Government of Alaska

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The government of Alaska is divided into various departments. Alaska has 246 federally recognized tribal governments and one federal Indian (Native American) reservation.^[1]

1 Native Alaskans
2 Political parties
3 Presidential elections
4 History
5 Divisions
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Native Alaskans

Alaska Natives, while organized in and around their communities, are often active within the Native corporations which have been given ownership over large tracts of land, and thus need to deliberate resource conservation and development issues.

[edit] Political parties

Alaska is often characterized as a Republican-leaning state with strong Libertarian tendencies. Local political communities often work on issues related to land use development, fishing, tourism, and individual rights as many residents are proud of their rough Alaskan heritage.

In recent years, the Alaska Legislature is a 20-member Senate serving 4-year terms and 40-member House serving 2-year terms. It has been dominated by conservatives, generally Republicans. Likewise, recent state governors have been mostly conservatives, although not always elected under the official 'Party' banner. Republican Wally Hickel was elected to the office for a second term in 1990 after jumping the Republican ship and briefly joining the Alaskan Independence Party ticket just long enough to be reelected. He subsequently officially 'rejoined' the Republican fold in 1994.

Alaska's members of the United States Congress are all Republican. Senator Ted Stevens was appointed to the position following the death of Senator Bob Bartlett in December of 1968, and has never lost a re-election campaign since. As the longest-serving Republican in the Senate (sometimes nicknamed "Senator-For-Life"), Stevens has been a crucial force in gaining Federal money for his state.

Until his resignation from the U.S. Senate after being elected governor, Republican Frank Murkowski held the state's other senatorial position and, as governor, was allowed to appoint his daughter, Lisa Murkowski as his successor. She won a full six-year term on her own in 2004.

Alaska's sole U.S. Representative, Don Young, was re-elected to his 17th straight term, also in 2004. His seniority in House makes him one of the most influential Republican House members. His position on the House Transportation Committee allowed him to parlay some $450 million to the Gravina Island Bridge and the Knik Arm Bridge, both derided as "bridges to nowhere". Young gained national publicity for his insistence that this money not be reallocated to rebuilding the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

[edit] Presidential elections

In presidential elections, the state's Electoral College votes have been most often won by a Republican nominee. Only once has Alaska supported a Democratic nominee, when it supported Lyndon B. Johnson in the landslide year of 1964, although the 1960 and 1968 elections were close. No state has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate fewer times. President George W. Bush won the state's electoral votes in 2004 by a margin of 25 percentage points with 61.1% of the vote. Juneau stands out as an area that supports Democratic candidates.

[edit] History

When the United States Congress, in 1957 and 1958, debated the wisdom of admitting it as the 49th state, much of the political debate centered on whether Alaska would become a Democratic or Republican-leaning state. Conventional wisdom had it that, with its penchant for new ideas and dependence on the Federal Government largess for basic needs, it would become a Democratic stronghold, about which Republicans, and the Republican Administration of Dwight Eisenhower had reservations. Given time, those fears proved unfounded. After an early flirtatious period with liberal politics, the political climate of Alaska changed quickly once petroleum was discovered and the federal government came to be seen as 'meddling' in local affairs. Still, despite its libertarian leanings, the state regularly takes in more federal money than it gives out, a fact that can be attributed at least partially to its equal representation in the United States Senate.