10.1: The Relationship Between Local, State, and National Government

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When the writers of the Texas Constitution met in 1875, local government was certainly important. County or counties were mentioned almost 200 times and cities were mentioned a little less than 100 times. Article 9 deals with counties and Article 11 deals with Municipal Corporations. However, it is interesting to note that Section 1 of Article 11 begins “The several counties of this State are hereby recognized as legal subdivisions of the State.”3 Local government is the place where most Texans will experience interaction with any type of government. Decisions made by local government are the ones that most affect people of Texas on a daily basis—from driving on city streets to attending public schools. Interstate 35 (Figure 10.2), which runs north and south from the Red River in the north to Laredo in the south, is the most congested roadway in Texas. There will always be a construction project on this stretch of highway and it takes cooperation between the Texas Department of Transportation and city and county officials to handle the traffic congestion during construction.

截屏2021-09-24 下午10.00.40.png — Figure 10.2 Construction on I-35 is constantly taking place.

Local government affects more people and gives ordinary citizens the opportunity to participate. Most people will never visit Congress or even the Texas legislature, but they very possibly will attend a city council meeting or a school board meeting. Local government offers the opportunity to make more contact with the elected representatives and most of the contact will be positive.

Finally, like other states, Texas adheres to Dillon’s Rule—a legal principle that local governments have only those powers granted by their state government. John Forrest Dillon was an American jurist who authored Treatise on the Law of Municipal Corporations in 1872. The rule narrowly defines the power of city and local government to having only those powers that are expressly granted to them by the state, those that are implied from that grant of power, and those that are essential to the city’s existence and function.

3. Note 1, Texas Const. art. XI, § 1.