Maybe in some regions the place value happens to be the same as the legal designation, but you should not assume that it is everywhere. The admin_level value is what should indicate the type of jurisdiction, not the place value--check out the wiki (ie https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/United_States_admin_level) On your last point, I think you misunderstand--OSM is a global project trying to make data using shared definitions so it can be used by people around the world. But hey, don't take my word for it, join the OSM US Slack and connect with people there, it's a great community of people really committed to OSM. (https://openstreetmap.us/get-involved/slack/) Happy mapping!