Editing Jackson, Tennessee (section)

===20th century===
In 1915, Jackson was one of several cities in the state to adopt a commission form of government, changing its electoral scheme to [[at-large]] voting citywide for three designated positions: a mayor and two commissioners. This resulted in a government dominated by the majority, with no representatives elected from minority populations. (Other cities to make this change included [[Clarksville, Tennessee|Clarksville]], [[Chattanooga, Tennessee|Chattanooga]], [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]] and [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]].) Although the state in 1913 enacted a law enabling cities to adopt the commission form of government independently, Jackson was chartered by the state for this change.<ref name="buch"/> The commissioners each were allocated specific responsibilities, for instance, for the school system and city departments.<ref name="buch"/>

In the late 19th century, the state of Tennessee had already adopted residency requirements, voting process, and [[poll tax (United States)|poll taxes]] that sharply reduced the ability of African Americans to register and vote. The City Charter was amended to include run-off elections within two weeks in cases of one candidate not receiving a majority of votes. This created an extra burden on campaigns by less wealthy candidates. In Jackson, the total effect of these changes to the city electoral system was to reduce the ability of African Americans in the 20th century to elect candidates of their choice and to participate in the political system.<ref name="buch"/>

In 1977, the former [[company town]] of [[Bemis, Tennessee|Bemis]] just south of Jackson, was [[municipal annexation|annexed]] by the city of Jackson.<ref name="CountyGovHistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.co.madison.tn.us/index.aspx?nid=315|title=History of Madison County|last=Higgs|first=Linda J.|publisher=Madison County, Tennessee (government)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618042409/http://www.co.madison.tn.us/315/History|archive-date=June 18, 2018|url-status=dead|access-date=July 26, 2014}}</ref>

In 1977, three city residents filed suit against the city in US District Court, in ''Buchanan v. City of Jackson'' (1988), (683 F.Supp. 1515), challenging the structure and electoral system of the city government because the [[at-large]] voting had diluted the voting power of the city's significant minority of [[African-American]] residents. (According to the 1980 Census, the city population was 49,074, of whom 16,847, or 34.3%, were black.)<ref name="buch"/> Since 1915, no black person had ever been elected to, or served on, the Board of Commissioners.<ref name="buch"/> The court found this commission electoral system  to be discriminatory in effect. Over the decades, the African-American minority was effectively closed out of city government. The case was appealed and affirmed; the defendants ultimately proposed a new system, approved in 1988 by the court. By a new city charter, in 1989 the city created a Board of Commission based on nine [[single-member district]]s for broader representation.<ref name="buch">[https://casetext.com/case/buchanan-v-city-of-jackson ''BUCHANAN v. CITY OF JACKSON,'' 683 F. Supp. 1515 (W.D. Tenn. 1988)], Case Text website</ref> The mayor is elected at-large.

Similar legal challenges to the electoral and city systems in Clarksville and Chattanooga led to changes in their city charters to establish more numerous members of a city council or board of commission, to be elected from single-member districts. As a result, more African-American and women candidates have been elected as representatives from those jurisdictions.

The dissolution of the former government in Jackson resulted in the need for an elected city school board, since one of the commissioners had previously managed education. The city commissioners chose to consolidate their school system with that of the [[Madison County, Tennessee|Madison County]] school system in 1990, creating the Jackson-Madison County School Board. This was also done to achieve desegregation goals. The nine-member board is elected from six districts across the county; three districts elect two members each and the other three each elect one member. <!-- Based on population? -->All members are elected for four-year terms, with elections held on a staggered basis every two years. The demographics of the county in 2012 for major ethnic groups were 60.3% white and 37% African American.<ref>[http://ballotpedia.org/Jackson-Madison_County_School_System,_Tennessee "Jackson-Madison County School System, Tennessee"], Ballotpedia</ref> In 2008 the school system was still under a court order supervising its desegregation progress.<ref name="deseg">[http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/TNDESEGFULL.pdf Tennessee Advisory Committee, ''School Desegregation in Tennessee''], to the US Commission on Civil Rights, April 2008</ref>

In the post-[[World War II]] era, the railroad industry underwent restructuring and mergers. (See section below). By the end of the 1960s, it sharply reduced passenger service to Jackson; there were related losses of associated industrial jobs supporting the railroads, causing economic problems in the region.