Political divisions of the United States: Information From Answers.com

Preferences
 
Business   Entertainment   Games   Health   People   Places   Reference   Science   Shopping   Words   More...
On this page:
Wikipedia Mentioned In --------------- Or search:   - The Web   - Images   - News   - Blogs   - Shopping
Political divisions of the United States
Wikipedia
Political divisions of the United States
The political units and divisions of the United States include:
the several states, which units are typically divided intocounties andtownships, and incorporatecities,villages,towns, and other types of municipality, and other autonomous or subordinatepublic authorities and institutions; and the federal state, which unit is the United States as a collective of the several states, and as it exercises exclusive jurisdiction over thefederal district, and thecommonwealths,territories, andpossessions of the United States, as well asIndian Reservations,military installations, and Americanembassies andconsulates located in foreign countries; and such quasi-political divisions asconservationdistricts andschool districts, which are usually just special, geographically designated subordinate public authorities.
Altogether, there are an estimated 85,000 extant political entities in the United States. Political units and divisions of the United States are a subset of the totalUnited States territory.
Political units and system of operation
The primary political unit of theUnited States after the federal state is thestate. Technically and legally, states are not "divisions" but units of the United States, because the United States and the several states that constitute it operate with a uniquely American system of parallel sovereignty. According to numerous decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the several states and the United States (that is, the federal state which is coextensive with the 50 several states and the District of Columbia) are sovereign jurisdictions. The sovereignty of the United States is strictly limited to the terms of the United States Constitution, whereas the sovereignty of each individual state is unlimited, except in two respects: 1. The sovereignty and powers that each state has transferred to the United States via the United States Constitution, and 2. The provisions of its own constitution, which usually (but not always) sets certain parameters for the exercise of the state‘s sovereignty.
Most states decentralise the administration of their sovereign powers, typically in three tiers but always employing at least two tiers and sometimes more than three tiers. The first tier of decentralisation is always the statewide tier, constituted of agencies that operate under direct control of the principal organs of state government - such as bureaus of vital statistics, and departments of motor vehicles or public health. The second tier is always the county (called ‘borough‘ in Alaska; ‘parish‘ in Louisiana), which is an administrative division of the state. It may also be more than that (e.g., a metropolitan municipality), but it always and administrative division of the state. The third tier commonly found in many states, especially the Midwest, is the township, which is an administrative division of a county.
Basically, counties exist to provide general local support of state government activities, such as collection of property tax revenues (counties almost never have their own power to tax), but without providing most of the services one associates with municipalities, because counties are usually too big for that purpose. That is where the township comes in, to provide further localised services to the public in areas that are not part of a municipality.
In some states, such as Michigan, state universities are constitutionally autonomous jurisdictions, possessed of a special status somewhat equivalent to that of metropolitan municiapality. That is, as bodies corporate, they operate as though they were municipalities but their autonomy from most legislative and executive control makes them equally comparable to administrative divisions of the state, equal or superior to counties.
In all U.S. states, cities operate independently of townships and in some states (e.g., Virginia) they operate without the jurisdiction of any county. Cities, which are sometimes called towns, differ from counties and townships in that they are not administrative divisions of the state. Instead, they are semi-autonomous municipal corporations that are recognised by the state. In essence, the city as municipal corporation is the modern form of the ancient city-state, a sovereign entity that exists today only in the forms of Singapore, San Marino, Monaco, and the Vatican; and to a degree, Hong Kong and Macao (but these two are not actually sovereign).
Divisions of the federal state include, first, the originally diamond-shapedDistrict of Columbia (hence the song, "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean"), at the originally geographic and geometric centre of which is the U.S. Capitol Building - the seat of the Government of the United States (in contrast to most other countries, where the seat of government is the principal official residence of the president, monarch or other head of state - as with Buckingham Palace in United Kingdom, Rideau Hall in Canada, and Aras na hUachtaran in Ireland). The United States Congress exercises exclusive jurisdiction over this and all other lands owned by the federal government.
Notwithstanding four states officially call themselves "commonwealth" (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky), the term ‘commonwealth‘ in federal context means an intermediate status between ‘territory‘ and ‘state‘ - both in the sense of "independent state" and "U.S. state." Puerto Rico and the Northern Marianas Islands are commonwealths associated with the United States. They might someday advance to statehood, or they might become independent - as did the Philippines in 1946, after it was a commonwealth of the United States for many years. A territory - whether "organised" and "unorganised" has significantly fewer rights in the grand scheme of things than a commonwealth (let alone a state), but it ranks at least a notch above "possession" which often includes such places as Wake Island, which has no permanent population whatsoever and, thus, does not require even a simple territorial government.
Federal oversight of United States territory
Congress of the United States
Article IV, Section 3 of theU.S. Constitution defines the extent of the authority that theU.S. Congress exercises over the territory of the United States:
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
The power of Congress over territorial divisions that are not part one of the states is exclusive and universal. Once the territory becomes a state of the Union, the state must consent to any changes pertaining to the jurisdiction of that state.
United States Department of the Interior
OnMarch 3,1849, on the last day of the 30th Congress, a bill was passed to create theU.S. Department of the Interior to take charge of the internal affairs of United States territory. The Interior Department has a wide range of responsibilities (which include the regulation of territorial governments, the basic responsibilities for public lands, and other various duties).
In contrast to similarly named Departments in other countries, the United States Department of the Interior is not responsible for local government or for civil administration except in the cases of Indian reservations, through theBureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and island dependencies, through theOffice of Insular Affairs (OIA).
States of the United States
At theDeclaration of Independence, the United States consisted of13 states. In the following years, this number has grown steadily due to expansion to the west, conquest and purchase of lands by the American government, and division of existing states to the current number of 50U.S. states:
AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgia
HawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMaryland
MassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew Jersey
New MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth Carolina
South DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

