Home Rule or not Home Rule, that is the question.

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This lesson is most appropriate for High School classrooms.

Theme: What are local governments' relationships with the state

MCF Benchmark: Explain the advantages and disadvantages of a federal system of government.

Other benchmarks this lesson targets include:

  • Engage each other in elaborated conversations that deeply examine public policy issues and help make reasoned and informed decisions.
  • Determine, evaluate, and use resources that are most appropriate and readily available for investigating a particular question or topic.
  • Examples include knowledgeable people, field trips, prefaces, appendices, icons/headings, hypertext, menus and addresses, Internet and electronic mail, CD-ROM/laser disks, microfiche, and library and interlibrary catalogue databases.

Materials needed:

  1. Michigan Constitution (ratified in 1963)
  2. A Citizen's Guide to State Government
    *Both are available from your State Representative and/or Senator as well as the state website listed below.
  3. Bird's Eye View of Michigan Local Government at the End of the Twentieth Century (available on website listed below)
  4. Michigan Local Government Structure, Services, and Practice (see attached document)
  5. Poster paper and markers

Methodological procedure:

Should be taught after 'The Types of Local Government in Michigan.'

See 'Notes' for more elaboration (note numbers correspond to procedure numbers).

  1. Review terms federalism, grant, and mandate with students.
  2. Review different types of local units of government - township, village, city, county, and special purpose units. Use the lesson titled Types of Local Government in Michigan or use the suggested materials.
  3. Have students in small groups brainstorm areas in which local government and state government both act. Take five minutes to brainstorm and discuss the topics as a class. You can refer to the lesson under state government titled 'How Michigan's Government is Structured.'
  4. Assign students page 22 in Bird's Eye View of Michigan Local Government at the End of the Twentieth Century, the section on Home Rule. Read the section and clarify to students that unless it is stated in the Constitution, local subunits of government have complete authority on an issue.
  5. Divide the students into five groups. Each group will be assigned a local subunit of government - township, village, city, county, and special purpose units. They will need the assigned materials. Each group should assign a taskmaster (keeps group on time and on task), recorder (writes information on poster paper), and reporter (presents to the class); the other members of the group will assist in the gathering of information.
  6. Each group's task is to evaluate the powers of their subunit of government, the financial means of each subunit, and areas in which their subunit has complete authority and areas in which they must interact with the state government. They should use 'Bird's Eye View of Michigan Local Government...' If you are using a computer lab, students can also access Michigan Compiled Laws on the state website (listed below).
  7. Students will put their information on the poster paper to be presented and displayed to the class. Put the information in four columns, one column for each area of research (powers, finances, complete authority, shared authority).
  8. Present information to the class. Display each group's poster paper in the front of the room. Have each group's reporter share their findings with the class.
  9. As a class, identify the common themes between each subunit of government. Review the common areas in which subunits of government interact with state governments.

Author's notes:

1. Federalism - the distribution of power in an organization (as a government) between a central authority and the constituent units
Grant - subsidy for public funds paid by a central to a local government in aid of a public undertaking
Mandate - a formal order from a superior government entity or official to an inferior one

9. This list should include elections, economic development, transportation, natural resources including land preservation and parks, and finances including revenue sharing and grants. Land use would be another area in which both entities interact with each other in the sense that under the Home Rule principle, land use is left to the local subunit of government in their Master Planning and zoning but the state on occasion fine-tunes what can and cannot be done. For example, the state recently established a uniform set of construction and electrical building codes to ease the confusion for builders working in different (and at times neighboring) subunits of government.

Assessment strategies:

Part One

  • Divide the class in half.
  • One side will be arguing that the state should have the complete authority to act in all issues.
  • The other side will be arguing the local subunits of government, under the Home Rule principle, should have complete authority on any issues that take place within their sphere.
  • give the class time to prepare
  • conduct a class debate (similar to a Federalist/Antifederalist debate)
  • see attached rubric for a scoring option

Part Two

  • assign an individual writing assignment for the following question: Given the concept of federalism, in your own opinion, is it efficient to have local Home Rule in Michigan or should the state have total authority? In your response, consider a) the most convincing alternate viewpoint and how would you counter it, or b) offer a suggestion that would improve the efficiency of government in Michigan.
  • see attached writing rubric for grading purposes

Enrichment suggestions:

Enrichment options

  1. Invite staff of local subunits of government to class to discuss a local issue that involves the state.
  2. Have each group interview staff for their subunit of government, inquiring about issues that involve the state.
  3. Role playing scenario based upon the relationship between the state and local subunits of government

Here is an example of a parks/natural resources issue:

  • It has come to the attention of the local subunit of government that a park, built by funds from a state grant is on a contaminated site.
  • The local subunit, as mandated by state law, cleans up the site, using local and state funds but is left without a useable park upon completion of the cleanup.
  • The local subunit wants to build a new park and applies for a state grant or low interest state loan to assist with the finances for the project.
  • The state office, to which the grant/loan was applied, responds by stating since they no longer have the park that was paid for with state funds, the local subunit cannot receive state funds in the future until a park is built to replace the previous state funded park
  • As concerned members of the local subunits ruling body and members of the community, you must evaluate how you will solve the problem of creating a new park.

Other possible scenarios include

  1. antiterrorism mandates for local subunits to evaluate and upgrade necessary measures for ensuring the safety of the community, including the water supply. Here is a site that might help:
    Emergency Preparedness Plan
    National League of Cities Domestic Terrorism Guide http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/files/reports/terrorism.pdf
  2. Proposal 02-2 which would allow for natural resource funds to be invested and thus potentially increasing the amount of money available for grants.
    The Michigan Municipal League has information on the proposal as well as a sample resolution. The class can debate supporting the proposal and passing the resolution.
    http://www.mml.org/legislative/proposal2.htm
  3. following the grant application process identify an area in which their local community can apply for state funds and fill out the grant.
  4. Create a proposal to either the House Local Government and Urban Policy committee or the Senate Local, Urban & State Affairs committee to change an aspect of state and local subunit relations.

Available downloads:

Suggested web sites: