The Census Bureau's Role in Research on Special Districts: A Critique

1990 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 367 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Leigland
Keyword(s):  
Special Districts

Rationale for Special Districts

1967 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-126
Author(s):  
Joseph Cepuran
Keyword(s):  
Special Districts

The Continuing Problem of Special Districts in American Government

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larita Killian
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Census Bureau ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Special Districts ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Policy Alignment ◽  
Definition Of

ABSTRACT Due to fiscal constraints and demands for increased accountability, scholars and public officials are reviewing the structure and reporting practices of local governments. These efforts are often incomplete, however, because they bypass special districts, which now comprise over 40 percent of all local governments. The proliferation of special districts has the potential to increase government costs, redirect the allocation of scarce resources, remove debt and expenditure practices from the public eye, and reduce democratic controls over elected officials. This paper highlights some of the public interest concerns related to these entities to inform future, localized research. For decades, scholars have approached special districts from two opposing theoretical perspectives: institutional reform and public choice. Literature from these opposing perspectives is used to analyze special districts along three dimensions: efficiency and economy of operations, policy alignment and allocation of resources, and democratic accountability. This paper uses the U.S. Census Bureau definition of special districts, though alternative definitions are discussed. Efforts by four states (Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and New York) to improve local government, and their varying approaches to special districts, are reviewed, leading to the conclusion that the complex issues related to special districts must be resolved within state contexts.

Political entrepreneurship and the formation of special districts

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Fink ◽  
Richard E. Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Special Districts ◽  
Political Entrepreneurship

For Your Information

1988 ◽  
Vol 10 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 32-33 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Data Base ◽  
School Boards ◽  
Computer Network ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Campaign Contributions ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Special Districts ◽  
Daily Data ◽  
State Capital ◽  
California School Boards Association

State Net, a new computer network scheduled to go online October 1, 1988, will list the current status of every bill, regulation, and law in all fifty states and Congress, including committee analyses and voting records. The data base will also list all disclosed campaign contributions for legislators in all states. Organized by Information for Public Affairs in Sacramento and funded by the County Supervisors Association of California, the League of California Cities, the California Special Districts Association, and the California School Boards Association, the system will be accessed through Telenet. Three shifts of staff will update information around the clock, based on daily data received by courier from each state capital.

Eine “fünfte Freiheit” für Europa: Stärkung des politischen Wettbewerbs durch “FOCJ”

1996 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reiner Eichenberger
Keyword(s):  
Political Competition ◽  
Political Economics ◽  
European History ◽  
Overlapping Communities ◽  
European Constitution ◽  
Special Districts ◽  
Open Markets ◽  
The Eu

AbstractCompetition and open markets are the battle-songs of the EU. While they gave birth to the four economic freedoms, political competition has been neglected. Thus, a future European constitution should strengthen political competition by guaranteeing a fifth freedom: Citizens and communities are allowed to found Functional, Over-lapping and Competing Jurisdictions. These FOCJ build on Modern Political Economics. However, similar institutions have existed in European history, and are successful today in the form of U.S. special districts and Swiss functional, democratic and overlapping communities. FOCJ prove to be welfare-increasing, and the counter-arguments not to be valid.

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