Louisiana Civics: How Your State Government Works

by bam

A practical, non-partisan guide to how the state of Louisiana governs itself, and how you take part where you live. Louisiana is unlike any other state: it is the ONLY state whose legal system is built on CIVIL LAW (the French/Spanish/Napoleonic tradition) rather than English common law; it calls its counties PARISHES (64 of them); and it elects officials through a distinctive 'jungle primary' in which all candidates share one ballot and a runoff follows if no one wins a majority. You'll learn Louisiana's Constitution of 1974, its plural executive of seven separately elected statewide officers, its Legislature of 39 senators and 105 representatives, how it elects its judges, and its parish and city-parish local governments (including consolidated New Orleans). Time-sensitive facts are flagged, pointing to sos.la.gov. Cited to Louisiana's own official sources (legis.la.gov, sos.la.gov, lasc.org).