<P> Local government in the United States refers to governmental jurisdictions below the level of the state . Most states have at least two tiers of local government: counties and municipalities . In some states, counties are divided into townships . There are several different types of jurisdictions at the municipal level, including the city, town, borough, and village . The types and nature of these municipal entities vary from state to state . </P> <P> Many rural areas and even some suburban areas of many states have no municipal government below the county level . In other places consolidated city - county jurisdictions exist, in which city and county functions are managed by a single municipal government . In places like New England, towns are the primary unit of local government and counties have no governmental function but exist in a purely perfunctory capacity (e.g. for census data). </P> <P> In addition to general - purpose local governments, there may be local or regional special - purpose local governments, such as school districts and districts for fire protection, sanitary sewer service, public transportation, public libraries, or water resource management . Such special purpose districts often encompass areas in multiple municipalities . According to the US Census Bureau's data collected in 2012, there were 89,004 local government units in the United States . This data shows a decline from 89,476 units since the last census of local governments performed in 2007 . </P> <P> When North America was settled by Europeans from the 17th century onward, there was initially little control from governments back in Europe . Many settlements began as shareholder or stockholder business enterprises, and while the king of Britain had technical sovereignty, in most instances "full governmental authority was vested in the company itself ." Settlers had to fend for themselves; compact towns sprung up based as legal corporations in what has been described as "pure democracy": </P>

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