From the Editors
RAPID POLITICAL, social and technological change has been the hallmark of the early 21st century. From the war on terrorism to the advent of "e-government," it has become clear that we live in an increasingly complex world. As social institutions struggle to absorb these changes, government at all levels is faced with adapting to new circumstances. Nowhere is this more clearly recognized than at state and local levels of government in the United States.
The U.S. Constitution assigns a number of powers to Congress. Among them are the authority to collect taxes, borrow money on the credit of the United States, regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the states, establish rules of naturalization, coin money, establish a post office, constitute tribunals or federal courts, raise armies, and "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution."
But nowhere in the Constitution does it ban the right of the individual states to write their own constitutions, form their own judiciaries, or legislate their own sets of laws. Left to the states, this freedom has produced wide and varied interpretations of what the states can do, not only in the laws passed by their legislatures, but also in the support of individual rights and liberties upheld by state judicial bodies. Carry this freedom one step further to the local level and one can see how governing councils in the smallest towns or mayors in the largest cities believe it is their "constitutional right" to govern their municipalities in the best way they see fit to benefit the people whom they serve.
Although federal government policies directly affect all citizens of the United States, state and local government policies establish a more direct, intimate relationship with their constituents and consequently often have a greater impact on people's daily lives. Everything from administration of public schools to garbage collection to parking regulations comes from this special relationship that state and local governments have with their citizens.
This journal examines the vital role played by U.S. state and local governments, and it presents several case studies of how both governments and the people they represent are responding to the challenges they now face. The first two articles focus on the relationship between state efforts at political, social, and technical modernization and the constituencies that are affected by these changes. Ellis Katz, professor emeritus at Temple University, provides an in-depth look at the methods that states have used to modernize, adapt to changes and forge policy on behalf of their local constituencies. Sharon Crouch Steidel, who is director of information technology for the Virginia State House of Delegates, offers a concrete example of this modernization in her article about e-government and its positive effect on the states and their citizens.
In addition to the social and technological changes that state and local governments must address, they have a crucial new role in protecting citizens in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as explained by Donald L. Plusquellic, the mayor of Akron, Ohio. Mayor Plusquellic describes the way cities, with help from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, are developing teams of first responders and educating citizens to cope with possible attacks.
Finally, recognizing the importance of partnership in addressing the problems of the 21st century, staff writers Deborah M.S. Brown and Eric Green have interviewed two civic leaders who are building partnerships domestically and internationally. Brown speaks with Dennis Taylor, a director of the International City/County Management Association, about examples of partnerships between American and international cities that address problems of mutual interest. Green explores the partnership between federal, state and local enforcement agencies in combating cyber crime in his interview with Utah State Attorney General Mark L. Shurtleff.
For more insight into how state and local governments and their constituencies are responding to the challenges of the 21st century, the journal provides bibliographic references for further reading and a list of useful electronic links.