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The primary unit of local government in the U.S. state of Connecticut is its 169 towns. Each of these towns may contain incorporated cities or boroughs, as well as unincorporated villages. New England towns are geographically similar to civil townships in that the entire territory of the state is completely subdivided into towns. However, they differ primarily in that New England towns, particularly in Connecticut, have broad home rule, and have powers comparable to those that a city in other states would normally have. There are advantages and disadvantages to this system: residents have a greater voice in the decision-making process over local issues. On the other hand, the state's delegation of broad powers to the towns sometimes results in bitter rivalries between towns stemming from projects and programs that encompass multiple towns, as town residents and officials have historically placed local interests ahead of the interests of the region or state as a whole. Decades of legal battles between Bridgeport and Stratford over the expansion of Sikorsky Airport and political fighting between Norwalk and Wilton surrounding construction of the US 7 Freeway are examples. == County == Connecticut is divided geographically into eight counties, but these counties do not have any associated government structure. The Connecticut General Assembly abolished all county governments on October 1, 1960.〔(Counties ), Section VI of ''Connecticut State Register and Manual'', accessed January 31, 2010〕 The counties continued to have sheriffs until 2000, when the sheriffs' offices were abolished and replaced with state marshals through a ballot measure attached to the 2000 presidential election. Counties are, however, still used by the state to organize its judicial and state marshal system. Connecticut's court jurisdictions still adhere to the old county boundaries, with the exception of Fairfield, Hartford, and New Haven counties, which have been further subdivided into multiple court jurisdictions due to their relatively large populations. From 1666 to 1960, "weak" county governments existed in Connecticut, where each county commission had limited powers delegated to it by the General Assembly. Each county had a 3-member County Commission, whose members were appointed by the General Assembly; plus a Sheriff who was elected by the voters in each county. Initially, county governments had authority over: * County courts (transitioned to the State Judiciary in 1855) * Construction and maintenance of county jails * Resolving road disputes between towns * Constructing and maintaining bridges to link adjacent towns * Maintaining safe houses for neglected and abused children County governments had no direct taxing authority; their funding was provided indirectly through set-asides from state and local taxes. During the first half of the 20th century, county governments were gradually phased out as the General Assembly transitioned powers from the county commissions to either the state government or to individual towns. By the time county governments were abolished by Public Act 152 in 1960, the only remaining responsibility of the county commissions was to oversee and maintain the county jails; those functions were transition to the state Department of Corrections after the county commissions were disbanded. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Local government in Connecticut」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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