Politics of San Francisco

Tools:

The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation with a constitutional republic. America prides itself on being a democracy, but in actuality is a representative democracy. To place checks on these elected officials, the U.S. Constitution regulates a strict system of checks and balances. The constitution remains the country's supreme legal document and as a social contract for the American people.

In the American federalist system, there are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. The local government's duties are commonly split between county and municipal governments. In almost all cases, executive and legislative officials are elected by a plurality vote of citizens by district.

The federal government is also composed of three branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.

  • The Legislative is the bicameral Congress which is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives and is responsible for making federal law, declaring war, approving treaties, and has the power of impeachment.
  • The Executive branch consists of the president, commander-in-chief.
  • The last branch is Judicial, which is made up of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts. Their primary job is to interpret laws and they can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional.

San Francisco's liberal atmosphere permeates to its political system. A strong culture of liberal activism runs strong in the city and local politics are dominated by Democrats, Greens and progressive candidates. In 2006, the Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance making San Francisco the first city in the nation to provide health care services to all uninsured residents, with creation of the Healthy San Francisco program.

San Francisco is unique is being the only consolidated city-county in California and has been since 1856. The mayor acts as county executive and the City Council also serves as the county Board of Supervisors.

The executive branch of the government of San Francisco is led by the mayor and includes the civil service and all elected county-wide officials. The Board of Supervisors, comprised of 11 elected members, is led by a president and oversees all city and county functions. Each of the 11 members represents a district in the city.

San Francisco is home to the Supreme Court of California and also plays host to the regional sections of many federal agencies, including the U.S. Court of Appeals, United States Mint and the Federal Reserve Bank.

Arnold Schwarzeneger, first known for his career in body-building and acting has taken on a new role as "The Governator", California's current governor. Although initially elected under an unusual recall election, he has been re-elected twice and has proven himself to be both widely popular and effective.

The current mayor, Democrat Gavin Newsom, was elected in 2003. He has made headlines nationally by directing the San Francisco city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004. This decision was overturned shortly thereafter as the California Supreme Court decided this conflicted with state law. Four years later, the California Supreme Court struck down the ban on same sex marriage after the City and County of San Francisco. In November of 2008, Prop 8 was passed by California voters, which reversed the California Supreme Court's aforementioned decision and changed the constitution to make a marriage between a man and a woman.

San Francisco City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 554-4933

The official San Francisco City government website: http://www.sfgov.org/

Update 2/01/2009

Related articles:

Tools:

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest WhatsApp Addthis

Recommended Partners

Keep more of your money when transferring funds overseas!

Fexco_logo

If you want to move money abroad, from or to for example, Fexco provides efficient and secure global bank to bank transfers and bespoke payment solutions for both business and personal clients.

Why Fexco

Fexco provides a secure international money transfer service online or by telephone with bank beating fx rates and low fees. Specialises in high-value transfers.

Faster, cheaper, safer International money transfers.
Dedicated fx dealer who will oversee your transfer from start to finish
Make payments from anywhere with our secure online platform, PayDirect.
If you prefer the personal touch, then our payments team can be contacted by phone.

Main characteristics

Fexco will help you to keep your overseas money transfer costs to a minimum.

Margin 0.6%
Regulator FCA
Fee £10 < £5K or Free > £5k
Mini £1K
Ccy All (130 currencies, incl ‘exotics’)
Services Repatriation of funds, Property, Regular payments, High Value payments, spot, online, telephone.

Get an online quote today

When you are ready to make your transfer, John and his team will be available to help you with better rates and an unrivalled service to make sure your funds are delivered securely and speedily.



Do you have comments or personal information to communicate about this article? Add your comment.


Find more definitions and general answers on expatriation issues in the Expat FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).

Go to the Forum to talk more about politics of San Francisco, overview.

Download the full digital PDF expat guide in San Francisco

Download the guide: San Francisco,
  • See in one single booklet all the articles for a city guide for expatriates.
  • Enjoy full colour photos to illustrate each section.
  • Additionnal maps: Region, City view, Neighborhood, Street view.

  • - My Life Abroad -
    A selection of expat stories

    "A fun compulsive read!"
    J. Matcham, Amazon

    "I strongly advise people ready to live abroad to read this book!"
    Patrice, Amazon