Map of United States with state border lines. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that theAleutian Islands and theuninhabitedNorthwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.
The contiguous part of the U.S. (i.e. withoutHawaii andAlaska) is called thecontinental United States.
The relationship between the state and national governments is rather complex, because of the country‘sfederal system. Under United States law, states are considered sovereign entities, meaning that the power of the states is considered to come directly from the people within the states rather than from the federal government. Federal law overrides state law in the areas in which the federal government is empowered to act, but the powers of the federal government are subject to limits in the Constitution of the United States. (All powers not granted to the federal government in the Constitution are duly appropriated to the states and the people, with the people explicitely retaining unenumerated Constitutional rights, and the Federal government retaining the exclusive right to determine the unstated rights of the people when these enter into conflict with the states.)
TheAmerican Civil War andTexas v. White established that states do not have the right to secede, and under theConstitution of the United States, they are not allowed to conductforeign policy.
Divisions of U.S. states
Counties in the United States
The states are divided into smaller administrative regions, calledcounties in most states — exceptions beingAlaska (boroughs) andLouisiana (parishes). Counties can include a number of cities and towns, or sometimes just a part of a city. Counties have varying degrees of political and legal significance, but they are always administrative divisions of the state. For further detail, visitcounties andcounty statistics of the United States. Counties in many states are further subdivided into townships - which, by definition, are administrative divisions of a county. In some states, such as Michigan, a township can file a charter with the state government, making itself into a "charter township," which is a type of mixed municipal and township status (giving the township some of the rights of a city without all of the responsibilities), much in the way a metropolitan muncipality is a mixed municipality and county.
Cities in the United States
There are approximately 30,000 incorporated cities in the United States. For more information, visitcities of the United States.
Townships in the United States
Township is an intermediate civic designation between city and county; cities sometimes cross county boundaries, townships never do. Some townships have governments and political power, others are simply geographic designations. Townships in the United States are generally the product of thePublic Land Survey System. For more information, seetownship,survey township andcivil township. Townships are subdivided intosections, which never have separate governments.
The terms townships and towns are closely related (in many historical documents the terms are used interchangeably). However, the powers granted to towns or townships varies considerably from state to state. In New England states, towns are a principal form of local government, providing many of the functions of counties in other states. In California, by contrast, the pertinent statutes of the Government Code clarify that "town" is simply another word for "city," especially a general law city as distinct from a charter city.
Jurisdictions not administered by the states
Federal district of the United States
A separate federal district under the direct authority of congress, theDistrict of Columbia, was formed from land ceded to the Federal Government by the adjoining states (Maryland andVirginia); although all of the Virginia cession was subsequently returned to state jurisdiction. The district does not form part of any state and theUnited States Congress has the constitutional power of, "Exclusive jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever," over the district; however, theDistrict of Columbia Home Rule Act provides for a mayor-council system of government.
The district is synonymous with the nation‘scapital city,Washington, D.C..
Indian reservations
Indian reservations are a separate and special classification of political division of the U.S. Under U.S. law, Indian tribes aresovereign nations, meaning that their legal authority to exist derives independently of the state and federal governments. However, under this definition oftribal sovereignty, they cannot act independently of the federal government, but they are immune from regulations under state law. Until the late-19th century, agreements between the U.S. government and Native American groups were generally calledtreaties, however these are now considered domestic legislation despite their name, and, since the passage of theDawes Act in1883, no new treaties with Indian tribes have been concluded.
Territories of the United States
Lands and regions not part of any state, and not assigned to the native peoples of the Americas, have often been legally designated as territories by the U.S. government. Most of these possessions, as they are alternately called, were the results of seizure and cession. All former territories in the contiguous U.S. are now states; many overseasunincorporated territories, briefly held, are now independent states —Cuba and thePhilippines being two examples. See the individual articles for in-depth examinations of the legal status of these entities.
The United States currently has only oneincorporated territory,Palmyra Atoll, and has no territories slated to become states. This has been the case since1959, up to which point large parts of the United States were under the direct control of the federal government, with nominal political autonomy at the territorial level.
