Politics and government of Arkansas

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The government of Arkansas, shaped by its political system, is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. These consist of the state governor's office, a bicameral state legislature known as the Arkansas General Assembly, and a state court system. The Arkansas Constitution delineates the structure and function of the state government. Arkansas has four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and two seats in the U.S. Senate.

Political party strength

Main article: Political party strength in Arkansas

Republicans

Republican strength traditionally lied mainly in the northwestern part of the state, particularly Fort Smith and Bentonville, as well as North Central Arkansas around the Mountain Home area. In the latter area, Republicans have been known to get 90 percent or more of the vote. While the rest of the state used to be more Democratic, Republicans have extended their strength into the Little Rock suburbs, the southwest of the state (especially Texarkana), and the northeast of the state around Jonesboro. Arkansas has only elected three Republicans to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction, Tim Hutchinson, who was defeated after one term by Mark Pryor in 2002, John Boozman, who defeated incumbent Blanche Lincoln in 2010, and Tom Cotton, who defeated Mark Pryor in 2014.

Democrats

Although Democrats have traditionally had an overwhelming majority of registered voters, Arkansas Democrats tend to be much more conservative than their national counterparts, particularly outside Little Rock. Reflecting the state's large evangelical population, the state has a strong social conservative bent. Under the Arkansas Constitution Arkansas is a right to work state, its voters passed a ban on same-sex marriage with 75% voting yes, and the state is one of a handful with legislation on its books banning abortion in the event Roe v. Wade is ever overturned. Traditionally having strength in most areas not in the Northwest and North Central parts of the state, Democrats in Arkansas have the most strength currently near and along the Mississippi River in the East, in central Little Rock, and around Pine Bluff and the areas south of there along the Louisiana border.

History

Presidential elections results
Year Republican Democratic
2012 60.57% 647,744 36.88% 394,409
2008 58.72% 638,017 38.86% 422,310
2004 54.31% 572,898 44.55% 469,953
2000 51.31% 472,940 45.86% 422,768
1996 36.80% 325,416 53.74% 475,171
1992 35.48% 337,324 53.21% 505,823
1988 56.37% 466,578 42.19% 349,237
1984 60.47% 534,774 38.29% 338,646
1980 48.13% 403,164 47.52% 398,041
1976 34.93% 268,753 64.94% 499,614
1972 68.82% 445,751 30.71% 198,899
1968* 31.01% 189,062 30.33% 184,901
1964 43.41% 243,264 56.06% 314,197
*State won by George Wallace
of the American Independent Party,
at 38.65%, or 235,627 votes

Arkansas had the distinction in 1992 of being the only state in the country to give the majority of its vote to a single candidate in the presidential election—native son Bill Clinton—while every other state's electoral votes were won by pluralities of the vote among the three candidates. Arkansas has become more reliably Republican in presidential elections in recent years. The state voted for John McCain in 2008 by a margin of 20 percentage points, making it one of the few states in the country to vote more Republican than it had in 2004. (The others were Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma and West Virginia.)[1] The Democratic presence remained strong on the state level for longer: in 2006, Democrats were elected to all statewide offices by the voters in a Democratic sweep that included the Democratic Party of Arkansas regaining the governorship. By 2014, however, Republicans won all statewide offices, all Congressional seats and both chambers of the legislature.

Law and government

As in the national government of the United States, political power in Arkansas is divided into three main branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.

Each officer's term is four years long. Office holders are term-limited to two full terms plus any partial terms before the first full term. Arkansas governors served two-year terms until a referendum lengthened the term to four years, effective with the 1986 general election. Statewide elections are held two years after presidential elections.

Some of Arkansas's counties have two county seats, as opposed to the usual one seat. The arrangement dates back to when travel was extremely difficult in the state. The seats are usually on opposite sides of the county. Though travel is no longer the difficulty it once was, there are few efforts to eliminate the two seat arrangement where it exists, since the county seat is a source of pride (and jobs) to the city involved.

Arkansas is the only state to specify the pronunciation of its name by law (AR-kan-saw).[a]

Article 19 (Miscellaneous Provisions), Item 1 in the Arkansas Constitution is entitled "Atheists disqualified from holding office or testifying as witness," and states that "No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any Court." However, in 1961, the United States Supreme Court in Torcaso v. Watkins (1961), held that a similar requirement in Maryland was unenforceable because it violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution. The latter amendment, per current precedent, makes the federal Bill of Rights binding on the states. As a result, this provision has not been known to have been enforced in modern times, and it is understood that it would be struck down if challenged in court.

Executive

See also: Governor of Arkansas; List of Governors of Arkansas; and Arkansas gubernatorial election, 2010

The current Governor of Arkansas is Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, who was elected on On November 4, 2014.[2][3] [4] The six other elected executive positions in Arkansas are lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, auditor, and land commissioner.[5] The governor also appoints qualified individuals to lead various state boards, committees, and departments.

