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57-500: Wallenpaupack Area School District is a third-class school district in Pike and Wayne Counties in Pennsylvania . The district's population was 24,729 at the time of the 2010 United States Census . The district encompasses approximately 321 square miles (830 km). According to federal census data, its population has increased by 3,991 residents from 20,738 residents in 2000. In 2009,

114-576: A borough manager to enforce ordinances and carry out the day-to-day business of the town's administration and dictates of its council. The definition of boroughs is a town or district that is an administrative unit, in particular. Nineteen boroughs have also adopted home rule charters. Boroughs generally incorporate from areas of dense populations in a township. The areas generally had a train station and were centers of businesses and industrial activities. The first borough to be incorporated in Pennsylvania

171-493: A county . Some, like Bethlehem , cross county lines. It is not unusual for a borough to be adjacent to, and sometimes nearly surrounded by a township of the same name. In some instances, such as with the case of Thornbury Township in Chester County and Delaware County, two townships with the same name will border each other in adjoining counties. Below the county level of organized services, everyone in Pennsylvania lives under

228-626: A vote of no confidence . On the other hand, according to the separation of powers doctrine, the legislature in a presidential system is considered an independent and coequal branch of government along with both the judiciary and the executive. Nevertheless, many presidential systems provide for the impeachment of the executive for criminal or unconstitutional behaviour. Legislatures will sometimes delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies . Legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators , who vote on proposed laws. A legislature usually contains

285-622: A Parliamentary powers index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures. The German Bundestag , the Italian Parliament , and the Mongolian State Great Khural tied for most powerful, while Myanmar's House of Representatives and Somalia's Transitional Federal Assembly (since replaced by the Federal Parliament of Somalia ) tied for least powerful. Some political systems follows

342-509: A borough before becoming a city, and both began under the constitution as a township. Boroughs are not strictly classified by population and are administered through the borough legal code. Each borough elects a mayor and a council of three, five, seven, or nine members with broad powers, as determined by home rule measures. Some boroughs have even numbers of council members. The borough offices of tax assessor , tax collector and auditor are elected independently. The borough council can also hire

399-439: A certain ordinance can be classified as a second class A city — only Scranton has done so. First class, second class, and second class A cities have a strong mayor and home rule charters; their charters are in effect a bargain with the state as to which powers the city takes on itself. These sometimes include county functions. The mayor has broad power to appoint and remove certain commissioners and department heads. Most of

456-620: A certain type of municipal laws by the classification of municipality, and some types of municipalities are then eligible to be reclassified into another class according to their population and passage of a change referendum. These classes limit or expand the local governmental powers, and the forms of local office holders and town officials. The General Assembly sets the population threshold for classifying said certain types of municipalities. There are currently nine classifications for counties, four classes of cities, two classes of townships, five classes of school districts, and no classes for boroughs or

513-458: A few of the members of the chamber(s). The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties ; the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of political power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries , militaries , and executives . In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed

570-442: A fixed number of legislators; because legislatures usually meet in a specific room filled with seats for the legislators, this is often described as the number of "seats" it contains. For example, a legislature that has 100 "seats" has 100 members. By extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a "seat", as, for example, in the phrases " safe seat " and " marginal seat ". After election,

627-888: A mayor-council optional plan. There are 500 school districts in Pennsylvania, administered by the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949. School districts can comprise one municipality, like the School District of Philadelphia , or multiple municipalities. School districts have the sole responsibility to instruct the school-aged population of the Commonwealth. Some school districts cross one or more county lines creating challenges in equalizing property taxes because of widely varying property tax assessments. Like some other local governments, school districts are classified based on population and these classifications determine what regulations they follow. Municipal authorities are

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684-546: A person, a family, or a group of people by Penn or his heirs. Townships can be of the first or second class, the difference being the powers and offices of the municipal government or its officials. All begin as second class townships, and when certain legal requirements are met, the township may become a first-class township by a referendum of the township's voters, provided it meets population threshold requirements. Many that qualify prefer to continue as second class townships (established by voter referendum). Representation in

741-405: A population between 80,000 and 249,999 a city must pass an ordinance to become a second class A city otherwise it is a third class city. There is one first class city, Philadelphia , which has more than 1 million residents. There is only one second class city, Pittsburgh which has between 250,000 and 1,000,000 residents. A city with between 80,000 and 250,000 inhabitants that has also adopted

798-457: A second-class township is by a board of supervisors elected at-large for 6 year terms. Representation in a first-class township is by a board of commissioners that can consist of anywhere from five commissioners elected at large to boards with 7-15 elected by wards to four-year terms; though via home rule petitions, some townships have also maintained at-large representation, or mixed geographical wards and at-large election organization. By law there

