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Constitutional framework
Tennessee’s first constitution was enacted in 1796, and new constitutions were adopted in 1835 and 1870. The 1870 constitution was revised several times in the 20th century. Tennessee’s government—like that of the federal government—consists of executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The governor, chosen through statewide elections, is the chief executive and appoints the heads of major departments and important state commissions. The General Assembly, Tennessee’s bicameral legislature, consists of the 33-member Senate as its upper house and the 99-member House of Representatives as its lower house. Senators are elected to four-year terms, while representatives are elected for two years in office. The Senate elects its own speaker, who also serves as lieutenant governor. The General Assembly has the authority to override a governor’s veto by a simple majority. Amendments to the constitution must be approved by both the legislature and the citizens.
The judicial system is headed by the five-justice Supreme Court, which appoints the attorney general and hears appeals from lower courts. Directly below the Supreme Court are two appellate courts: the Court of Appeals, which has authority in civil matters, and the Court of Criminal Appeals, which handles appeals involving felonies, misdemeanors, or postconviction petitions. The Supreme Court justices and the other appellate judges are apportioned among East, Middle, and West Tennessee, and they are elected by the people. The lowest level of the judiciary consists of chancery, circuit, and criminal courts, the judges for which are elected from within their respective counties of jurisdiction. There also are juvenile and family courts.
Local government follows the national pattern. A county commission, composed of commissioners from the civil districts into which the counties are divided, constitutes the legislative authority of most of the state’s 95 counties. School boards, either elected or appointed, administer the schools under the direction of county superintendents. Popularly elected sheriffs enforce the criminal laws, and elected officers collect the property taxes and record real-estate transfers. The chief executive officers of the counties are the county executives. Types of city government include the council-manager, mayor-council, and commissioner systems. The city of Nashville and Davidson county constitute a single governmental unit, called Metropolitan Government, or Metro.
In 2018, Republican Marsha Blackburn became the state’s first woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
Health and welfare
Outstanding medical centers are available in Tennessee’s major cities. The Department of Human Services offers a broad spectrum of nonmedical programs to citizens with disabilities, underprivileged children and families, and seniors. In addition to providing basic welfare services, the state facilitates foster care and adoption, licenses day-care centers, and oversees programs to prevent child abuse.
Education
A significant portion of every state tax dollar goes to public education. The State Board of Education administers elementary and secondary education. Tennessee arose in the 1980s as a leader in education reform through the implementation of its Better Schools program, which rewarded teachers for upgrading their credentials and for their performance in the classroom. Since the late 20th century, there also has been increased emphasis on art, music, and physical education in the elementary schools and on math and science requirements at the secondary level. However, Tennessee schools have continued to suffer from poor overall funding, largely because of their dependency on revenues from only modest sales and property taxes.
The Tennessee Higher Education Commission coordinates the work of two higher education boards—the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees and the Board of Regents of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee. The University of Tennessee has campuses in Knoxville, Memphis (the medical school and other schools related to health services), Martin, and Chattanooga. There are several regional public universities, among the oldest and most prominent of which are East Tennessee State University (1912) in Johnson City, the University of Memphis (1911), and Tennessee State (1912) in Nashville. There are more than a dozen community colleges and many technical institutes. Tennessee has long been known for its private colleges; of these, Vanderbilt and Fisk universities, both in Nashville, and the University of the South in Sewanee are perhaps the best known. Fisk is among the country’s most highly regarded historically black universities.