Representation on the Oklahoma Democratic party's central committee: One person/one vote?

Abstract

In the 1980s the Democratic party went through a series of reforms that restricted autonomy of state parties and democratized delegate selection for presidential nomination conventions. Between 1985 and 1988 rural and urban factions of the Democratic party of Oklahoma struggled over the question of one person/one vote in representation in the State Central Committee (SCC). The matter was resolved only when the Democratic National Committee threatened to bar a delegation from Oklahoma at the 1988 national convention unless the SCC was apportioned in accordance with the national party's constitution. The SCC was reconstituted on more democratic lines, and the state party, operating under a new constitution, has enjoyed a more united leadership. The struggle to reapportion the Democratic party of Oklahoma looms as the most important episode in the organization's fifty year history.