855-526: A single unit is unicameral , one divided into two chambers is bicameral , and one divided into three chambers is tricameral . In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is usually considered the upper house , while the other is considered the lower house . The two types are not rigidly different, but members of upper houses tend to be indirectly elected or appointed rather than directly elected, tend to be allocated by administrative divisions rather than by population, and tend to have longer terms than members of

912-714: A special kind of local unit: unlike cities, boroughs, and townships, which are general government entities, they are set up to perform special services. An authority is a body corporate and politic authorized to acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate projects, and to borrow money and issue bonds to finance them. Projects include public facilities such as buildings, including school buildings, transportation facilities, marketing and shopping facilities, highways, parkways, airports, parking places, waterworks, sewage treatment plants, playgrounds, hospitals, and industrial development projects. An authority can be organized by any county, city, town, borough, township, or school district of

969-435: Is indirectly elected within the context of a one-party state . Legislature size is a trade off between efficiency and representation; the smaller the legislature, the more efficiently it can operate, but the larger the legislature, the better it can represent the political diversity of its constituents. Comparative analysis of national legislatures has found that size of a country's lower house tends to be proportional to

1026-502: Is a consolidated city-county with all of its county functions being administered by the city government. Those counties have the types of officials elected determined by the home rule charter, and they often differ from the officials elected in most counties. Counties are further classified by population. Each classification has its own code, set up by the General Assembly, to administer county functions. The classification of counties

1083-425: Is a single (for historic reasons) town in Pennsylvania, so the next step up is the city. Both counties and school districts generally span multiple communities, including groups of municipalities that sometimes cross county lines. Each other subdivision is subordinate to county governmental functions, which include administration of courts, jails, code enforcement, and land registration. Each municipality falls under

1140-603: Is always an odd number of township commissioners. A second-class township usually has three supervisors, elected at large for six-year terms. A referendum may allow a second-class township's board of supervisors to expand to five members. Some townships have home-rule charters, which allow for a mayor/council form of government. What outside Pennsylvania many would think are called "towns" are by law officially boroughs (often also spelled as boros) which are generally smaller than cities in terms of both geographic area and population. Most cities in Pennsylvania were once incorporated as

1197-487: Is an example of an unincorporated community that tends to be better known than Upper Merion , the municipality King of Prussia actually resides in. Villages in Pennsylvania are often small unincorporated communities within a township. Many villages are identified by familiar PennDOT signs along a state highway even though the community has not chosen to incorporate into a borough. Lahaska is an example of typical village in eastern Pennsylvania. These are areas recognized by

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1254-452: Is as follows: (*): A county of the third class that is determined to have a population of 500,000 or more may elect to continue to be a county of the third class. (~): A county having a population between 35,000 and 44,999 may elect to be a county of the sixth class. (+): A county's population must be under the minimum for a class for two (2) censuses prior to a reduction in class. Changes in county classification are suspended until after

1311-462: Is divided into 67 counties. Most counties are governed by a board of commissioners, consisting of three members. Two must be of the majority party, and the third must be of the minority party, which is determined by which candidates receive the most votes, as two candidates from each party are on the November ballot. One of the members serves as the chair. The board of commissioners typically serves as both

1368-605: Is the only officially designated and incorporated "town" in Pennsylvania. The mostly uninhabited, township-sized area of the East Fork Road District was classified as a sui generis district, unlike any other in the state, until its 2004 dissolution. Unincorporated communities in the state of Pennsylvania are well-defined communities that are part of one or more incorporated municipalities but are not independent municipalities in their own right. They have no elected form of government and have no authority granted to them by

1425-708: The 2030 United States census , unless a county elected to allow the change to occur before February 22, 2022. Lancaster County approved such a change, becoming a class 2A county. Keeping in mind that the geography and geology of Pennsylvania present many landscapes that are dominated by hills, streams, deep valleys, and mountain ridges, the list of municipalities of Pennsylvania range from higher numbers of entities with small populations in sparsely populated large regions, to those large in population, with less relative territory having denser populations. Pennsylvania's municipal classes are: townships , boroughs and cities . Most such subdivisions are entirely contained within

1482-683: The European Union . The upper house may either contain the delegates of state governments – as in the European Union and in Germany and, before 1913, in the United States  – or be elected according to a formula that grants equal representation to states with smaller populations, as is the case in Australia and the United States since 1913. Tricameral legislatures are rare;

1539-643: The Massachusetts Governor's Council still exists, but the most recent national example existed in the waning years of White-minority rule in South Africa . Tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. The only legislature with a number of chambers bigger than four was the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia ; initially established as a Pentacameral body in 1963, it

