Introduction
Local and state government share, or at least should share, a common goal of serving the citizens who chose them to represent and protect their interests at a strategically higher level. According to Bowman and Kearney (2016), “The story of state and local governments over the past two decades has been one of transformation. They have shed their backward ways, reformed their institutions and emerged as capable and proactive” (p. 23). The message the authors send by this quotation is that of a positive nature. The relationships between two levels of authority are multifaceted, and the extent of that relationship needs to be studied in further detail. The topic is rather relevant to the course topic due to the fact that many decisions depend on the proper collaboration of the two levels of authority. Given that, in this paper, the statement will be analysed, discussed and applied to Atlanta’s realities including NPOs.
Analysis
Local and state governments exist interdependently. In the country as big as the United States which uses a federative-democratic model of governance and decision-making, the division for local, state, and federal branches is only natural. Each state has at least one representative on a federal level in the face of two senators and from one to several representatives in the lower chamber of the legislative branch. At a state level, each state has its governor who is tasked with legislation, and execution. At the local level, the government is authorized to a limited functionality such as law enforcement, penitentiary management, building codes, et cetera. It appears that no conflicts should arise, as the states’ interests are already being represented and defended at the federal level and the state represents the interests of counties. Yet, Bowman and Kearney (2014) specifically mention the timeframe of the past two decades, which means that before that, there were certain clashes of ideas between the two levels of authority.
One of the reasons for disagreements is the bipartisan system adopted in the U.S. The two parties often have different or opposing views on certain bills and try to veto or overrule them. State bills can be overruled by federal ones, and local bills – by state ones. This situation creates a battlefield of ideas. For instance, Republican majority in 2017 overruled the decision of local Democrats to increase the minimum wage in Missouri (Jamieson, 2017). In Atlanta, GA, a democratic city, and state, there were almost no such evident clashes. Local NGOs tend to be working closely with federal and state funding agencies in order to initiate afterschool programs across Georgia (“Funding opportunities,” n.d.).
In contrast to Bowman and Kearney’s opinion, in Atlanta Journal-Constitution, local journalist Sophie Quinton argues that with Republican government at a federal and state level the number of clashes between cities and states should be expected (Quinton, 2017). In Georgia, the state government is presently democratic, as well as the local one. A few years ago, however, the conservative Republican governor and Democratic mayor had their differences on certain matters. In 2014, a political and ideological miscommunication happened between the former mayor of Atlanta and the former governor of Georgia. According to Bohn (2014), the governor Nathan Deal (Republican) disagreed with the federal policy of sending immigrant children to Georgia. Meanwhile, Kasim Reed (Democrat), the mayor of Atlanta, stated that all immigrant kids were welcome in Atlanta, and it was only right and moral to accept them. Therefore, the clashes Quinton anticipates have real evidence of happening in the past. Republican and Democratic parties have a rather long history of disagreements with effects projected on each locality.
Nonetheless, having state-local debates is essentially a positive tradition. In a bipartisan system, there will always be more than one opinion on important issues, which decreases the chance of a decision biasness. It is vital to see issues from different perspectives, and such system gives citizens more freedom to choose and support the decision regardless of their political affiliation. It may as well be for the benefit of people that local and state government sometimes voice two different opinions.
Bowman and Kearney (2016) argue that in recent years, local and state governments started to work together and agree with each other more. Yet, evidence suggests that mayors and governors in the last two decades were not always supportive of each other on vital political matters. Probably what the authors meant is that local and state authorities started to pay more attention to their primary obligations such as making the lives of their citizens more comfortable. According to Kotkin (2013), Atlanta scored 6th among the cities with the highest number of IT jobs, showing considerable growth of employment opportunities in this sphere over the years. Such state of affairs may indicate that both mayor and governor work together to support such a trend.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that state and local authorities may have different opinions over political matters, Bowman and Kearney (2016) are right that in recent decades local and state governments work hard to ensure their states and counties are fed, clothed, and occupied. Atlanta, GA evidences the trend for a transformative relationship that the researchers were talking about with employment statistics. It seems to mean that no matter the party affiliation, both mayor and governor seem to want the best for their home.
References
Bohn, K. (2014). Conflicting messages in Georgia on migrant children. CNN Politics. Web.
Bowman, A. O. M., & Kearney, R. C. (2016). State and local government (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Publishing.
Funding opportunities. (n.d.). Web.
Jamieson, D. (2017). Missouri Republicans lower St. Louis minimum wage from $10 to $7.70. Huffington Post. Web.
Kotkin, J. (2013). The cities winning the battle for information jobs.Forbes. Web.
Quinton, S. (2017). Expect more conflict between cities and states. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Web.