Politics of Vermont

An in-depth evaluation of government ranked Vermont high compared to other states. It ranked highest in "small discrete issues and huge global ones." It performed poorly in the issues in-between and planning for the future. [ [http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Grading-the-States-2008.pdf Pew Report 2008] accessed March 26, 2008]

Vermonters have been known for their political independence.

Political parties

Vermont is one of four states that were once independent (the others being Texas, California, and Hawaii). It has sometimes voted contrarian in national elections. Notably, Vermont is the only state to have voted for a presidential candidate from the Anti-Masonic Party, and Vermont and Maine were the only states to vote against Franklin D. Roosevelt in his second election.

Minor parties flourish. Rules which eliminate smaller parties from the ballot in most states do not exist in Vermont. As a result, voters often have extensive choices for general elections.

The Vermont Progressive Party is a small liberal political party which has held a handful of seats in the Vermont legislature for two decades and has run candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. It has had official recognition as a political party by the state government since 1999. They polled less than 1% of the vote for Governor in 2006.

Modern times

In the meantime, many people had moved in from out of state. Much of this immigration included the arrival of more liberal political influences of the urban areas of New York and New England in Vermont. [cite web | title=The World|work=Rise of the Democratic Party | url=http://www.vt-world.com/Archive/2004/February_18_2004/Features.htm | accessdate=2006-12-25]

tatutes

The Vermont constitution and the courts supports the right of a person to walk (fish and hunt) on any unposted, unfenced land. That is trespass must be proven by the owner; it is not automatically assumed. [ [http://www.usconstitution.net/vtconst.html#Section67 Vermont Constitution] retrieved May 29, 2008]

By a court decision from 1903, people have the right to carry firearms without a permit. [http://www.guncite.com/court/state/55a610.html]

After the legislature was redistricted under one-person, one-vote, it passed legislation to accommodate these new arrivals.This legislation was the Land Use and Development Law (Act 250) in 1970. The law, which was the first of its kind in the nation, created nine District Environmental Commissions consisting of private citizens, appointed by the Governor, who must approve land development and subdivision plans that would have a significant impact on the state's environment and many small communities.

As a result of Act 250, Vermont was the last state to get a Wal-Mart (there are four, as of March 2008, but only the Williston store was new construction).

Having tried to discourage sprawl, the legislatures of 1998 and 2002 moved to encourage downtowns. In 2008, there were 23 designated downtowns and 78 village centers. [cite book | author = MacKay, Noelle, Executive Director of Smart Growth |title = My Turn:Good to see support for smart growth | publisher = Burlington Free Press | year = June 21, 2008]

Another case involves the 2002 controversy over the adoption of civil unions, an institution which grants same-sex couples nearly all the rights and privileges of marriage. In "Baker v. Vermont" (1999), the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that, under the Constitution of Vermont, the state must either allow same-sex marriage or provide a separate but equal status for them. The state legislature chose the second option by creating the institution of civil union; the bill was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Howard Dean.

In 2007, when confronted with an allegedly liberal issue, assisted suicide for the terminally ill, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives rejected the measure by a vote of 82-63. [ [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54843 It's sudden death in Vermont for assisted suicide proposal] ]

A political issue has been Act 60, which balances taxation for education funding. This has resulted in the town of Killington voting 3:1 to secede from Vermont and join New Hampshire due to what the locals say is an unfair tax burden. [ [http://www.nhpr.org/node/8429 Killington Secession Not Too Popular in VT | New Hampshire Public Radio] ] [ [http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/03/02/killington.secession.ap/ CNN.com - Killington residents vote to secede from Vermont - March 4, 2004] ]

Voting patterns

Republicans dominated Vermont politics from the party's founding in 1854 until the mid-1970s. Prior to the 1960s, rural interests dominated the legislature. As a result, cities, particularly the older sections of Burlington and Winooski, were neglected and fell into decay.Fact|date=September 2008 People began to move out to newer suburbs.

In the early 1960s many progressive Vermont Republicans and newcomers to the state helped bolster the state's small Democratic Party. Until 1992, Vermont had supported a Democrat for president only once since the party's founding—in Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 landslide victory against Barry Goldwater. In 1992, it supported Democrat Bill Clinton for president and has voted for Democrats in every presidential election since. Vermont gave John Kerry his fourth-largest margin of victory in 2004, behind the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. He won the state's popular vote by 20 percentage points over incumbent George W. Bush, taking 58.9% of the vote. Essex County in the state's northeastern section was the only county to vote for Bush. Vermont still remains the only state that President Bush has not visited. [ [http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/28/vermont.banning.bush.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview Activists in Vermont town want Bush, Cheney subject to arrest - CNN.com ] ]

On the other hand, Republican Governor Douglas won all counties but Windham in the 2006 election. Vermonters are frequent ticket-splitters. [cite web | title=Vermont General Elections|work=For Governor | url=http://vermont-elections.org/elections1/2006GEGov.xls | accessdate=2006-12-28]

Talk of secession

Vermont's unique history and history of independent political thought has led to movements for the establishment of the Second Vermont Republic and other plans advocating secession. [These relatively small political movements are similar in nature to those found in California, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Texas; although the historical contexts are variant.] In 2007, about 13% of Vermont's population supported Vermont's withdrawal from the Republic. The percentage who supported this in 2005 was 8%. [ [http://www.vermontrepublic.org Second Vermont Republic] ] [ [http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2007/06/03/in_vermont_nascent_secession_movement_gains_traction In Vermont, nascent secession movement gains traction - Boston.com ] ]

A movement favors separating Vermont from the U.S. or making it the 11^th province of Canada. Some suggest the state should join Canada due to its liberal policies as opposed to remaining with the U.S. [http://www.vermontcanada.org/reasons.html Vermont Canada retrieved on June 6, 2007] [http://baheyeldin.com/canada/state-of-vermont-wants-to-join-canada.html retrieved on June 6, 2007]

Elected to represent the state

Vermont is one of only two states represented by a member of the United States Congress who does not currently associate with a political party: Senator Bernie Sanders describes his political views as socialist, but caucuses with the Democrats in the selection of the Senate leadership. [Powell, Michael. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/04/AR2006110401124.html Exceedingly Social, But Doesn't Like Parties. "The Washington Post" November 5, 2006.] He was in the United States House of Representatives during the 1990s and early 2000s and has been in the U.S. Senate since 2007. Bernie Sanders often votes with the Democratic Party, but maintains his independence as an Independent in Congress. [http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Bernie_Sanders.htm Bernie Saunders Official US House webpage]

Vermont's Senior Senator is Patrick Leahy, a liberal Democrat. Vermont's sole Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives is Democrat Peter Welch. [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=VT]

While Vermont's federal representation is on the left side of the political spectrum, at the state level Vermont's politics are more balanced. Vermont's current Governor is Republican Jim Douglas. [http://www.vermont.gov/governor/] . The governorship in Vermont has been held by both Democrats and Republicans in recent decades. Most notably perhaps is Democrat Howard Dean, who went on to chair the Democratic National Committee.

ee also

*Electoral reform in Vermont

Footnotes

External links

*dmoz|Regional/North_America/United_States/Vermont/Society_and_Culture/Politics