Honorable Mention - High School Division
Stillwater Jr. High
AP2
Stillwater, OK
Oklahoma Politics: A Time-Honored Supremacy Feud
The main theme of our collage is the ongoing struggle for state dominance between the two major political parties of Oklahoma: democrats and republicans. We illustrated this struggle with the cartoon of a head-to-head sparring between the donkey and elephant mascots on a line dividing the state of Oklahoma through the center. The donkey is the democratic mascot and the elephant is the republican mascot, and both are dressed as boxers in patriotic uniforms. In our collage we also included pictures of various political figures of Oklahoma. We arranged these around the outside of the state silhouette.
Although numerous political parties exist in Oklahoma, republicans and democrats have always been the most dominant. All past and present governors of Oklahoma have campaigned on either a republican or democratic ticket, the majority of them being democrats. There have only ever been three republican governors. The first republican governor of Oklahoma was Henry Bellmon, elected in 1962. We included pictures of all former Oklahoma governors in our collage, as well as the present governor, Brad Henry. We also included pictures and campaign stickers of other major political figures in Oklahoma, including national and state senators and representatives, as well as other historical Oklahomans.
The main difference between the republican and democratic parties in Oklahoma is this: the Democratic Party is known for supporting and encouraging more participation of government in society. The Republican Party has traditionally supported tax-cuts and a reduction in the amount of government's participation in society. Another major difference is how each party gets its support. The Democratic Party has historically been supported by the working class, women, and minorities. The Republican Party has commonly been supported by the upper middle class and wealthy Oklahomans.
Other political parties in Oklahoma include the Green Party, the Natural Law Party, and the Libertarian Party. The Green Party was formed as an international movement for politics which are based on principles. The Natural Law Party, formed by followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, has as its slogan, "Bringing the light of science into politics." The main goal of the Libertarian Party is to get government to be less authoritative over individuals. The Libertarian Party has always been the largest of these three in Oklahoma. Although third parties have never been dominant in Oklahoma, one came relatively close to a victory in 1992 when Ross Perot of the Independent Party received 25% of the Presidential votes from Oklahoma.
We included in our collage icons of Oklahoma such as the state flag and state seal. We also posted many pictures of the Oklahoma state capitol building with its newly completed dome. The capitol is the main symbol of politics in the state of Oklahoma. A very important item which we also included in our collage is the statehood issue of Oklahoma. This document was signed by President Theodore Roosevelt on November 16, 1907.
Directly under the panhandle silhouette of Oklahoma in our collage, we placed a cut-out of the words "Oklahoma's Children." This refers to the No Child Left Behind Act. This law was passed in 2002 to guarantee that every student in Oklahoma shall receive the level of education necessary for their future prospects. Also included in our collage are pictures of the artwork in the Oklahoma State Senate. One of these paintings is of President Theodore Roosevelt signing the statehood issue document for the state of Oklahoma. We also included pictures of the opening of the state lottery in Oklahoma in the fall of 2005.
Creating this collage and researching for this essay have provided a significant educational experience for all of the members of our collage group. Our group would especially like to thank our Oklahoma history teacher, Mr. Brett Stokes, for providing us with the opportunity to complete this project. We would not have known how to approach this topic nor have known how to complete research for this collage without the benefit of his teaching and guidance. From this experience, we have learned a lot about being organized, working together, and cooperating in a group. Most importantly, we have learned about the way Oklahoma politics work, and how the state of Oklahoma is maintained politically as a great place to live.
Stiliwater Jr. High School
5th Hour Adv. Oklahoma History
Babak Khoshroo, Jonathan Wedei, Nick Nord,
Talbot Bowden, Tyler Nicholas, and Blake Zimmerman
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