6-2 Short Paper Home Rule Helpful or Harmful-LAPTOP-7DU013JC
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Southern New Hampshire University *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
332
Subject
Political Science
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
Pages
4
Uploaded by MegaWillpower4281
6-2 Short Paper: Home Rule: Helpful or Harmful?
William Hunter
Southern New Hampshire University
PAD 332
John Kleinhans
December 3, 2023
1
6-2 Home Rule Helpful or Harmful
The home rule concept is one that it allows some cities within states the ability to pass laws to
govern themselves provided it is not prohibited by state or federal law (Toscano, 2022). In my
opinion each municipality should have the ability to govern in ways which is beneficial for their
city within their state but this should be some safeguards implemented. In each city or state their
decisions should be ones that are ethical and to include inclusiveness to each citizen to also
include abiding by their State Constitutions. I have observed in today’s age this has caused many
hurdles in our states especially in our current time of division in our country in the ways that the
country is govern as we see this in states that are ran by Republicans or by Democrats which
affects our democracy as a whole (Toscano, 2022). Home rules leads to government officials in
large cities of creating propositions which target certain areas of population in their state. An
example of this is in Harris County in Texas as their house republicans has drafted voting
legislation called SB1933 which “authorize the office of the Texas secretary of state who is a
republican appointee of the republican governor to “order administrative oversight” of a county
elections office. What this means is that if there is reason to believe that there is cause for
concern or perceived problems of election administration or voter registration. This legislation
isn’t concerning but what is concerning is that it only affects those counties which has a
population over 4 million to which Harris County is the only county in Texas that fits the criteria
of the bill, this illustrates that only the most populated states are targeted (Shelton, 2023).
Another example was seen during the COVID - 19 pandemic there were a number of state and
local government officials who despite an outbreak placing their political party alignment guide
2
their keeping their constituents safe. This was seen in republican states who issued a number of
bills that banned CDC guidance regarding the spread of COVID as Texas banned mask
mandates, Florida banned masks in schools when there were still cases occurring and in Georgia
the governor wanted to sue the mayor of Atlanta for extending mask requirements which helped
to control the spread of COVID. This was also seen in democratic states as in Oregon as some
mayors and interest groups challenged the state governor regarding his business restrictions in
preventing COVID from spreading (Ballotpedia, 2022). In my opinion home rules need to obtain
safeguards which would hold local officials accountable in creating laws for their local
community that are ethical and includes their citizens best interest rather than appealing to the
political party that they align with.
3
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
References
Ballotpedia. 2022.
CORONAVIRUS (COVID 19) preemption conflicts between state and local
governments
.
https://ballotpedia.org/Coronavirus_(COVID-
19)_preemption_conflicts_between_state_and_local_governments
Shelton, S. (2023). Texas Republicans pass bills targeting elections administration in Houston-
area County. CNN.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/28/politics/texas-republicans-elections-bill-harris-
county/index.html
Toscano, D. (2022). State Preemption and The Fracturing of America. Harvard.edu.
https://www.sir.advancedleadership.harvard.edu/articles/state-preemption-and-the-fracturing-of-
america#:~:text=For%20those%20communities%20stifled%20by%20the%20Dillon
%20Rule,either%20before%20or%20after%20it%20has%20been%20adopted
.
4