Civic education
Who runs what where you live
Your mayor may have less power than you think, and the people deciding what gets built down the street may not be the ones you would guess. Here is every office on your ballot, what each one actually controls, whom they appoint, and how and when to vote.
The ladder
Every government over your address
Several layers of government make decisions about the same street. Each has its own elected officials and its own job. Open any office to see what it can and cannot do.
Federal
Laws for the whole country: the military and foreign policy, Social Security and Medicare, immigration, federal taxes, the federal courts, and the federal budget.
Your U.S. House district depends on your street address, not your county. Your ballot lookup shows exactly which one you are in.
Heads the federal executive branch: signs or vetoes the bills Congress passes, commands the armed forces, runs foreign policy, and nominates Cabinet secretaries, agency heads and every federal judge for Senate confirmation.
- Answers to
- Nationwide, chosen by the Electoral College, whose electors each state awards by its own popular vote
- Term
- 4 years
- Limits
- No one may be elected President more than twice, and anyone who has served more than two years of a term another person was elected to may be elected only once (22nd Amendment). Cannot spend money Congress has not appropriated or rewrite a law alone; Congress can override a veto with two-thirds of both chambers, and courts can strike down executive orders.
Presides over the Senate and casts the deciding vote only when the senators tie, and is first in line to succeed the President. Every other duty is whatever the President assigns.
- Answers to
- Nationwide, elected on the President’s ticket and never separately
- Term
- 4 years
- Limits
- No term limit on the office itself, and no independent authority over any federal agency.
Writes federal law and confirms or rejects the President’s judicial and executive nominations; a treaty needs two-thirds of the Senate. Both of a state’s senators answer to the same statewide electorate, so neither one represents a district.
- Answers to
- Statewide, one of the two seats every state gets
- Term
- 6 years, in three staggered classes, so a state’s two seats are never on the same ballot
- Limits
- No term limits. State-imposed caps on members of Congress, including the ones Florida voters wrote into Art. VI §4(c) in 1992, cannot be enforced after U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton (1995).
Writes federal law for one district. Every revenue bill must start in the House, and the House alone votes articles of impeachment; the Senate then holds the trial.
- Answers to
- One congressional district, redrawn after each census
- Term
- 2 years (the entire House is on the ballot every even year)
- Limits
- No term limits. State-imposed caps on members of Congress cannot be enforced after U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton (1995).
State
State law and the state budget: school funding and standards, Medicaid, criminal law, state highways, and the rules every city and county has to follow.
Which other statewide officers are elected (attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer) differs from state to state, and your legislative districts depend on your street address.
The state’s chief executive: signs or vetoes the bills the legislature passes, proposes the state budget, runs the state agencies, commands the state National Guard, and appoints agency heads and many judges.
- Answers to
- Statewide
- Term
- 4 years (2 years in New Hampshire and Vermont)
- Limits
- Term limits, line-item veto power and which other statewide officers are elected separately (attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer) are set by each state’s constitution.
This is how the office usually works. The details are set by your state’s constitution and laws.
Writes state law and votes the state budget; in most states the senate also confirms the governor’s appointments.
- Answers to
- One state senate district
- Term
- Usually 4 years; 2 years in some states
- Limits
- Term limits exist in some states and not others. Nebraska has a single nonpartisan chamber whose members are all called senators.
This is how the office usually works. The details are set by your state’s constitution and laws.
Writes state law and votes the state budget. A bill becomes law only after both chambers pass it and the governor signs it or a veto is overridden.
- Answers to
- One state house district
- Term
- Usually 2 years
- Limits
- Term limits exist in some states and not others. The chamber is called the Assembly or House of Delegates in a few states.
This is how the office usually works. The details are set by your state’s constitution and laws.
County
Countywide services, and in most states the roads, zoning and policing of areas outside city limits.
Other county offices (clerk, assessor, treasurer, prosecutor, coroner) are elected in some states and appointed in others. Some states also have township governments between the county and the city, and in a consolidated city-county such as New York City, San Francisco, Denver or Philadelphia, the city government does the county’s job.
The county’s legislature: adopts the county budget and property-tax rate, passes county ordinances, and usually controls zoning and roads outside city limits.
- Answers to
- A county district or the whole county
- Term
- Usually 4 years
- Limits
- Its name varies (commission, board of supervisors, county council, commissioners court), and so does its power: a state’s law and the county’s charter decide what a county may do. A few states have no county governments at all (Connecticut, Rhode Island).
