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

Ohio's present constitution was adopted in 1851. It has been amended many times, most notably in 1912 after a constitutional convention adopted such changes as progressive labor provisions and such measures as initiative, referendum, and the direct primary. The state's executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a four-year term and permitted two successive terms. Ohio's general assembly has a senate with 33 members, elected for four-year terms, and a house with 99 members. The state elects 2 senators and 16 representatives to the U.S. Congress and has 18 electoral votes. Republicans have predominated in Ohio politics since the Civil War, but the state has often supported Democratic candidates.

Among the large number of institutions of higher learning in the state are Antioch Univ., at Yellow Springs; Bowling Green State Univ., at Bowling Green; Case Western Reserve Univ., at Cleveland; the College of Wooster, at Wooster; Kent State Univ., at Kent; Kenyon College, at Gambier; Miami Univ., at Oxford; Oberlin College, at Oberlin; Ohio State Univ., at Columbus; Ohio Univ., at Athens; Ohio Wesleyan Univ., at Delaware; the Univ. of Cincinnati; the Univ. of Toledo; and Wilberforce Univ., at Wilberforce.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Twentieth-Century Developments
• The Civil War, Industrialization, and Politics
• The War of 1812 and Further Settlement
• From the Settlement of the Old Northwest to Statehood
• Prehistory to the American Revolution
• Government, Politics, and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures
• Bibliography

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