Essay On Texas Government

The Texas Constitution is similar to the U.S. Constitution in many ways. One of the many ways is that both have a Bill of Rights, and the Texas constitution embodies certain ideas from the U.S. Bill of Rights, which are that all free men are declared to have free and equal rights that cannot be taken away because of sex, race, color, creed, or national origin. Another way they are related is because they both have a constitutional law for the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial department. The U.S. Constitution has two virtues; brevity and flexibility. The Texas Constitution in the other hand, does not, the U.S. Constitution is limited to 7 short articles and 27 amendments. The Texas Constitution in 2012 contained 16 articles and has been

Texas has always been very diverse in regards to our political cultures. These cultures have transformed over the years which makes Texas a hard place to govern. According to Daniel Elazar, each state is associated with a political culture classification scheme of moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic cultures. By definition, political culture is the shared values and beliefs about the nature of the political world that give us a common language that we can use to discuss and debate ideas. (21)

A constitution is the fundamental law by which a nation or a state is governed and organized. It establishes the framework of government, delegates the powers and duties of governmental bodies, and defines the relationship between the government and their citizens. Texas current constitution was adopted in 1876, and since then Texas voters have approved more than 467 amendments to this document. The word “amendment” is defined as the act or process of changing the words or the meaning of a law or document (constitution). Throughout this essay I will explain the rules for amending the Texas Constitution, the attempts made at constitutional reforms during the 1970s, explain why constitutional reforms were attempted and why it ultimately failed.

Political culture establishes the backdrop against which politics unfold, it establishes the outer limits of what is possible, or even probable in the political realm. Texas political culture can be described as traditionalistic and individualistic. Texas traditionalist political culture believes in the values that policies are designed to preserve social order in the state, politicians come from society’s elite, and politicians have a family obligation to govern. While on the other hand, individualistic political culture believes that government should be limited when it comes to the lives of the public, individual rights of the citizens should be the main focus of a government rule, and a stronger support of personal politics rather than elitism. Texas also has a strong populism influence. How populism is different from traditionalist and individualistic is that populism in Texas focuses on economic justice. The populism party was formed by the Farmers Alliance movement and the party’s main focus was using government power to protect individuals from the exploitation of big business and corporations.

“Political parties” did not begin until the late 1600s, yet It all really began in 1787, when the so called “political parties” started calling themselves Federalists. This was when the first political party started in the United States. In 1796, everything got bigger and more productive. That’s when everyone gathered around Jefferson, those members called themselves Democratic-Republicans. A political party is a gathering of individuals who meet up to contest elections and hold control in the government. The gathering concedes to some proposed strategies and projects, with a view to advancing the aggregate great or assisting their supporters ' advantages. Most importantly, Political parties compete against each other to have the capacity to

In the world of politics, voting is one of the most vital aspects to politicians, the local community, and the state. It gives the people who live in the communities a chance to let their voice and opinions be heard through their choice of who they want to represent them in political office or to take care of their town or city. Although many share this opinion, there are people who do not care to vote and do not get involved in politics. What is the underlying reason for this group of people to distance themselves from political affairs?

Nestled in the foothills of the Texas Hill Country, Austin is the southernmost state capital in the continental United States. Austin is currently the nation's fastest-growing city and has an estimated population of more than 932,000 people. The city was named for Stephen F. Austin, who is known as the "Father of Texas." However, it did not always bear Austin's name, nor was it always the capital of Texas.

Texas, also known as the Lone Star State has four major regions. Its vast land contains Mountains and Basins, Great Plains, North Central Plains, and Coastal Plains regions. These four regions are rich in historical, political, and cultural points of interest. This shaped Texas to what it is today.

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. If a bill is denied at any point in the process it is then throw away and forgotten.

Advancement in politics requires many factors, but the most significant component to achieve success in politics is to maintain good relationships with other institutions – both unofficial and official institutions. Together, the bureaucracy, interest groups, and committees of the Congress form the iron triangle, which refers to the concept that the bureaucrats, the interest groups and the congressional committees must work together in order to spread their influence throughout the nation – or the state – and to develop their powers. Iron triangles also exist in Texas, and one of Texas’ iron triangles focuses on higher education.

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. His election into office is seen as corrupt and his administration is seen in contempt. He created a state militia and a police force that took action

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. So that the Sunset Advisory Commission can consider innovative changes to improve an agency's or program's actions. However, most of the time, the Sunset Advisory Commission immediately abolishes government branches, unless the legislature decides to continue them. “Through the actions of the Sunset process, for every dollar spent on Sunset provisions, the state of Texas earns about twenty-five dollars in return” (John).

Briefly, in the evolution of the Texas political system, Texas’s history has been through many situations that shaped the political structure in Texas to become to what it is today. Many changes were responsible for the impact in the history of Texas such as the Texas revolution, the Alamo war with Mexico, military reconstruction act in 1867, etc. Before the war with Mexico, one of the most important impact in Texas history was the Republic of Texas Constitution in 1836. Texas and Mexico have an escalating tension and is responsible for the new change in the Texas state constitution. For the cause of the Republic of Texas Constitution in 1836, Texas begins by declaring its independence in 1836, established the Republic of Texas, and decided to adopt the new constitution. As for the United States constitution, the Texas state constitution of 1836 rose a major section of the of the

Interest groups create a lot of controversy and contention. Some critics and faultfinder accuse and even blame this groups for many of the issues in America. Other individuals, on the other hand, see interest groups as a key segment of the American vote based framework. In this essay I will analyze both sides and support it with details about how this groups affect positively and negatively during USA elections process.

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) The chapter solely focuses on the impact of interest groups in American politics.