The framers of the Texas Executive established a system that was designed to check the powers of the government. As opposed to the US Constitution that vested the power of the executive in the president of the nation (Berry, 1385), the Texas Constitution sought to ensure that the state did not have the excess powers. As such, they came up with a plural system where a variety of individuals make up the executive branch of the state (Texas State Government at a Glance). While the governor of the state remains as the highest ranking officials in the state, they hold the least of powers in the plural system. The plural system as used in Texas pertains to having individuals hold office in various capacities. In this system, the citizens of the state of Texas elect six officials out of the seven that make up the executive system. The electorates casts votes to choose the governor, the attorney general, the lieutenant governor, the commissioner of agriculture, the land commissioner, the commissioner of the general land office, and the comptroller (The …show more content…
The main advantage is that it removes the concentration of power from one individual. This ensures that abuse of power is limited. Giving different individuals from varying parties will also result in the creation of checks and balances in the executive. A lieutenant governor from the Democratic Party will be able to check the activities and the undertakings of a Republican governor thus ensuring that they operate within the confines of the law and the powers of their office. Also, the system allows for the introduction or the enforcement of the manifestos held by both parties, thereby resulting in greater benefits to the population. Perhaps the greatest advantage of this type of system is that each member of the executive is accountable to the electorate. Their success in the subsequent elections will depend on how they perform in a given
Chapter two of the textbook “Texas Politics” discusses the abundant state constitutions of Texas. The current constitution of Texas is quite lengthy and often ridiculed due to its outdatedness whereas when compared to that of the United States constitution, the results viewpoint and reactions are quite the opposite. Because of this, Texas, along with a great number of other states must constantly make formal changes to the constitution, this is known as a constitutional amendment. The current Texas constitution is extremely long, particularly compared to the United States constitution, this being because of the variety of policies that the constitution attempts to put on the citizens of Texas in order to maintain peace and civility.
Our Constitution is the fundamental structure of how we are governed. In Texas, we have two coinciding constitutions that form our government, the United States Constitution and the Texas Constitution. These two documents are often very similar but can also vary greatly with many provisions. Even though the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land, we can make comparisons and spot differences between subjects like length and rigidity of the constitutions, the executive branch division of power, how government officials are appointed, and … The United States Constitution was written to be a basic outline of government with 7 articles and only 7,500 words including the amendments.
The Constitution of 1876 and the Constitution of Texas are both incredibly influential to the government of Texas. Their importance lies in their ability to outline the structure of government, allocate powers between different branches, and establish the rights and responsibilities of both the government and the citizens. The Constitution of 1876, for example, involves the separation of powers, state government structure, Bill of Rights, legislative authority, and amending process. Meanwhile, the Current Constitution of Texas involves the outline of the state government structure, powers of the legislature, protection of individual rights, local government provisions, and the amendment process. Both the Constitution of 1876 and the current
The Texas Legislative Branch of Government The Texas Constitution divides the state government into three separate: the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the legislative branch. These three branches share equal power within the Texas State governemt. The executive branch is lead by the governor, the judicial branch consists of the Texas Supreme Court and the local courts around the state, finally, the legislative branch, is lead by the Texas Legislature, which includes the 150 members of the house of representatives and the 31 members of the state senate. These members of the house of representatives are elected to two-year terms and Senators serve four-year terms.
There are some roles that the state have some restrictions being as a major. The state bureaucracy is largely controlled by multimember boards and commissions with the results that the state is fragmented. They have been saying that Texas needs it governor to have meaningful budget authority so the budgeting system encourages some control over the government. If Texas has a more powerful governor it could have the legislature’s power could have some decreasing in the state, but by doing this the democracy is better served when the legislature is the more
The Texas legislative process is governed by the Texas constitution as well as the House of Representative and the Senate. Its primary function is to enact laws to provide for the health, welfare, education, environment, and economic and general well-being of the citizens of Texas. It also establishes public policy through the passage of bills and resolutions and proposes amendments to the state constitution, which are then submitted to the voters for approval or disapproval. When a bill is proposed, it must go through the legislative process before it becomes a law. The legislative process is very long and has many steps.
