Valerie Jimenez Professor Gilligan Government – 2306 25 September 2017 Texas and U.S Constitution There is no doubt that the Texas and United States Constitutions are important to keep democracy. Both constitutions contain similarities as well as some major differences. The first similarity would be the process of separation of powers. Separation of Powers was created by the “framers of the Constitution [who] feared too much centralized power” (PBS) and who knew that “the accumulation of all powers… in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many…may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny” (PBS).
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
Rick Perry has had experience as a state representative, state agriculture commissioner, and was the lieutenant governor during George W. Bush’s time as governor. Many did not approve of Rick Perry because he “once questioned Bush’s fiscal-conservative credentials”, according to Mark Halperin in “Time”. However, he was one of the longest serving governor in the state of Texas. Rick Perry had a goal to improve the way of transportation because of the traffic that occurs in urban and suburban areas. He also wanted to redistrict so that there would be more Republicans, cut local school property taxes, and increase the state cigarette tax for his first term.
The image on the front cover of the Texas Monthly magazine depicts a true image of Texas politics, the current governor of Texas Greg Abbott and media communication about politics. Since images speak for themselves, we get the idea of what the picture is about without guessing. For example, we see Governor Abbott holding a rifle, and presume that he supports gun rights and is a Republican rather than a Democrat. Since the majority of Republicans support gun rights for protection, whereas the majority of Democrats believe in gun control. We can also see that Governor Abbott poses a confident and poised demeanor which tells us he cares about Texas, he looks ready to accept any challenge, looks modest and has pride in himself, but not in an egotistic and domineering manner, and he also seems confident to be a leader.
Considering all the amendments, Texas has succeeded in making sure that its government has restricted powers and that they, more or less, operate in a manner that suits the people of
Arizona is a senior in high school, in the cold tundra of Montana. Her name is Arizona because the winter she was born, was the coldest winter on record for Montana, and her parents must have wished for warmer weather. Arizona’s life is not, nor has been, glorious. She started working on her family’s cattle ranch when she was five. Her family doesn’t use ATV’s or Rangers to check fence and cows, no, they use horses.
Introduction: The constitutions of the US and Texas are tied to political culture and fundamentally influence politics. Political culture fundamentally influences by broadly shared values, beliefs, and attitudes about how the government should work and politics should operate. The American political culture highlights the values liberty, equality, and democracy. Political cultures in the U.S have an effect on how people participate in politics and how individuals and institutions interact. According to chapter 1 on the textbook Daniel Elazar established a scheme for the state political culture.
Texas's Political Parties have many factors and are ever adjusting for the people. For many years, Texas has held the majority of votes for a certain party. However, due to some of those factors changing, it is difficult to predict what is to come of the citizens’ political preference. Many of these factors include the overall purpose of the political parties, which political parties are in Texas, which ones usually dominate and why, and the issues of some of the political parties. Where the government stands currently is due to the past political parties and how they have evolved into the present.
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,
Texas Political Culture There are multiple classifications for political cultures Moralistic political culture- ones believe that the government should promote the public good and in order to ensure that good the citizens should participate in politics and civic activities Individualistic political culture- ones believe that the government must limit their role when providing to society in order to make the citizens able to pursue their economic interests Traditionalistic political culture- ones believe that the government should controlled by political elites and must be guided by tradition. Changes in Texas
The political ideologies found in both the Texas Republican Party and Texas Democratic Party mirror those found on the national level. In summation, the Republican Party of Texas focuses on increasing economic freedoms while limiting those of a personal nature, while the Texas Democratic Party has a platform based on limiting economic freedom and increasing personal freedom. Because of this, both parties come to differing conclusions as to the role government should play in society. This divide emanates from the perceived origin of such laws, and the role man has to play in interpreting and shaping them.
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.
In my essay I will provide three reasons why I do not believe Texas is operating within a democracy-a political system where the many rule. According to Author Robert Dahl, a democracy should provide opportunities for effective participation, equality in voting and inclusion of adults. There are socioeconomic factors- such ethnicity, education and income which are mentioned by author of our textbook, that impact voter participation. To begin, let’s look at the role a person ethnicity plays in a democracy. Next, examine the level of education and how it correlates to voting.
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.
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.