South Dakota: Government and Higher Education

South Dakota is governed under its 1889 constitution. The legislature consists of 35 senators and 70 representatives, all elected for two-year terms. The governor is elected for four years. The state sends one U.S. representative and two senators to the U.S. Congress and has three electoral votes. The state is solidly Republican.

Institutions of higher learning in South Dakota include Augustana Univ., at Sioux Falls; Northern State Univ., at Aberdeen; the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, at Rapid City; South Dakota State Univ., at Brookings; and the Univ. of South Dakota, at Vermillion.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Postwar Changes
• Railroads, Droughts, and the Great Depression
• The Dakota Land Boom, Statehood, and Agrarian Reform
• Gold Fever and the End of Sioux Resistance
• Settlement
• Early Inhabitants, European Exploration, and Fur Trading
• Government and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures
• Bibliography

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