Mississippi, state, United States: Government and Higher Education

Mississippi is governed under the 1890 constitution. The bicameral legislature consists of 52 senators and 122 representatives, all elected for four-year terms. The governor is also elected for a four-year term. The state has two U.S. senators, four representatives, and six electoral votes. Democrats dominated state politics from Reconstruction until the early '90s; the state is now strongly Republican.

Institutions of higher learning in the state include the Univ. of Mississippi, at Oxford (which was also the home of writer William Faulkner) and at Jackson; Mississippi State Univ., at Mississippi State; the Univ. of Southern Mississippi, at Hattiesburg; Jackson State Univ., at Jackson; and Mississippi Univ. for Women, at Columbus.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Natural Disasters and Economic Difficulties
• The Persistence of Racial Conflict
• Public Works
• Disenfranchisement and Sharecropping
• Reconstruction
• Expansionism and Secession
• Territorial Status and Statehood
• Native Inhabitants and European Settlement
• Government and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures

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