专区:美国地方政府体系中的“隐形巨人”

占美国地方政府总数40%以上的专区政府,是在美国地方政府零碎化、大都市区政府难产而大都市区的高速发展又迫切需要区域性服务的局面下的次优选择。专区弥补了大都市区政府的体制性缺陷,提供了较有效率的服务,同时也加剧了地方政府零碎化的趋势,利弊兼而有之。但在美国地方政府体制未发生根本性变化和大都市区仍在发展的前提下,专区仍有很大的发展空间。

Special Districts: the Invisible Giants of American Local Government System

As government unit which accounts for over forty percent of American local governments,special district governments are worthy of studying.They meet the needs and improve the systematic weakness of metropolitan area by providing relatively efficient services,and,in the meantime,they also accelerate the fragmentation of American local government.However,as long as the metropolitan areas develops and there is no any basic changes among American local government system,special districts still have enough margins to develop in the near future.