Texas Government Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards for reviewing basic concepts of Texas government, societal stability, key statistics, political culture, the US Constitution, states in the federal system, factions and parties, elections and public opinion, the Texas Legislature, the Governor and the plural executive, devolution and local government, the Texas judiciary, and the economy and taxation.

Government

Any institution which uses laws to regulate personal conduct, produce & distribute services, and allocate resources.

Democracy

A method of governance in which the people's participation in decision making is the origin of the government's legitimacy.

Republic

A form of government in which the body of citizens legally grants certain individuals the right to exercise official authority on their behalf.

Politics

The group of processes by which people attempt to influence government decisions that affect them.

Constitutional System

The government is restricted in action by fundamental laws.

Federal System

The national government shares concurrent sovereignty with the states.

Three-Branch System

The executive, legislative, and judicial functions of the government are constitutionally distinct from one another.

Plural Executive System

Executive authority is divided between figures who are separately accountable to the public.

Two-Party System

Only two major parties are competitive in most elections.

PIECES

Acronym for Prosperity, Institutions, Ethics, Culture, Ethnogeny, and Security - essential stabilizing elements universally observed across societies worldwide.

Political Revolution

The process where, if a government fails, another controlling entity will inevitably attempt to emerge in its place.

Political Culture

The behavioral patterns which set expectations for what the government can and should do for the people.

Traditionalism

The primary concern of the government is to preserve the founding social order of the society, and elites are expected to exercise disproportionate political power.

Moralism

The primary concern of the government is to promote what it deems to be the common good, and there is limited tolerance of other outcomes.

Individualism

The primary concern of the government is to facilitate the economy, and individuals are left to develop a social order on their own.

Texas Exceptionalism

The statewide unity that transcends its territory. The root of it is the history of Texas as an independent country prior to its accession to the United States

Constitutionalism

The idea that government authority is derived from a fundamental law from which all other laws follow.

Dual Federalism

A “layer cake” with each level of government operating independently in its own sphere.

Cooperative Federalism

A “marble cake” with each level indistinguishable from the other, as they cooperate in overlapping areas

Coercive Federalism

The federal government’s attempts to circumvent the U.S. Constitution’s limitations on how much control Washington can exert on the states.

Public Opinion

The collective desires, wants, and thinking of the people in a society

Lobbying

The act of directly attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials

Regulatory Capture

When public officials are excessively beholden to groups representing industries that those officials are supposed to regulate.

Dark Money

Political funds where the donors of the funds remain undisclosed (frequently used when interest groups structure as nonprofits).

Gerrymandering

The drawing of unusually shaped districts designed to benefit one constituency or one political party

Devolution

A sovereign entity granting authority to lower-level administrative entities

Dillon’s Rule

Local power only exists to the extent that state law allows

Municipios

Units that combined features of a Catholic parish, a modern county, and a modern city

Legal Personhood

An entity’s ability to participate in legal actions: people, corporations, organizations, and governments.

Civil Case

Arise from disputes between people and where the government has a vested interest.

Criminal Case

Arise from one’s personal conduct conflicting with the statutory rules of society.

Judicial Restraint

The idea that judges, as guardians of the law, ought to limit the exercise of their own power and only go against precedents when laws are blatantly unconstitutional

Judicial Activism

The idea that judges, as civic leaders, ought to go beyond the words of the law to consider broader societal implications when making decisions on politically controversial issues

Taxation

Assessing compulsory financial charges (a tax) upon individuals, businesses, and other qualifying legal entities

Progressive Taxation

Based on a taxpayer’s ability to pay taxes: These taxes impose a lower rate on low-income earners than on those with a higher income

Regressive Taxation

Based on equitably dividing the cost of governing: These taxes impose the same rate on all income earners, which in effect takes a larger percentage of income from low-income earners than from high-income earners

Proportional Taxation

Based on maximizing revenue without penalizing higher earners: Taxes levy the same percentage of income from all taxpayers, regardless of their income