Unlike states, the authority to rule dependent areas comes not from the people of those areas but from the Federal government, however in most cases Congress has granted a large amount of self-rule.
Insular areas of the United States
Several islands in thePacific Ocean andCaribbean Sea are consideredinsular areas of the United States.
Incorporated (integral part of United States)
Inhabited
none
Uninhabited
Palmyra Atoll (uninhabited, owned byThe Nature Conservancy but administered by theOffice of Insular Affairs; part of theUnited States Minor Outlying Islands)
Unincorporated (United States‘ possessions)
Inhabited
American Samoa (officially unorganized, although self-governing under authority of theU.S. Department of the Interior)Guam (organized under Organic Act of 1950)Northern Mariana Islands (commonwealth, organized under 1977 Covenant)Puerto Rico (commonwealth, organized under terms of Puerto Rico-Federal Relations Act)U.S. Virgin Islands (organized under Revised Organic Act of 1954)
Uninhabited
Along with Palmyra Atoll, these form theUnited States Minor Outlying Islands:
Baker IslandHowland IslandJarvis IslandJohnston AtollKingman ReefMidway Islands (administered as the Midway AtollNational Wildlife Refuge)Navassa IslandWake Island
FromJuly 18,1947 untilOctober 1,1994, the U.S. administered theTrust Territory of the Pacific Islands, but more recently entered into a new political relationship with all four political units (one of which is the Northern Mariana Islands listed above, the others being the threefreely-associated states noted below).
Disputed
Navassa Island (with Haiti)Machias Seal Island (with Canada)Wake Island (with Marshall Islands)Serranilla Bank (with Colombia)Bajo Nuevo Bank (with Jamaica)
Freely-associated states
Thefreely-associated states are the three sovereign nations with which the United States has entered into aCompact of Free Association.
Republic of the Marshall IslandsFederated States of MicronesiaRepublic of Palau
Electoral districts
Each political institution defines for itself the districts from which its members are elected.Congressional districts are an example of this.
Other districts
In addition to general-purpose government entities legislating at the state, county, and city level, special-purpose entities such asconservation districts also exist.
See also
United States territoryGeography of the United StatesList of regions of the United StatesUnited States territorial acquisitionsHistory of United States imperialismHistoric regions of the United StatesUnceded territoryOrganized territoryUnorganized territoryPolitical subdivisions of New York State
External links
Animated Map: Boundaries of the United States and the Several StatesU.S. Census Bureau Geographic Areas Reference ManualCityMayors article
Political divisions of theUnited States
StatesAlabama |Alaska |Arizona |Arkansas |California |Colorado |Connecticut |Delaware |Florida |Georgia |Hawaii |Idaho |Illinois |Indiana |Iowa |Kansas |Kentucky |Louisiana |Maine |Maryland |Massachusetts |Michigan |Minnesota |Mississippi |Missouri |Montana |Nebraska |Nevada |New Hampshire |New Jersey |New Mexico |New York |North Carolina |North Dakota |Ohio |Oklahoma |Oregon |Pennsylvania |Rhode Island |South Carolina |South Dakota |Tennessee |Texas |Utah |Vermont |Virginia |Washington |West Virginia |Wisconsin |Wyoming
Federal districtDistrict of Columbia
Insular areasAmerican Samoa |Baker Island |Guam |Howland Island |Jarvis Island |Johnston Atoll |Kingman Reef |Midway Atoll |Navassa Island |Northern Mariana Islands |Palmyra Atoll |Puerto Rico |Virgin Islands |Wake Island
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (seefull disclaimer)
Donate to Wikimedia
Motivate Your Teenagers
Home Study Course for parents to motivate their teen for success
www.motivateteens.net
Business Schools
Become a CEO Learn to Earn
www.globalinfoexchange.com
Mentioned In
Political divisions of the United States is mentioned in the following topics:
insular areaJarvis Island
Bajo Nuevo BankJohn Sperling
Kingman ReefRiver borders of U.S. states
Navassa IslandBaker Island
civil townshipJohnston Atoll
More>
Earn Extra $3252 Online
Get Paid Processing Emails Online $25.00 Per Email. No limit.
www.Realcashprograms.com
Secondary School Teachers
International School Valencia Maths & Biology to A-Level
www.globalinkstutors.com
Post listing on any issue
Buying? Selling? Need or Want to Offer? anything; Search on Posting!
www.ResourceMecca.com
Need Answers
Find answers now 500,000+ manufacturers online
www.SourceTool.com
Copyrights:
Wikipedia information about Political divisions of the United States
This article is licensed under theGNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from theWikipedia article "Political divisions of the United States".  More fromWikipedia
Shop
Enter a keyword (browse)
Choose a category
All CategoriesBooksCarsClothing & AccessoriesComputers & SoftwareElectronicsFlower & GiftsHealth & BeautyHome & GardenJewelry & WatchesKids & FamilyMoviesMusicOfficeSports & OutdoorsVideo Games

Instant auto insurance quotes
You‘re probably wasting money now. Compare quotes from top insurers.
Pugster Italian Charms
Italian Charms starting at 99?, 10,000+ designs, 99?, Free Shipping
Your Ad Here
Get the FREE Answers.com IE Toolbar!  Download Now  More Info

Jump to: Select Item Wikipedia Mentioned In --------------- Or search:   - The Web   - Images   - News   - Blogs   - Shopping          E-mail Page          Print this page          Link to this page
Tell me about:
Home   Webmasters   Site Map   About   Legal   Help   Advertise
_xyz