TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND DISCUSSION 1. Give examples of what you know the President has done recently; the Governor of your state; the Mayor of your city. 2. Write what you think ought to be the qualifications of the President; of the Governor of your state; of your Mayor. 3. Give examples of law enforcement in your community. 4. What is the name of the President of the United States? of the Governor of your state? 5. From the tables on pages 335 and 338 answer the following questions as to the Governors of your state and of other states: (a) What is the tenure of office of the Governor of your state? of most of the states? (b) What is the minimum age at which a person is eligible to be governor of your state? (c) How long must the Governor of your state have been a resident of that state previous to his election? (d) Would you change the provisions of your state constitution in any of the above respects? Why? (e) How does the salary of the Governor of your state compare with the salary paid the governors of other states? How does it compare with salaries in other businesses? What change, if any, would you advise as to the salary of your Governor? Why? 6. The following are the usual constitutional qualifications for holding the office of governor: (a) Must be thirty years of age at the time of election. (1) Why each of these qualifications? (2) If you can get a copy of your state constitution, compare these qualifications with those in your own state. 7. Formerly all of the governors were elected for one year. Recently the tendency has been to provide for four-year terms. What length of term would you advise your state to adopt? Why? 8. Find out the main officials in your local community-city, borough, or township-and state their duties. 9. Why are public officers called "public servants"? 10. Someone speaks of one of your leading city officers as a "public-spirited citizen." Just what is meant? 11. Various committees of the class should visit the city courts, the jail, the almshouse, the hospital, the water works, or any other institutions of your city, and report to the class about their visits. SUGGESTED READINGS FOR COMMITTEE REPORTS 1. Appoint committees to report on the powers and duties of the President and his Cabinet. Excellent discussions of this will be found in Magruder's American Government: Chapters VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII; and in Haskin's American Government, Chapters I-XII. 2. Reports should also be made on how our candidates for office are picked. This is well presented in Williamson's Readings in American Democracy and in Magruder's American Government. 3. In Abbott's Impressions of Theodore Roosevelt read Chapter II, Joe Murray's Story, which tells how Roosevelt was picked for his first political office. 4. An intimate view of practical politics may be got from Kent's The Great Game of Politics. Chapter I describes the Precinct Executive and his Precinct, while Chapter II shows why the primaries are so important. ADDITIONAL REFERENCES FOR ADVANCED STUDENTS AND TEACHERS 1. Hayes' American Democracy. 2. Morehouse and Graham's American Problems. 3. Dawson's Organized Self-Government. 4. Hill's The Federal Executive. 5. Bryce's The American Commonwealth. 6. Munro's Government of the United States. 7. Berry and Howe's Actual Democracy. QUALIFICATIONS FOR HOLDING THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR OF THE STATES, AND THE SALARIES PAID THE GOVERNORS QUALIFICATIONS FOR HOLDING THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR OF THE STATES, AND THE SALARIES PAID THE GOVERNORS—Continued CHAPTER XVII THE GOVERNMENT OF THE AMERICAN CITY “After all, the business of city government is the business of community coöperation. It starts with the charter and the book of ordinances. It ends with a game of tag played by children in public parks." -Newton D. Baker We have seen that the family is the simplest form of community. It has its problems, such as the provision of proper food, clothing, and shelter. The family decides where the children shall be educated. It must plan the expenditure of family income for such additional comforts as it can afford-for example, a new car, which is likely to be favored by the children, who see the immediate pleasure it will mean. Many family councils are held on such questions as the place to be chosen for a vacation, the choice of a job for one of the older children, or removal to a new neighborhood. All these are problems of the family community. In a similar way the church, the school, and the neighborhood have their community problems. As the community grows larger, it becomes necessary to solve its larger problems. Thus the town or city must select people who will take care of such matters as the provision and regulation of water, light, and sewers, the collection and disposal of household waste, protection from fire and other dangers-all necessary because many people live in so small an area. The Powers of the Cities. The city is the creature of the state. It gets its right to act as a city from the state. Its powers are those granted to it by the state, and its form of government is usually the form the state legislators think best. Formerly the state legislatures passed a special act prescribing the form of government and the powers of each city. This act was called the city's charter. In other words, the city was made a corporation by a special act of the state legislature. This method led to special privileges and abuses. Hence most of our state constitutions now provide that our cities shall be incorporated under general laws passed by the state legislature. These general laws may group the cities of a state into several classes based upon population, often prescribing a different form of government, and usually enumerating a different set of The city government is in the hands of a single commission which is directly responsible to the people. powers for each class. A city, it must be remembered, has only those powers granted to it by the state legislature, or fairly implied therefrom, or those necessary to perform its duties as a corporation. This granting of powers to towns and cities by piecemeal legislation, and this prescribing of the form of city government by legislators many of whom do not live in the city, has led to many evils and abuses. To overcome such abuses, about one-third of our states have granted home rule to their cities and towns. Under home rule each town or city is given power over all local or municipal affairs, and its frame of government is created by a charter convention |