 million people. But as the French <br />observer Alexis de Tocqueville said in the early ~ 830s, "Local institutions are to liberty what <br />primary schools are to science: they put it within the people's reach; they teach people to appreciate <br />its pcztcet'ul enjoyme~nt and accustom them to make use of it. Without local institutions, a nation <br />m',ty give itself a free government, but it has not got the spirit of liberty." <br /> <br />-43- <br /> <br /> <br />