The Texas State Court system is very structured. There are 5 levels of the Texas Courts. Level 5 starts with Justice and Municipal Courts. Justice Courts have Jurisdiction over civil actions, small crimes, and criminal misdemeanors. The Municipal courts have jurisdiction over municipal ordnance cases and criminal misdemeanors that are only punishable by fine.
The United States is a government republic, with chose authorities at the elected (national), state and neighborhood levels. On a national level, the head of express, the President, is chosen in a roundabout way by the general population of each state, through an Electoral College. Today, the balloters essentially dependably vote with the well-known vote of their state. All individuals from the government council, the Congress, are straightforwardly chosen by the general population of each state. There are many chosen workplaces at the state level, each state having no less than an elective Governor and council.
Texas Annexed to the United States On February 19, 1846, Texas was annexed to the United States of America. After many years of never-ending negotiations, Texas was finally admitted into the Union. Despite gaining independence, Texas would continue to face several problems. Texas, at this time, did not have enough forces to defend itself, which meant that they could be vulnerable to an attack from Mexico.
Texas is the second most populated and second largest state in United State. Due to its size, Texas contains diverse landscapes that resemble both American South and Southwest. Most of the population centers are located in areas of formers prairies, grass lands, forests, and the coastline. The current Texas Constitution was adopted in 1876. Like most of the states, it also provides for a separation off power.
Although Texas government is democratic, the rich and educated make most of the decisions according to Texas politics, 6th Edition. Government-refers to the institutions in which decision are being made that resolve conflicts or allocate benefits and privileges. Institution refers to an ongoing organization that performs certain functions for society. Another report by the National Bureau of Census shows that Texas is in the top 10% of citizens below poverty line. With such wealth inequality in Texas, is no wonder minorities tend to be less involved.
The legislative branch naturally reflects the democratic form of government. However, all three branches are considered weak, but compared to the three branches of the Texas state government, the legislative branch is less weak and the most powerful because of the broad authority it has been given. (laits.utexas.edu). According to the (tsha.utexas.edu) “Under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the legislature, as representative of the people of Texas, exercises plenary powers, limited only by the Texas and United States constitutions and valid federal laws. The legislature may exercise the state 's inherent police power to promote and safeguard the public safety, health, morals, and welfare; and, by nineteenth century judicial interpretation, is superior to local governments, which are regarded as "creatures of the state.
It allows them to use tactics such as packing and cracking which can have a tremendous impact on elections. Packing is when politicians draw out district maps for each party based on population. Packing can swing the vote because the population of one party could out weight the population of the minority party within the same district, causing the entire district to swing with the majority. Voters feel that the other tactic, cracking, gives them a disadvantage because the political parties are being spread out between multiple districts which causes one district to have the majority party in multiple areas (King, Elizabeth). When the politicians of the party in power have drawn out the voters’ map, they maintain power over the lines of the map.
The plural executive distributes powers among different officials. In Texas these officials are the governor Rick Perry is the current governor,
The Constitution of 1876 was toward the end in the development of a new, restructured and revised constitution in Texas, yet it was not the last attempt to revise the natural law of Texas. Pressure begin to build to change and streamline the Texas Constitution in the late 1960s. By 1969, fifty-six obsolete and out dated provisions were revoked, including a whole article. This called for a more fundamental overhaul and restructuring of the Constitution, which led to an extensive and prolonged process of constitutional revision that began in the 1970s. Efforts during this time were imperative for two reasons: it explained a long-standing concern whether the legislature had the constitutional right to convene as a constitutional convention; and secondly, the Texas Constitutional Revision Commission provided a thorough revision of the state constitution that served as the foundation for a new