This is how the office usually works. The details are set by your state’s constitution and laws.
In most states, an elected county officer who runs the county jail, serves court orders, and patrols the areas no city police department covers.
- Answers to
- Countywide
- Term
- Usually 4 years
- Limits
- What a sheriff does, and whether the office is elected, is set by state law, and differs widely between states.
This is how the office usually works. The details are set by your state’s constitution and laws.
City
Only inside city limits: zoning and building permits, city police, streets, utilities the city runs, parks, and the city tax rate.
What a mayor can do is set by the city charter, and the gap is enormous. In a strong-mayor city the mayor is the chief executive: proposes the budget, hires and fires department heads, and can veto council votes (New York City and Jacksonville work this way). In a council-manager city the mayor is one commissioner among equals, chosen to preside, while a professional city manager the commission hires actually runs the departments. Sarasota works this way, and its five commissioners pick the mayor for a one-year term.
- Answers to
- Citywide under a strong-mayor charter. Under a council-manager charter the mayor may be elected citywide with few powers, or chosen by fellow council members.
- Term
- Set by the city charter: four years for an elected strong mayor in New York or Jacksonville, one year for a presiding mayor the commission rotates in Sarasota.
- Limits
- Term limits, veto power, hiring power and budget authority are all charter choices, not state law. Read the city charter before assuming a mayor can hire, fire, veto or spend anything.
Each city’s charter sets these powers.
The city’s legislative body: adopts the city budget and property-tax rate, passes ordinances, and decides zoning inside the city limits. In a council-manager city the council also hires and can fire the city manager who runs the departments.
- Answers to
- One city district, or citywide for an at-large seat
- Term
- Two to four years, set by the city charter
- Limits
- Term limits, district-versus-at-large seats and the council’s size are charter choices, and state law limits what any city may regulate.
Each city’s charter sets these powers.
Schools & special districts
Local school districts and single-purpose districts (fire, water, library, transit) that levy taxes or fees for one job.
Governs the local school district: adopts its budget, sets local school tax rates where state law allows, approves policies and curriculum choices, and hires or oversees the superintendent.
- Answers to
- A school district, which may or may not match a city or county
- Term
- Usually 4 years
- Limits
- Most school board races are nonpartisan, but some states print party labels. A few large city districts are run by boards the mayor appoints.
This is how the office usually works. The details are set by your state’s constitution and laws.
Governs a single-purpose government (a hospital, fire, mosquito-control, soil-and-water, port, airport or community development district) that can levy its own taxes, fees or assessments for that one job.
- Answers to
- The district’s own boundary, which rarely matches a city or county line
- Term
- Set by the law that created the district, commonly 4 years
- Limits
- Some boards are elected by every voter in the district, some only by landowners, and some are appointed by the Governor or a county commission. The district’s charter decides which.
This is how the office usually works. The details are set by your state’s constitution and laws.
Office powers summarized from the Florida Constitution (Art. III, IV, V, VI, VIII and IX) and Florida Statutes, the California Constitution (Art. IV and XI), the U.S. Constitution (Art. I), and the county and city charters named in the individual entries. Where a charter, not state law, decides what an office can do, the entry says so rather than picking one arrangement.
Same title, different job
Why some mayors can do more than others
A mayor’s power comes from the city charter, not the title. Some charters make the mayor the boss of city government. Others make the mayor one vote on a council that hires a professional manager to run things.
Also called mayor-council government
Strong-mayor city
The mayor runs the city.
- Every voter in the city elects the mayor as its chief executive.
- The mayor hires and fires department heads, including the police chief.
- The mayor proposes the budget and can veto the council.
- The council writes the laws and approves the budget.
Examples: New York City, and in Florida: Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando and St. Petersburg.
Also called commission-manager government
Council-manager city
The council runs the city, through a hired manager.
- The elected council or commission sets policy as a group.
- It hires a professional city manager, who runs the departments and hires the police chief.
- The mayor chairs meetings and casts one vote like every other member, usually with no veto.
- Some of these cities let the council pick the mayor (Sarasota); others let voters elect the mayor directly (Tallahassee). The job stays the same.
Examples: Sarasota, Fort Lauderdale and Tallahassee.
Two mayors, side by side
New York City elects a strong mayor. Sarasota, Florida uses council-manager government. Here is what that difference means, question by question.
