this book offers the first political theory of special-purpose jurisdictions, including 35,000 special districts and 13,500 school districts, which consti- tute the most common form of local government in the United States today. collectively, special-purpose governments have more civilian employees than the federal government and spend more than all city governments combined. the proliferation of special-purpose jurisdictions has fundamentally altered the nature of representation and taxation in local government. citizens today are commonly represented by dozens—in some cases hundreds—of local offi- cials in multiple layers of government. As a result, political participation in local elections is low, and special interest groups associated.
