Tennessee Civics: How Your State Government Works

by bam

A practical, non-partisan guide to how the state of Tennessee governs itself, and how you take part where you live. You'll learn Tennessee's Constitution of 1870; a General Assembly of 33 senators and 99 representatives; and an executive branch full of genuine oddities: the Governor is the ONLY official Tennesseans elect statewide, there is no separately elected Lieutenant Governor (the Speaker of the Senate holds that title), the Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Comptroller are chosen BY THE LEGISLATURE, and (uniquely in the nation) the Attorney General is appointed by the STATE SUPREME COURT. You'll also learn Tennessee's unusually weak gubernatorial veto (overridden by a simple majority), its lack of a citizen initiative, its 'Tennessee Plan' for judges, and its 95 counties. Time-sensitive voting rules are flagged, pointing to sos.tn.gov. Cited to Tennessee's own official sources (capitol.tn.gov, sos.tn.gov, tncourts.gov).