New York City
Strong-mayor government
Sarasota, Florida
Council-manager government
Read your city charter. If it creates a city manager or administrator hired by the council, you live in a council-manager city and the council as a whole runs things, even where voters elect the mayor directly. If the charter has the mayor appoint the department heads and propose the budget, you have a strong mayor.
- Adopt the city budget and set the city’s property-tax rate.
- Pass city ordinances: the local laws on things like noise, parking, signs and land use.
- Approve or deny rezonings and changes to the comprehensive plan inside city limits.
- In a council-manager city, hire, direct and fire the city manager. In a strong-mayor city, confirm some of the mayor’s appointments and override vetoes.
- Hold the public hearings where residents can speak before a vote. That is the most direct say most people will ever have.
Sources: Charter of the City of Sarasota (commission-manager government, the annual selection of mayor and vice mayor, and the charter officials) and the New York City Charter (including §§4, 37, 431 and 1138).
Who to call about…
Take the problem to the office that owns it
Water, power, zoning, police and potholes each belong to a different government, and they often change hands at the city limit. Pick an issue.
Rezoning & new construction
How this usually works across the U.S. Set your area to see the answer for your state.
Land use is decided locally, under a comprehensive or general plan: a planning commission reviews and recommends, and the elected city council or county board makes the final call on rezonings.
Inside city limits
The city council decides.
Outside every city
The county board decides (in some states, a township).
- City Council Member
- County Governing Board
- State Representative
- State Senator
Projects that already comply with the zoning are typically approved by staff without a hearing, and state law can limit what any city or county may regulate.
The city or county planning department, then public comment at the council or board hearing.
Who they appoint
The officials you elect choose who runs things
You vote for the President, your governor, your mayor and your county commission. You do not vote for the cabinet secretaries, agency heads, judges, managers and police chiefs they appoint. Pick an office you vote for to see whom it appoints, and who has to approve each pick.
You vote for
Who the President appoints
The largest set of picks in American government: the people who run the federal agencies for four years.
You vote for this office. You do not vote for anyone listed below: they are chosen by the person or body you elect.
- Chief of Staff and White House advisersThe President’s own office, schedule and policy agenda.No one: it is their own pick
- The heads of the 15 executive departmentsState, Treasury, Defense, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Education and the rest. Fourteen are secretaries; the Department of Justice is run by the Attorney General.Senate confirmation
- Heads of independent agenciesAgencies such as the EPA, the CIA and the regulatory commissions.Senate confirmation for most
- Federal judges and Supreme Court justicesThe judges of the federal district courts, the appeals courts and the Supreme Court. They serve for life.Senate confirmation
- U.S. Attorneys and ambassadorsFederal prosecution across the 94 federal judicial districts, covered by 93 U.S. Attorneys, and U.S. embassies abroad.Senate confirmation
Roughly 4,000 political positions change hands with a new administration, and more than 1,300 of them need Senate confirmation. Source: Partnership for Public Service
How to vote
The rules in your state, and your county
States write the voting rules; counties carry them out. Registration deadlines, ID, mail ballots and early voting all differ by state, and where and when you vote early can differ by county.
Choose a state to see its voting rules, or set your area at the top of the page and we will open on yours.
Your election calendar
What’s next on your ballot
The deadlines and elections that apply where you live, soonest first, including the local elections that are easiest to miss.
Who votes
The smaller the election, the bigger your vote
Older voters turn out at far higher rates than younger ones, and every group votes less in midterm and local elections, which is when many of the offices on this page are chosen.
Self-reported in the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, so not an official vote count. Margins of error run from ±0.5 to ±1.3 points here, widest for the youngest voters. Sources: November 2024, Table 4c · November 2022, Table 4c.
A 39.2-point gap in the 2022 midterm
66.8% of citizens 65 and older voted, against 27.6% of those 18 to 24. In the 2024 presidential election the gap was 27.0 points.
13.1 points lower than a presidential year
52.2% of citizens in the United States voted in the 2022 midterm, against 65.3% in the 2024 presidential election. Midterm years are when most states elect their governor.
In the most recent mayoral elections in America’s 30 largest cities, measured by Portland State University in 2016, just 9% of registered voters aged 18 to 34 cast a ballot, against 46.7% of registered voters over 65. The median age of the people who did vote was 57.
Source: Portland State University, Who Votes for Mayor? (2016 release)
Where to next
Put it to work
See exactly what is on your ballot, who holds every office near you, and what your local governments are deciding this week. This guide is part of POLISCOPE’s nonprofit public-education work.