North Carolina: Government and Higher Education

North Carolina's first constitution was adopted in 1776. Its present constitution dates from 1868 but was thoroughly revised in 1875–76 as a result of Reconstruction experiences; it has been amended many times since. The state's executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a four-year term. North Carolina's general assembly has a senate with 50 members and a house with 120 members, all elected for two-year terms. The state elects 2 senators and 13 representatives to the U.S. Congress and has 15 electoral votes. North Carolina's politics have become increasingly polarized over the last two decades, with conservative rural voters opposed to more liberal urban centers. Besides the governor's chair, the state legislature and its Congressional delegations are strongly Republican.

The state's notable institutions of higher learning include the Univ. of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill and four other campuses; Duke Univ., at Durham; North Carolina State Univ., at Raleigh; Wake Forest Univ. and the North Carolina School of the Arts, at Winston-Salem; East Carolina Univ., at Greenville; North Carolina Agricultural and Technical Univ., at Greensboro; and Appalachian State Univ., at Boone.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Progress since 1900
• Reconstruction and Agrarian Revolt
• Secession and Civil War
• Westward Expansion and Civic Improvements
• Resistance and Revolution
• Exploration and Colonization
• Government and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures
• Bibliography

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