1596-585: The Parliament of the United Kingdom , the floor of the legislature frequently sees lively debate. In contrast, in committee-based legislatures like the United States Congress , deliberation takes place in closed committees. While legislatures have nominally the sole power to create laws, the substantive extent of this power depends on details of the political system. In Westminster-style legislatures

1653-556: The Pennsylvania General Assembly , and are specific to the type and class of municipality; by a home rule municipality , under a home rule charter, adopted by the municipality; or by an optional form of government, adopted by the municipality. The township is the basic population center or town element in Pennsylvania, ranging in size from small hamlets to important population centers. These are given Class I or Class II powers, attributes, and responsibilities, and comprise

1710-517: The United States Census Bureau for enumeration purposes. Many Census-designated places are also names of villages or post offices that tie a community together. The steep forested landscape and terrains of Pennsylvania generally forced settlements into relatively small areas that had appropriate conditions making it easy to build. Modern heavy machinery has broadened the scope of where housing settlements and business can be situated, but at

1767-597: The executive and judicial powers of government . Legislatures can exist at different levels of government–national, state/provincial/regional, local, even supranational (such as the European Parliament ). Countries differ as to what extent they grant deliberative assemblies at the subnational law-making power, as opposed to purely administrative responsibilities. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as primary legislation. In addition, legislatures may observe and steer governing actions, with authority to amend

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1824-560: The legislative and executive body. In addition to the elected commissioners, most counties elect other officials, commonly called "row officers", independent of the board of commissioners. The offices include sheriff , district attorney , prothonotary , clerk of courts , register of wills, clerk of the orphans' court, recorder of deeds , treasurer, controller, auditors, and jury commissioners. Seven counties currently have home rule charters: Allegheny , Delaware , Erie , Lackawanna , Lehigh , Luzerne , and Northampton . Philadelphia

1881-448: The Commonwealth, acting singly or jointly with another municipality. An authority is established by ordinance by one or more municipalities. The governing bodies of the parent local unit or units appoint the members of the authority's board. If the body created by one unit, the board consists of five members. If the body created by two or more local units, there is at least one member from each unit but no fewer than five. The board carries on

1938-628: The Estates . The oldest surviving legislature is the Icelandic Althing , founded in 930 CE. Democratic legislatures have six major functions: representation, deliberation, legislation, authorizing expenditure, making governments, and oversight. There exist five ways that representation can be achieved in a legislature: One of the major functions of a legislature is to discuss and debate issues of major importance to society. This activity can take place in two forms. In debating legislatures, such as

1995-587: The European assemblies of nobility which the monarchs would have to consult before raising taxes. For this power to be actually effective, the legislature should be able to amend the budget, have an effective committee system, enough time for consideration, as well as access to relevant background information. There are several ways in which the legislature can hold the executive branch (the administration or government) accountable. This can be done through hearings, questioning , interpellations , votes of confidence ,

2052-419: The budget involved. The members of a legislature are called legislators. In a democracy, legislators are most commonly popularly elected , although indirect election and appointment by the executive are also used, particularly for bicameral legislatures featuring an upper house . The name used to refer to a legislative body varies by country. Common names include: By names: By languages: Though

2109-515: The city's functions are independent of the state's control because of their charters, which must pass legislative approval. Any municipality adopting conversion into a city government with a population below 250,000 people that has not adopted the second class ordinance is a third class city . Third class cities can be governed three ways: Sixteen third class cities have adopted home rule charters. Two cities ( DuBois and Altoona ) have an optional council-manager plan, and one city ( Hazleton ) has

2166-463: The cost of moving a lot of soils and rocks. Townships in Pennsylvania were the first form of land grants established by William Penn , and are generally large in area with a sparse population centered on one or a few clusters of homes and a handful of businesses. They have existed in one form or another since the Province of Pennsylvania was established. They were usually large tracts of land given to

2223-596: The district residents’ per capita income was $ 19,073, while the median family income was $ 42,955. In the Commonwealth, the median family income was $ 49,501 and the United States median family income was $ 49,445, in 2010. Unlike many school districts in Pennsylvania, Wallenpaupack Area is not subdivided into regions. However, it does contain the following municipalities (labeled by county): Local government in Pennsylvania#School districts Local municipalities can be governed by statutes , which are enacted by

2280-516: The executive (composed of the cabinet) can essentially pass any laws it wants, as it usually has a majority of legislators behind it, kept in check by the party whip, while committee-based legislatures in continental Europe and those in presidential systems of the Americas have more independence in drafting and amending bills. The origins of the power of the purse which legislatures typically have in passing or denying government budgets goes back to

2337-472: The formation of committees. Parliaments are usually ensured with upholding the rule of law, verifying that public funds are used accountably and efficiently as well as make government processes transparent and actions so that they can be debated by the public and its representatives. Agora notes that parliamentary systems or political parties in which political leaders can influence or decide which members receive top jobs can lead to passivity amongst members of

