Hawaii Civics: How Your State Government Works

by bam

A practical, non-partisan guide to how the state of Hawaii governs itself, and how you take part where you live. Hawaii runs the most CENTRALIZED government of any state: it has just FOUR counties and essentially NO city or town governments below them, and it is the ONLY state with a single, statewide school system (no local school districts). You'll learn Hawaii's Constitution of 1959, its executive, its Legislature of 25 senators and 51 representatives, its merit-selected judiciary (where a commission, not voters, decides retention), the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Hawaii's status as the only state with an official second language (Hawaiian). It also runs elections entirely by mail. Time-sensitive facts are flagged, pointing to elections.hawaii.gov. Cited to Hawaii's own official sources (capitol.hawaii.gov, elections.hawaii.gov, courts.state.hi.us).