Virginia, state, United States: Government, Politics, and Higher Education

Virginia is officially styled a commonwealth. The Virginia constitution was revised extensively in the late 1960s. The legislature (called the general assembly) consists of a house of delegates of 100 members and a senate with 40 members. The governor serves a four-year term and is ineligible for reelection. Virginia sends 11 representatives and 2 senators to the U.S. Congress and has 13 electoral votes. Long a Democratic stronghold, the commonwealth now has highly competitive two-party politics.

Among Virginia's many institutions of higher learning are the College of William and Mary in Virginia, mainly at Williamsburg; George Mason Univ., at Fairfax; Hampton Univ. (formerly Hampton Institute), at Hampton; the Univ. of Mary Washington, at Fredericksburg; Randolph College, at Lynchburg; Randolph-Macon College, at Ashland; Sweet Briar College, at Sweet Briar; the Univ. of Virginia, mainly at Charlottesville; Virginia Commonwealth Univ., at Richmond; Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee Univ., at Lexington; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., at Blacksburg; and Virginia State Univ., at Petersburg.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Desegregation and Growth
• Politics and Industry in the Early Twentieth Century
• Postwar Political Reform and a New Economy
• Slavery, Insurrection, and Civil War
• Virginia's Role in the New Nation
• The American Revolution
• Tidewater Plantations and Westward Migration
• A Royal Colony
• Early Settlements of the Virginia Company
• Government, Politics, and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures

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