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2394-444: The jurisdiction of at least two types of municipal governments. The first type of municipal government will provide police and fire protection, maintenance of local roads and streets, water supply, sewage collection and treatment, parking and traffic control , local planning and zoning , parks and recreation, garbage collection , health services, libraries, licensing of businesses, and code enforcement. The second type will administer

2451-524: The legal boundaries of the City of Philadelphia . Northern Liberties , Southwark , and Spring Garden were among the ten largest municipalities by population in the United States. There are a total of 56 incorporated cities in Pennsylvania, the smallest being Parker , in Armstrong County , with a population of 840 (2010 census). Each is further classified according to population. (*): In addition to having

2508-435: The legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a certain number of legislators present to carry out these activities; this is called a quorum . Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are usually delegated to committees made up of

2565-442: The local schools, claim a separate portion of taxes and are called school districts . Organized along practical geographic lines, an occasional Area school district will cross county boundaries, though most are located within county regions providing community ties across multiple municipalities. The sense of belonging to a community in Pennsylvania is often tied to area High School sports teams. Due to historic legalisms, Bloomsburg

2622-406: The lower house. In some systems, particularly parliamentary systems , the upper house has less power and tends to have a more advisory role, but in others, particularly federal presidential systems , the upper house has equal or even greater power. In federations , the upper house typically represents the federation's component states. This is also the case with the supranational legislature of

2679-414: The majority of communities in Pennsylvania. They are often characterized by lower population densities over a widespread region, within which small clusters of housing and mixed main road businesses occur. Larger, more densely populated municipal entities, usually ones with a well defined business district and recognizable as having the traditional attributes of a 'town' is the Pennsylvania borough . There

2736-513: The members may be protected by parliamentary immunity or parliamentary privilege , either for all actions the duration of their entire term, or for just those related to their legislative duties. A legislature may debate and vote upon bills as a single unit, or it may be composed of multiple separate assemblies , called by various names including legislative chambers , debate chambers , and houses , which debate and vote separately and have distinct powers. A legislature which operates as

2793-407: The party and less challenging of leadership. Agora notes that this phenomenon is acute if the election of a member is dependant on the support of political leadership. In contrast to democratic systems, legislatures under authoritarianism are used to ensure the stability of the power structure by co-opting potential competing interests within the elites, which they achieve by: Each chamber of

2850-409: The principle of legislative supremacy , which holds that the legislature is the supreme branch of government and cannot be bound by other institutions, such as the judicial branch or a written constitution . Such a system renders the legislature more powerful. In parliamentary and semi-presidential systems of government , the executive is responsible to the legislature, which may remove it with

2907-462: The single Pennsylvania town. Finally, villages and census-designated places are a part of the local community. Although they are not recognized local governments, they often refer to specific areas of township or other municipality and are often more familiar to people than the incorporated municipality. That can cause confusion to people who live outside the area, who are unfamiliar with the local municipal structure. Counties in Pennsylvania serve

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2964-575: The specific roles for each legislature differ by location, they all aim to serve the same purpose of appointing officials to represent their citizens to determine appropriate legislation for the country. Among the earliest recognised formal legislatures was the Athenian Ecclesia . In the Middle Ages , European monarchs would host assemblies of the nobility, which would later develop into predecessors of modern legislatures. These were often named

3021-404: The state or county, but have a historical authority all their own. Often they are little more than neighborhoods once serviced by a railway station , that once had a post office in the 19th century, or were clustered as supporting community housing for a local industry, which may no longer exist. Many unincorporated communities though, often overshadow the true municipal government. King of Prussia

3078-405: The traditional roles for state including law enforcement, judicial administration, and election conduct. Some of the other functions that Pennsylvania's counties may perform include public health , property assessment , and redevelopment . Some of the welfare functions often performed by counties include mental health , geriatric care, community colleges , and library support. Pennsylvania

3135-439: The work of the authority, acquires property, appoints officers and employees, undertakes projects, makes regulations and charges, and collects revenue from services of the facilities or projects. Legislative A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country , nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with

3192-523: Was Germantown in 1690. That borough ceased to exist when all of Philadelphia's municipalities were consolidated in 1854 . The borough of Chester Heights has a unique distinction of incorporating into a borough out of Aston Township by a tax revolt. From the late 18th century until the Philadelphia Act of Consolidation in 1854, districts were politically independent municipalities made up of densely populated neighborhoods adjacent to but outside

3249-508: Was turned into a hexacameral body in 1967. Legislatures vary widely in their size. Among national legislatures , China's National People's Congress is the largest with 2,980 members, while Vatican City 's Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7. Neither legislature is democratically elected: The Pontifical Commission members are appointed by the Pope and the National People's Congress

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