Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent review of a difficult topic
This book provides an excellent overview of the complexity of legal jurisdiction in the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) in the years prior to statehood.It covers tribal legal status and the loss of the limited self-government that the five tribes enjoyed prior to the Civil War.For anyone truly interested in the 'wild west' of the region this book explains WHY things were happening. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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The Cornerstone of Everyday Life in Our State!:Carole Marshintroduces students to public service, forms of democratic government,the legislative process, political parties and other concepts in a fun,interactive way.Students learn terms such as electoral votes, franchise,suffrage, commonwealth and bicameral.Includes how our state'sgovernment works, number of Oklahoma representatives in the House, cityand county government facts, what the census tells us about our state, ourstate's electoral votes and more.Kids will be encouraged to participatein student government, learn how and why to vote, and learn how tobecome a legislative page.Includes reproducible activities, bibliographyand index + a glossary from Absentee Ballot to Zoning.Free teacher'sguide gives specific suggestions & instructions on how to get maxeducational value from this book. ... Read more

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When it adopted a new constitution in 1969, the Seminole Nation was the first of the Five Tribes in Oklahoma to formally reorganize its government. In the face of an American legal system that sought either to destroy its nationhood or to impede its self-government, the Seminole Nation tenaciously retained its internal autonomy, cultural vitality, and economic subsistence. Here, L. Susan Work draws on her experience as a tribal attorney to present the first legal history of the twentieth-century Seminole Nation.

Work traces the Seminoles' story from their removal to Indian Territory from Florida in the late nineteenth century to the new challenges of the twenty-first century. She also places the history of the Seminole Nation within the context of general Indian law and policy, thereby revealing common threads in the legal struggles and achievements of the Five Tribes, including their evolving relationships with both federal and state governments.

As Work amply demonstrates, the history of the Seminole Nation is one of survival and rebirth. It is a dramatic story of an Indian nation overcoming formidable obstacles to move forward into the twenty-first century as a thriving sovereign nation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful story of a wonderful human being
Having read this book I can only say I wish life in the U.S.A.
was more like the days depicted in this book.......... and especially
that our world contained more people of George Nigh's ilk....... we
would certainly have more respect in the world if this was the case.

I hope everyone reads this book and will try to live a more gentle and kind
life.Very well written and true to my memory of those times.I recommend
reading and keeping a copy on your bookshelve. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Legislatively Mandating Morality ...
... didn't work then nor with the Volstead Act (the nationwide "experiment" with prohibition that enabled Al Capone and others similiarly situated to prosper.)This is the story of Oklahoma's cominginto the United States of America with a "dry" StateConstitution.It took an ice storm in the early 1980's to rid it of allthose vestiges.The book is a well written study of what happens when theseparation of Church & State is a sham. It is important reading today. As George Santayana admonished: "Those who cannot remember the pastare condemned to repeat it." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Insights into Historic Oklahoma Legislature
The author notes most of the public knows little about the state legislative process.Meanwhile, legislators have dual roles in representing their public constituency while also making laws for the entire state.There is no set way for how legislators balance these sometimes competing responsibilities.

In Oklahoma (circa 1978), any legislation could be petitioned to be brought to a popular vote, except for bills with emergency clauses.Legislators could also opt to place a proposal for a popular vote.

Legislators have powers to confirm executive branch appointees, oversee the executive branch, and how the power of impeachment.These powers, or just the ability of exercising these actions, help keep the executive branch from drawing legislative questioning and responding.

The Oklahoma Constitution requires each bill be limited to one subject, be funded, be uniform, and that revenue bills must begin in the House (although they could be amended by the Senate, nor could they be passed on any of a session's last five days, unless it concerns a revenue bill that the Governor pocket vetoed).

The Oklahoma House had 109 members upon statehood in 1907, then had 92 members in 1921, 123 in 1953, and 101 in 1971.The Senate began with 44 members and changed to 48 in 1965.

