Final Exam TX Govt

A(n) ______ is a primary election in which any registered voter can participate in the contest, regardless of party affiliation.

Open Primary

Which of the following does not apply in order to be registered to vote in Texas?

At least 18 years old one year prior to an election

The Texas __________ are a political event associated with primaries, the process by which voters in the Texas ultimately select their parties' nominees for various offices. The process as a whole has been referred to as the Texas Two-Step, after the partner dance of the same name, because Texans were required to first vote in the primary election in order to be eligible for participation in party _________ in which delegates were selected.

caucuses

Based on the video in the readings, who are the groups that vote in primaries in Texas?

more liberal and more conservative voters

_____ are used to ratify or reject Texas constitutional amendments, fill elected offices that have become vacant between general elections, or provide approval to borrow money.

special elections

Up until 2020 Texas had the option of ______, which refers to the option of voting for all candidates of the same party without having to select candidates for each office.

straight-ticket voting

Primary elections are the first elections held in an electoral cycle. A primary election is an election used either to narrow the field of candidates for a given elective officer or to determine the nominees for political parties in advance of a _____.

general election

Texas is a(n) ______- meaning you simply register as a voter. A registered voter can participate in any party primary but can only participate in one party’s primary in each election and cannot vote in a party’s runoff election after voting in another party’s primary in the same election.

open primary state

_____ can be triggered automatically or by petition and allow voters to choose whether or not to decrease a jurisdiction’s property tax rate.

rollback elections

Which of the following can have an impact on voter turnout in Texas? Check all that apply

Voter beliefs and attitudes, Demographic and socioeconomic factors, Voter ID requirements

Political Parties are groups of people with similar interests who work together to ______________. They do this by gaining control over the government by winning elections.

Create and implement policies

The ______ Party dominated politics in Texas following Reconstruction and through most of the twentieth century.

Democratic

Political parties that are formed as alternatives to the Republican and Democratic parties are known as _________, or minor parties. As with many other states, the two-party system in Texas has made it very difficult for ________ to get on the ballot.

third parties

Following passage of the __________ of 1964, southern white Democrats began to leave the party and join the Republicans, a movement accelerated after the next year, when Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, providing for federal enforcement of minorities’ constitutional right to vote. Voter registration and turnout increased among blacks and Latinos in Texas and other states.

Civil Rights Act

At its most basic level, being a member of the party-in-the-electorate simply means a voter is more likely to voice support for a party. These voters are often called ________, since they usually represent themselves in public as being members of a party, and they may attend some party events or functions.

party supporters

The __________ is the formal structure of the political party, and its active members are responsible for coordinating party behavior and supporting party candidates. It is a vital component of any successful party because it bears most of the responsibility for building and maintaining the party “brand.” It also plays a key role in helping select, and elect, candidates for public office.

party organization

_________ are a form of town hall meeting at which voters in a precinct get together to voice their preferences, rather than voting individually throughout the day. In Texas, __________ occur after voting in the party primary on the day of primary elections.

Caucuses

A ________ is a certain set of ethical ideals, principles, doctrines, myths or symbols of a social movement, institution, class or large group that explains how society should work and offers some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order.

political ideology

________ refers to the political party with which an individual identifies. Party identification is loyalty to a political party. _________ is typically determined by the political party that an individual most commonly supports (by voting or other means).

party identification

The Texas caucuses are a political event associated with primaries, the process by which voters in the Texas ultimately select their parties' nominees for various offices. The process as a whole has been referred to as the _________, after the partner dance of the same name, because Texans were required to first vote in the primary election in order to be eligible for participation in party caucuses in which delegates were selected.

Texas Two-Step

_________ is what groups do to influence who the policymakers will be. While federal law has strict limits on the amount of money that can be raised and contributed in federal races, Texas law permits groups to form political action committees that can receive and donate unlimited amounts of money to state and local election campaigns.

Electioneering

The Texas Ethics Commission defines _________ as “making direct communications with members of the legislative or executive branch of Texas state government to influence legislation or administrative action.”

Lobbying

A _____ is someone who represents the interest organization before government, is usually compensated for doing so, and is required to register with the government.

Lobbyist

True or false: Lobbyists and lobbying are very limited in Texas and the US, and are primarily connected to business interests.

False

__________ involves getting large numbers of constituents to contact their legislators on behalf of a particular issue. When done well, ________ is incredibly effective with legislators, who are strongly motivated to please voters who live in their districts.

Grassroots lobbying

An __________ is any formal association of individuals or organizations that attempt to influence government decision-making and/or the making of public policy.

interest group

Which of the following is not a category of interest groups in Texas?

Legislative committees

An interest group in Texas can give ________ to a political campaign but must disclose their contributions to the Texas Ethics Commission, which makes that information available to the public on its recently redesigned, highly-searchable website.

an unlimited amount of money

In policymaking, legislators in Texas rely on interest groups for _____.

Information

The primary goal of a lobbyist is to

influence policy

Texas has a reputation for _____ sentences, tough prisons (most until recently, without air conditioning) and tough-on-crime judges.

long

The Fifth Amendment also protects individuals against _____, a process that subjects a suspect to prosecution twice for the same criminal act. No one who has been acquitted (found not guilty) of a crime can be prosecuted again for that crime.

double jeopardy

Texas was the first state to use _____. Proponents of ______ argued that they would increase the quality of care by improving rehabilitation and reducing recidivism rates. Opponents to _____ in Texas argue that profit incentives may put financial gain above the public interest of safety and rehabilitation.

private prisons

In Texas the constitutional right to an attorney is delegated to the ______, which are responsible for appointing and paying lawyers when a person is not able to pay for representation.

Each County

Texas ranks among the _____ states in compensation for indigent defense.

bottom

Most people accused of crimes decline their right to a jury trial. This choice is typically the result of a _____, an agreement between the defendant and the prosecutor in which the defendant pleads guilty to the charge(s) in questions, or perhaps to less serious charges, in exchange for more lenient punishment than he or she might receive if convicted after a full trial.

plea bargain

In Texas, there has been an increased emphasis (albeit gradually) on community supervision and _________ programs, such as drug treatment programs and electronic monitoring of offenders, with less emphasis on incarceration as a first response solution to crime.

rehabilitation

Texas has long led the nation in the number of people ________ based on evidence of innocence. Since 2010, more than 200 people have been _______ in Texas, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. That’s more than twice as many as any other state during the same period.

exonerated

Texas has long been known as a ______ state in matters of Criminal Justice.

law and order

_____ are guarantees and freedoms that government commit not to abridge, either by legislation or judicial interpretation, without due process.

Civil liberties

Which of the following events occurred in history of public education in Texas?

All three answers are correct.

Public education in Texas is funded today partly by the

Permanent School Fund

Major reforms in public education occured in 1949 with the passage of the Gilmer-Aikin laws. Which of the following was one of the many areas addressed by these laws that increased the quality of public education in Texas?

Created the Foundation School Program

The overhaul of the Texas Education Code by the 74th Legislature in 1995 included provisions that

gave power to the Governor to appoint the commissioner of education.

Identify one of the major issues facing Texas public education today.

debates on school choice and the school calendar

True or false: Texas guarantees every school district a certain amount of funding for each student.

True

School districts in Texas get their funding from which of the two main sources below?

Property tax and state budget

True or false: as property values rise and public education is funding by higher property taxes, additional funding by the state has also increased.

False

School boards generally must set a tax rate of at least ____ per $100 in property value.

$1

Wealthier school districts, which have homes and businesses within their boundaries that are more valuable, generally tax at lower rates. Poorer school districts often tax at ______ rates.

higher