State and Local Government

Catalog description

State and local governments have emerged as more and more important actors in the United States, as federal action has often foundered on the shoals of bitterly divided government. State and local governments have unleashed social change and prodded national action in controversial areas such as gun rights, universal health care, pro- and anti-fracking laws, sanctuary cities policies, paid family leave policies, reproductive rights and restrictions, gay marriage and LGBTQ+ rights, and more. This course will examine the powers of state and local governments as a part of the American polity and federal constitutional order. Topics will include the power and independence of state and local governments in the federal system; state constitutions, their empowerment of local governments, and the individual rights that they confer; local government formation, powers, and voluntary and involuntary dissolution; state attempts to control local government action through preemption; whether state and local governments owe the provision of services to individual citizens, and questions of the equality of those services; and more. The final part of the course will examine the new movement that there is an inherent right to local government under international law.