  We present an effective theory for the bulk Fractional Quantum Hall states in
spin-polarized bilayer and spin-1/2 single layer two-dimensional electron gases
(2DEG) in high magnetic fields consistent with the requirement of global gauge
invariance on systems with periodic boundary conditions. We derive the theory
for the edge states that follows naturally from this bulk theory. We find that
the minimal effective theory contains two propagating edge modes that carry
charge and energy, and two non-propagating topological modes responsible for
the statistics of the excitations. We give a detailed description of the
effective theory for the spin-singlet states, the symmetric bilayer states and
for the $(m,m,m)$ states. We calculate explicitly, for a number of cases of
interest, the operators that create the elementary excitations, their bound
states, and the electron. We also discuss the scaling behavior of the tunneling
conductances in different situations: internal tunneling, tunneling between
identical edges and tunneling into a FQH state from a Fermi liquid.
