American local government governs Gao Xinjun 2007-07- 10 0 1:47
Because local governments manage public finances, use public power, spend taxpayers' money and take care of public interests, the organization and personnel arrangements of local governments in the United States do not completely copy the corporate governance structure centered on profits, but have their own characteristics. During the inspection, I feel that the biggest difference between the organizational structure and corporate governance structure of local governments in the United States is that not only the governors, mayors and board members of local governments must be directly elected by voters, but also the leaders of important government departments, such as finance departments and land management departments, must be directly elected by voters and be directly responsible to voters, rather than appointed by governors, mayors and board members. As local governments operate public finance, they at least include: members of the education committee, members of the library board (some local governments), judges, auditors, property tax base assessors, lawyers, police chiefs, finance directors, etc. Many municipal government advisers and members of advisory bodies are also elected by voters.
In Most, Massachusetts, I learned that because the town government manages public property, the leaders of some government management departments are directly elected by voters, such as the Housing Authority, the Reconstruction Committee and the Education Committee. The leadership of the Finance Committee is directly appointed by the town representative meeting elected by voters. This is the first floor. The second level is the leaders of various institutions directly appointed by the Council, such as the Human Resources Committee, the Housing Cooperation Department, the Government Business Relations Committee, the Voter Registration Department, the Land Planning Approval Council, the Design Review Council, the Children's Service Advisory Committee, and the Ministry of Personnel. Some of these institutions only have the role of consultants, while others have the right to make rules. These departments play an important role in local governments, and are also the places where corruption and other problems are most likely to occur. On the one hand, these departments should be responsible to voters, city councils or town representative meetings, and at the same time, they should coordinate their relations with town managers. The third floor is the departments and institutions appointed by the town manager, including: Property Appraisal Committee, Nature Conservation Committee, Historical Relics Committee, Planning Committee, Public Transport Committee, Medical and Health Committee, Solid Waste Disposal Committee, Elderly Committee and Disabled Committee. According to my investigation, this practice of local governments in the United States is very common and similar, and its content is nothing more than a reflection of Americans' long-standing thinking: that is, power cannot be too concentrated, and excessive concentration of power can only produce corruption and bureaucracy and erode the basic rights of voters. Therefore, as long as there is the possibility of centralization of power, they should prevent it in the system design, even if this design will cause various administrative inconveniences.