Legislators tend to be more upper class with fewer females and racial minorities than found in the general population.A majority of Oklahoma occupations are found in less than 10% of legislators.

Oklahoma legislators from the 1963-64 through 1975-76 session who were born in Oklahoma ranged from 67% in the House one session to 84% in the Senate another session.

When the courts required "one person, one vote", the Democratic majority of Oklahoma legislators redistricted by forcing Republican incumbents to run against each other and avoiding having Democratic incumbents from running against each other.

The author observed that legislators approaches their legislative roles in different fashions.Some were strict rule followers, some innovators, some brokers who sought compromises, some were delegates representing their constituents, some trustees who voted their conscious, and some who followed political roles and operated to advance their political party.On issues, some legislators are facilitators, some resisters, and some neutral.A five state study concluded Oklahoma legislators tended to be more ritualistic and had fewer brokers than was observed in the other four states.

A study found in 1971, the turnover rate nationwide among State Senators was 24.6% and among State House members was 32.3%.The frequency of reelections (usually every two to four years) and low pay were factors in why some left.Longer sessions did not seem to influence members leaving, suggesting that legislators were more apt to stay on even if sessions were longer if they felt they were accomplishing things with the longer sessions, which indicates more legislators enjoyed legislative work.

The author found that about 40% of Oklahoma legislators were "lawmakers" who devoted much attention to their legislative duties, about 12% were "reluctants" who tended to not be active and followed what others did, about 23% were "advertisers" who work in high profile manners yet often soon leave for career moves that their high profile work helped lead them towards, and about 25% were "spectators" who enjoyed legislative activity but did not actively participate as much as others.

There were about 30 legislative councils with outside staff who assisted legislators between 1907 and 1917, yet they were mostly sparsely staffed with few resources.In 1938, the Oklahoma Legislative Council was created and became fully functional in 1947.This office provides legal, fiscal, and research assistance to legislators regarding legislation.In addition, legislators may obtain information from the Legislative Reference Division of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.

From 1959 through 1976 in Oklahoma, 34.4% of all House bills proposed and 37.7% of Senate bills proposed were enacted.

The Speaker and President Pro Tempore appointed legislators to committees and who chaired the committees.Technically, the President Pro Tempore recommends committee appointments to the Rules Committee, a committee that the President Pro Tempore appoints.Committee chairs traditionally go to members with longer service, recognizing they usually have more knowledge about issues, although there is no requirement that chairs be chosen on seniority.A committee chair decides which bills could be brought to a vote.Anyone, legislators or the public, could petition a committee to consider a bill.Such petitions had no legal force but often drew attention and pressured action on specific bills.

Roll call legislative votes are strongly influenced by political party affiliation: Democrats tend to vote as do other Democrats and Republicans tend to vote as do other Republicans.When there were votes with no party principles involved, legislators appeared to be apt to vote according to what would be most beneficial to their constituencies.

It is noted that legislators were not necessarily impressed with other legislators who spoke excessively during floor debates.Legislators had more favorable opinions of members who spoke less.One leader stated "the talkers don't accomplish much around here.Nobody likes them."

Lobbyists have been seen as major influences on legislation in Congress and in state legislatures nationwide.

A study by the Citizens Conference on State Legislatures analzed the abilities of legislatures to handle information about bills, operate functionally in acting upon their legislative duties doing so in an accountable fashion, with independence from the Executive Branch, and in being representative of constituents.They concluded California had the most effective legislature, Oklahoma the 14th , Pennsylvania the 21st, and Alabama the 50th most effective.
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The Five Civilized Tribes, populism, progressive-era reform, and a continuing thread of popular mistrust of the legislature shaped and continue to influence the State of Oklahoma's constitution. Based on a combination of exhaustive, article-by-article legal and historical research, Adkison and Palmer detail the intent, the politics, the social and economic pressures, and the legal cases that have given form to the Oklahoma constitution since it was adopted in 1907. ... Read more