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Comparative Government
- 18. "EIU Democracy Index 2014 green and red" by Boudagga2014 - Own work based on eiu.com. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EIU_Democracy _Index_2014_green_and_red.png#/media/File:EIU_Dem ocracy_Index_2014_green_and_red.png
- 22. Economic freedom is the key to greater opportunity and an improved quality of life. It’s the freedom to choose how to produce, sell, and use your own resources, while respecting others’ rights to do the same. While a simple concept, economic freedom is an engine that drives prosperity in the world and is the difference between why some societies thrive while others do not.
- 25. The Size of Government component is the average of four variables: government consumption as a percent of total consumption, transfers and subsidies as a percent of GDP, the government's investment activities as a percent of the country's total level of investment, and a measure of taxation
- 29. Local government in Pennsylvania is government below the state level in Pennsylvania. There are five types of local governments listed in the Pennsylvania Constitution; county, township, borough, city, and school district. All of Pennsylvania is included in one of the state's 67 counties and each county is then divided into some of the state's 2,562 municipalities. There are no independent cities or unincorporated territory within Pennsylvania. Local municipalities are either governed by statutes enacted by the Pennsylvania Legislature and administered through the Pennsylvania Code, by a home rule charter, forming a home rule municipality, or by an optional form of government adopted by the municipality with consent of the Legislature. Each municipality, except boroughs, are then classified according to their population. The General Assembly sets the population threshold for each local government unit. There are currently nine classifications for counties, four classes of cities, two classes of townships, and five classes of school districts. Finally, villages and census-designated places are a part of the local community. Although they are not recognized local governments, they often refer to specific areas of township or other municipality and are often more familiar to people than the incorporated municipality. This can cause confusion to people who live outside the area and are not familiar with the local municipal structure.
- 30. Pennsylvania is divided into 67 counties, and all of them are governed by a county council, except Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania and the six home-rule counties Allegheny, Delaware, Erie, Lackawanna, Lehigh, and Northampton. The county council typically serves as both the legislative and executive body. The council of counties smaller than second-class consist of three elected members called commissioners, and by law, two must be of a majority party and the third must be of a minority party, which is determined by which candidates receive the most votes in a commissioners' election, as two candidates from each party run in the general election. One of these members serves as the chair. In addition to the elected commissioners, many of the counties have elected row officers independent of the county council. These offices include sheriff, district attorney, prothonotary, clerk of the courts, registrar of wills, recorder of deeds, and two jury commissioners. Smaller counties may combine the functions of the offices. Counties are further classified by population. Each classification has its own code set up by the General Assembly to administer county functions.
- 31. There are a total of 56 incorporated cities in Pennsylvania, the smallest being Parker, Armstrong County, with a population of 840 (2010 census). Each of these cities is further classified according to population. There is one first class city, Philadelphia, which has more than 1 million residents. There is also only one second class city, with a population between 250,000 and 1 million (Pittsburgh). A city with between 80,000 and 250,000 inhabitants that has also adopted a certain ordinance can be classified as a second class A city; only Scranton has done so. Finally, any city below 250,000 people that has not adopted the second class ordinance is a third class city. First and second class cities have a strong mayor and home rule charters. The mayor has broad power to appoint and remove certain commissioners and department heads. A majority of the city's functions are independent of the state's control. Third class cities can be governed three ways. The third class city codes establishes a commission form of government. Under this form, the mayor and four other members constitute the commission which is the governing body of the city. The mayor is one of the members of council and acts as president. Each council member is in charge of one of the five major departments. The city controller and treasurer are elected independently. A total of 20 cities employ this form.
- 32. . The mayor-council form has a five, seven, or nine-member council, elected at large for overlapping four-year terms. A mayor, treasurer, and a controller also are elected for a four-year period. The mayor is the chief executive of the city and enforces the ordinances of council. The mayor may veto ordinances which can be overridden by a two-thirds majority of council. The mayor supervises the work of all city departments and submits the annual city budget to council. This form was adopted by nine cities by referenda. The last is the council-manager form, in which all authority is lodged with council which is composed of five, seven, or nine members elected at-large for a four-year term. A city treasurer and controller also are elected. A city manager is appointed by council. The manager is the chief administrative officer of the city and is responsible for executing the ordinances of council. The manager appoints and may remove department heads and subordinates. Only four cities use this method of city organization. A total of 16 third class cities have adopted home rule charters. Two cities (DuBois and Altoona) have an optional council-manager plan and one city (Hazleton) has a mayor-council optional plan.
- 33. There are a total of 500 schools districts in Pennsylvania and are administered by the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949. School districts can comprise one single municipality, like the School District of Philadelphia or can comprise multiple municipalities. School districts have the sole responsibility to instruct the school-aged population of the Commonwealth. Michael Nutter since January 7, 2008 Democrat