Local Government Constitutions: A Different View of Metropolitan Governance

Abstract

Metropolitan governance in most metropolitan areas of the United States can best be understood by reference to the concept of a "local government constitution." A local government constitution is framed by choices made at two levels: 1) an enabling level composed of state constitutional and statutory provisions that local citizens and public officials may use to create and modify local governments, and 2) a chartering level that determines the specific charter of a local government through citizen action. The rules of a local government constitution include those of association, boundary adjustment, fiscal rules, and rules governing interjurisdictional arrangements. Citizens and their officials can and do use these constitutional rules to construct over time complex local public economies that tend to exhibit strong patterns of citizen governance. Recognition of these phenomena yields a different view of local governments from that of "creatures of the state," as articulated by Judge John Dillon in his 1868 decisions.