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. The state Bill of Rights is much larger than its federal counterpart, and has provisions unique to Texas. The Texas constitution defines the responsibilities of country governments, which serve as agents of the state. Greg Abbott is the current governor of Texas and Dan Patrick is the Lieutenant governor of Texas. Being new the Texas, I didn’t had much knowledge about Texas Government. To get familiar with Texas I took Government 2306-71008 classes. This course helped me a lot know about Texas government. The course starts with the Political culture of Texas. …show more content…
The history of political parties in Texas is marked by nearly a century of Democratic Party dominance followed by a realignment that shifted the balance of power in favor if the republicans. Political science professor Cal Jilson noted that the dominance of one party in Texas has been a result of the state’s dominant values. Both parties in Texas today reflect more conservative versions of their national counterparts. The other chapter talks about the Interest groups in Texas. Interest groups plays a critical role in all democratic systems of government. Interest groups in Texas are relatively powerful actors in the political process. Organized interest groups and their representatives, also known as “the lobby” participates in the policymaking and political processes in Texas. Interest groups provide critical channels for Texans to communicate their political preferences and attempt to influence government actors and their fellow
The Texas legislature created the Sunset Advisory Commission by enacting the Texas Sunset Act, Chapter 325 of the Texas Government Code in August, 1977. By initiating this act, Texas became the second state to establish sunset provisions into their state laws. The Texas government gives it the name “sunset” because this refers to an agency, law, or program that will expire on a certain date unless it is approved by the legislature. The Sunset Advisory Commission was founded in order to prevent government scandals that were occurring at the state and federal levels. State's sunset provisions typically all believe that government agencies and programs should be reviewed.
The state government under the Constitution of 1869 and the administration of Governor Edmund Davis set the stage for the adoption of the current Texas constitution. Governor during the Texas Reconstruction time period was Edmund Davis who was a Republican. The government power expanded under the Constitution of 1869 when a new constitution had to be written in accordance with the Reconstruction Acts. This led to less independence for local governments and constrained the peoples say in the government. Edmund Davis was the Republican governor of Texas elected in 1869 and held office until 1873.
Texas constitution is almost very similar to the US Constitution in the sense of the Bill of Rights. Both the US constitution and the Texas constitution are separated into the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The legislative branch is the brand of the Senate and House of representative, the judicial branch is the branch where there are district courts appeals courts in the US Supreme Court, and the executive branch is where the executive president elected official the Vice President are in. Also they are both considered a separation of powers. This phrase refers to assigning specific powers to the judicial, executive and legislative branches of government; system which means they both have separate institutions that share
In chapter 5 the article One Face of the Texas Tea Party by Julie McCarty from the “‘Politics in Practice” gives insight on how the people of Texas maintain checks and balances on their government. The Texas Tea Party is a conservative movement that is very popular in Texas, especially in Northeast Tarrant County or NETT. The Republican Party is a conservative party and so is the Texas Tea Party movement. The article confirms that Texas is largely a Republican Party state in terms of political influence. The Texas Tea Party is a very powerful political force in this part of the state.
The political culture of Texas can be described as being both Individualistic as well as Traditionalistic. In other words, Texas believes in the basic feature of individualistic values such as a strong belief in self-reliance, resistance to regulation, and a suspicion of public institutions. However,
The Social Peculiarities of Texas Political Culture. Texas is one of the fastest-growing states. Nowadays it became more culturally diverse than ever. As a result, the increasing diversity has a significant impact on the political culture. Currently the Native-American population is less than one-half of percent in Texas, while during the nineteen century there were at least twenty-three groups of Native-Americans.
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.
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 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 two party system that essentially runs politics in America, effects each state during election times. Some states tend to be more bipolar than others with their Republican and Democrat nominations but Texas is a state that usually stays pretty consistent with its nomination. Since the 1800’s, Texas has shown a strong history of voting for a candidate in the Democratic party, thus making it considered a “Blue State”. I attribute this to the opinions of Texan voters as well as the moral values that they share with who is often perceived as your “Typical Democrat”.
1. The states were required to make new instruments of government when the colonies began to separate from Britain. What were two questions that the states found that they had to answer? -“What did it mean to replace royal authority with institutions based on popular rule?”
Laws and rules that date back to times when it made it difficult for people to stand out and have a voice. Texas based their laws on family values, school prayer, against abortion, and against gay marriage. Another negative aspect of Texas its location next to Mexico. Since Texas is bordering Mexico, there has been a lot of illegal Mexican immigrants crossing the border unto Texas seeking jobs that belong to legal Texas citizens. Though has been stricter laws put in place to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing over into Texas, there is still dispute over the issue
It outlines a plan of government and provides the structure and functioning of the institutions of governments. Constitutions are expressions of popular sovereignty between the government and the governed. It specifies the powers and limitation of power of the government, as well as the right and privileges of citizens that cannot be affected by the government. Also it specified how citizens are allowed to participate in democratic decision making processes that determines public policies. In some ways, Texas Constitution executes these functions well.
Second Response Paper Interest group politics is the attempt by any organized group in society to influence government policy through normal extra-electoral channels like lobbying or advertising. Interest group politics is intertwined with electoral politics; the main difference is that interest groups do not seek to win political office. Interest groups are held together by the shared interests and goals of their members. Whereas there are any numbers of potential interest groups, narrow economic interests are better represented in the system than broader political or moral concerns. (Cengage)
Interest groups are an essential part of Texan political life. In the democratic system of government like the Texan government, interest groups play a critical political role. Varying in every possible aspect (age, resources, tactics, size, geographic focus, policy focus, ideological orientation and sophistication) interest groups strive to ensure that Representative governments represent the competing interests of particular groups in the community (Maxwell, Crain, & Santos, 2013). In the classic creation of Representative government (pluralism), competing interest balance is attained through the bringing together arguments and resources to bear on various aspects of vital decisions regarding public policy. The Texan interest groups are of