In Arkansas, the lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor and thus can be from a different political party.[6]

Legislative

Main article: Arkansas General Assembly
Arkansas State Capitol building in Little Rock designed by architect George R. Mann

The Arkansas General Assembly is the state's bicameral bodies of legislators, composed of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate contains 35 members from districts of approximately equal population. These districts are redrawn decennially with each US census. The entire body was up for reelection in 2012 and henceforth senators are limited to two terms of four years and elections are staggered such that half the body is up for re-election every two years. Arkansas voters selected a 21-14 Republican majority in the Senate. Arkansas House members can serve a maximum of three two-year terms. House districts are redistricted by the Arkansas Board of Apportionment. Following the 2012 elections, Republicans gained a 51-49 majority in the House of Representatives.[7]

The Republican Party majority status in the Arkansas State House of Representatives following the 2012 elections is the party's first since 1874. Arkansas was the last state of the old Confederacy to never have Republicans control either chamber of its house since the Civil War.[8]

Composition of the Arkansas legislature

Arkansas's legislature is presently controlled by the Republican Party, which gained the majority in both houses following the 2012 general election.

The Arkansas House of Representatives

Arkansas State House
Template:American politics/party colors/Republican/rowTemplate:American politics/party colors/Democratic/row
Affiliation Members
Republican 65
Democratic 35
Seat Vacant 0
 Total 100

The Arkansas Senate

Arkansas State Senate
Template:American politics/party colors/Republican/rowTemplate:American politics/party colors/Democratic/row
Affiliation Members
Republicans 24
Democrats 11
Seat Vacant 0
Total 35

State judiciary

Arkansas's judicial branch has five court systems: Arkansas Supreme Court, Arkansas Court of Appeals, Circuit Courts, District Courts and City Courts.

Most cases begin in district court, which is subdivided into state district court and local district court. State district courts exercise district-wide jurisdiction over the districts created by the General Assembly, and local district courts are presided over by part-time judges who may privately practice law. There are currently 25 state district court judges presiding over 15 districts, with more districts to be created in 2017. There are 28 judicial circuits of Circuit Court, with each contains five subdivisions: criminal, civil, probate, domestic relations, and juvenile court. The jurisdiction of the Arkansas Court of Appeals is determined by the Arkansas Supreme Court, and there is no right of appeal from the Court of Appeals to the high court. However, the Arkansas Supreme Court can review Court of Appeals cases upon application by either a party to the litigation, upon request by the Court of Appeals, or if the Arkansas Supreme Court feels the case should've been initially assigned to it. The twelve judges of the Arkansas Court of Appeals are elected from judicial districts to renewable six-year terms.

The Arkansas Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the state, composed of seven justices elected to eight-year terms. Established by the Arkansas Constitution in 1836, the court's decisions can be appealed to only the Supreme Court of the United States.

Federal representation

Main articles: United States Senate election in Arkansas, 2010 and United States Senate election in Arkansas, 2014
Map of Arkansas showing all four congressional districts

Arkansas's two U.S. Senators are elected at large:

Main articles: United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas, 2012 and United States House of Representatives election in Arkansas, 2014

Arkansas has four congressional districts. There were 5th, 6th, 7th, and at-large districts but they were eliminated in 1963, 1963, 1953, and 1885 respectively. U.S. House of Representatives:

Representatives' Political Persuasion – the 113th Congress
AR District 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Class 1 Senator Class 2 Senator
Representative Rick Crawford French Hill Steve Womack Bruce Westerman John Boozman Tom Cotton
Conservative Score[9] 81 79 81 TBD 60 81
Liberal Score[9] 5 2 5 TBD 0 0

Gallery of members of U.S. Senate

Gallery of members of U.S. House of Representatives

Notes

  1. ^ The name Arkansas has been pronounced and spelled in a variety of fashions. The region was organized as the Territory of Arkansaw on July 4, 1819, but the territory was admitted to the United States as the state of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically /ˈɑːrkənsɔː/, /ɑːrˈkænzəs/, and several other variants. Historically and modernly, the people of Arkansas call themselves either "Arkansans" or "Arkansawyers". In 1881, the Arkansas General Assembly passed the following concurrent resolution, now Arkansas Code 1-4-105 (official text):

    Whereas, confusion of practice has arisen in the pronunciation of the name of our state and it is deemed important that the true pronunciation should be determined for use in oral official proceedings.

    And, whereas, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the State Historical Society and the Eclectic Society of Little Rock, which have agreed upon the correct pronunciation as derived from history, and the early usage of the American immigrants.

    Be it therefore resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, that the only true pronunciation of the name of the state, in the opinion of this body, is that received by the French from the native Indians and committed to writing in the French word representing the sound. It should be pronounced in three (3) syllables, with the final "s" silent, the "a" in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables. The pronunciation with the accent on the second syllable with the sound of "a" in "man" and the sounding of the terminal "s" is an innovation to be discouraged.

    Citizens of the state of Kansas often pronounce the Arkansas River as /ɑːrˈkænzəs ˈrɪvər/, in a manner similar to the common pronunciation of the name of their state.

References

  1. ^ See image.
  2. ^ "Winners in '06 Governors races" (PDF). Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  3. ^ "Arkansas.gov Administration page for Governor". Dwe.arkansas.gov. March 16, 2007. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  4. ^ "Governor Terms and Term Limits" (PDF). Snelling Center for Government. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  5. ^ Arkansas Code 7-5-806.
  6. ^ "Office of Lieutenant Governor". Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. The Pryor Center. February 28, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  7. ^ Cooke, Mallory. "Republicans Take Control of Arkansas House, Senate". KFSM-TV. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  8. ^ "Arkansas Senate flips; first time since Reconstruction". The Courier. November 7, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Liberal Vote Scores, Cosponsorship Ratings and Contact Information for Members of the House of Representatives in the 112th Congress of 2011-2012". That's My Congress. 2012. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)

External links

See also

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