New York, state, United States: Government, Politics, and Higher Education
Government, Politics, and Higher Education
Under its present constitution (adopted 1894), New York is run by a governor, who is elected to a four-year term and may be reelected, and by a bicameral legislature made up of a 61-member senate and a 150-member assembly. Members of both branches of the legislature are elected to two-year terms. The state has 2 U.S. senators and 27 representatives and has 29 electoral votes in national presidential elections (a significant drop from its 41 votes in 1970). While Republicans controlled the governorship from 1942-74, the Democrats regained control for the next five decades with the exception of George Pataki's three terms (1995-2006).
Apart from New York City (see separate articles for educational and cultural institutions in New York City and its boroughs), institutions of higher education in the state include Alfred Univ., Bard College, Colgate Univ., Cornell, Hobart College, Iona Univ., Long Island Univ., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Sarah Lawrence College, Skidmore College, Syracuse Univ., the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, Univ. of Rochester, Vassar College, and Wells College. The State Univ. of New York has major campuses at Stony Brook, Albany, Binghamton, and Buffalo.
Sections in this article:
- Introduction
- New York since 1912
- Political Corruption and the Labor Movement
- Immigration and Civil War
- Political, Reform, and Cultural Movements
- Land Speculation and Commercial Development
- Revolution and a New Constitution
- An English Colony
- French and Dutch Claims
- The Algonquians and the Iroquois
- Government, Politics, and Higher Education
- Economy
- Geography
- Facts and Figures
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. Political Geography
