Role of partisanship in the reform of the Oklahoma judiciary

Abstract

Oklahoma judicial reform in the 1960s represented a clash between populist values of partisan democracy, reformist non-partisan ballots, and the Missouri plan of the legal reformers centering on commission selected judges. Reform became inevitable when the Supreme Court bribery scandals hit. The race between the legislature's 'mixed' reform package and the more radical Missouri plan reform advocated by sponsors of an initiative referendum was won by the legislature.