Florida Civics: How Your State Government Works

by bam

A practical, non-partisan guide to how the state of Florida governs itself, and how you take part where you live. You'll learn Florida's 1968-revision constitution and its unusually many ways to amend it, including the once-every-20-years Constitution Revision Commission that can place proposals straight on the ballot, and the citizen-initiative petition, where any amendment now needs 60% of the vote to pass; the three branches, including Florida's distinctive plural executive (a Governor plus a separately-elected Cabinet: Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer, and Commissioner of Agriculture); how a bill becomes a Florida law in a 120-member House and 40-member Senate, with a two-thirds veto override; local government across Florida's 67 counties (charter vs. non-charter) and its municipalities: Florida has NO townships; and Florida's elections rules: closed primaries, voter ID, and vote-by-mail rules that were tightened in 2021 to 2022. It closes on how to get involved where you live. Cited to Florida's own official sources (leg.state.fl.us, flsenate.gov, dos.fl.gov, flcourts.gov, and the Florida Constitution). Because state facts vary and change, the course flags time-sensitive items, like the recently tightened mail-ballot rules and the 60% amendment threshold added in 2006, and points you to Florida's own sources to confirm the current rule.