ABSTRACT
The Founding Fathers recognized, whatever their preferences for a strong national government, that assuring the integrity of the existing states was a sine qua non of acceptance of the new Constitution. Local units of government were not considered systematically by the Constitutional Convention nor by Publius, author of The Federalist Papers. State governments were subject to national law from the outset, although not without controversy. Dillon's rule is the foundation in most states of the legal status of local units of government. Many states distinguish between municipal corporations and counties as general purpose governments. The extension of powers and duties to local governments, then, is entirely discretionary with the general assembly. Dillon's rule has been accepted as the essential legal doctrine of statelocal relations by the United States (US). Supreme Court. From the perspective of local governments, both federal and state governments engage in unfunded mandates.
