Hey there, my name is Kaeleigh, and today we're going to talk about the role
and function of local government.
If you live in the United States, you live in one of the 50 states.
Each of the 50 states has its own government. But what is a government?
A government is a group of people that have the power to rule over a community. Today
we're going to learn about the governments in towns and states. Let's start with states.
Each state has three different parts of their government. The top part of the government is
called the Executive Branch. The leader of the Executive Branch is one person called a governor.
A governor is like a manager and assists with making state policies, how tax money
will be spent, appoints state judges, and is commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard.
Governors are chosen by the citizens of the state in a vote.
The next branch of government for states is called the Legislative Branch.
The Legislative Branch is made up of many people, and they make up the laws and taxes for the state.
The third branch of government in the state is called the Judicial Branch. The Judicial Branch
is made up of judges. When someone commits a crime or is accused of committing a crime, the case goes
to court to decide what the punishment will be, like going to jail or having to pay money. Judges
will hear both sides of the story and then make a final decision on what should happen. Sometimes
judges decide the person didn't do anything wrong, and then the person is free to go home.
Let's review the three branches of government of states. It starts with the Executive Branch
and the governor, who leads the government in making decisions about state policies,
how tax money is spent, and acts as commander-in-chief of the National Guard.
Then the Legislative Branch, where the laws are written and voted on,
and then the Judicial Branch, where judges decide punishments for citizens who break the law.
Just like states have governments, towns and cities have governments too. The leader of towns
and cities is called a mayor. Mayors are voted in by the citizens of the town. Mayors don't have as
much power as governors. They're like a club president and help lead meetings and votes for
the city or town council. City or town council members are like the members of a club, and
they have to be voted in by the citizens of the town. City council is very important for towns.
They decide on local laws, oversee the police officers and firefighters in schools, create
schedules for garbage pickup, and how often roads are cleared from snow. But they're also in charge
of how local tax money is spent and take care of parks, trails, and roads in your neighborhood.
Towns and cities have city council meetings.
At these meetings, any citizen of the city or town can attend and speak at the meeting. For example,
if the park in your community had a broken swing, you could go to a city council meeting and ask
for your local government to fix the swing so all the kids can have a safe playground.
Great job learning about the local governments for states and towns. Practice what you've
learned by doing the online games and quizzes. Have fun, and remember to always be clever.