Areawide Government and Multiple Jurisdictions: An Examination of Selected Counties in Maryland

Abstract

Much of the literature on America's metropolitan areas examines them from the point of view of the multiplicity of governments located within these areas. The diverse governmental structure is characterized as fragmented and often is identified as the root cause of the urban crisis. Fragmentation of metropolitan areas is seen as the prime explanation for factors such as, the disparity of financial resources among neighboring jurisdictions; the inability of some metropolitan jurisdictions to provide necessary services; their inability to agree upon the delivery of essential areawide services; and the waste, duplication, and poor utilization of economic and human resources by governments in metropolitan areas. The critics of fragmentation conclude that the existence of numerous small governments in metropolitan areas leads to a general weakening of the democratic process because of the severe problems that citizens have in fixing responsibility among the various units responsible for public activities. Urban reformers have campaigned for resolution of the effects of fragmentation through annexation, cooperation, or the creation of special districts. Most of the polemicists agree, however, that the only real solution to the problem lies in some form of areawide government.1 Thus far, the