Texas Govt (exam 1)

Which are the dominant values of American political culture?

 

liberty, equality, justice

Before independence, the territory of Texas was controlled by Spain and then Mexico. During this time, Spanish and Mexican leaders authorized ____ to encourage people to move to Texas.

empresarios

La Raza Unida Party was established in the mid-1960s in order to

 confront discriminatory practices that prevented Texas Latinos from participating in mainstream political and economic life.

Black Texans got meaningful political power when

 the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts were passed)

As of 2021, which city in Texas has the largest population?

Houston

The largest single-site employer in the state of Texas is

Fort Hood

The regulation of oil and energy in Texas is performed by

the Texas Railroad Commission.

Based on international trade data,

Texas produced over 20.5% of all US exports in 2021.

After 1917, the responsibilities of the Texas Railroad Commission were expanded to include which of the following?

 ensure that petroleum pipelines were common carriers and transported oil and gas produced by any company on equal terms

The Dallas and Austin–San Marcos metropolitan areas are centers for which economic industry?

technology

The origins of ranching and the cattle industry in Texas extend back to the late __ century.

seventeenth

Why was the privatization of public property considered to be a vital task after Texas entered the Union in 1845?

It allowed the state, not the federal government, to control the sale of public land to private ownership.

Texas’s political life grew out of which region?

the Gulf Coastal Plains

The “traditionalistic individualistic” political culture of Texas has led to which of the following policies?

No personal income tax and reduced levels of social services compared to many other states.

In the twenty-first century, the Border region of Texas, including El Paso, McAllen, and Brownsville, has remained a stronghold of which party?

Democratic Party

Which of these cities is located in the Great Plains region of Texas?

Amarillo

Provincialism is best defined as

a narrow self-interested view of the world)

What does the growing influence of women, Black, Latino, and LGBTQ individuals in Texas politics indicate?

Aspects of provincialism are being undercut.

Which of the following was a consequence of one-party dominance in Texas?

General elections tended to be non-competitive during this period)

Which of the following groups is challenging business interests for influence over the Texas Republican Party?

social conservatives

How does Texan political scientist V. O. Key describe the collective set of opinions held by private citizens?

 public opinion

Political scientists Robert Hess and Judith Torney argue that education can be more influential on an individual’s political socialization than one’s family. Why do they believe this is especially the case for one’s high school and college experiences?

 

Students are more likely to encounter a more diverse set of people in high school and college than they had previously been exposed to.

Which term best encompasses individuals’ broader sense of how they understand and react to political ideas, politicians, and world events?

 

political ideology

When people do not have enough time to thoroughly learn about a given topic or policy issue, they often rely on ____, which are shortcuts that help them decide about which side they should support.

 

heuristics

Successful politicians will often work to reflect the wishes of their constituents. What term best describes a situation where politicians successfully enact laws that coincide with public opinion?

 policy congruence

Although there are often several key issues that most voters care about before an election, the issues do not always have the same weight or importance for individual voters. What term best describes this phenomenon?

 issue saliency

In what way does the media most clearly serve in its watchdog capacity?

 Media outlets work to bring transparency to governmental functions.

A journalist would most clearly be undertaking news journalism when reporting on.....

 a wide range of local or national events, with the aim of informing the audience in a general, objective manner.

A journalist would most clearly be undertaking investigative journalism when reporting on

a single issue (or several closely related issues), with the aim of providing in-depth analysis.

Endorsements by newspapers and other media outlets are shown to have the LEAST impact on which type of political contest?

a national, well-publicized race between known candidates

What effect did the Telecommunications Act of 1996 have on the media landscape and media ownership in Texas?

The act resulted in media outlets being owned by fewer companies.

In the context of the media, the term framing is used to describe....

a process of selecting certain aspects of reality and crafting stories around those aspects.

Which term refers to situations where a media outlet highlights a particular issue or topic to bring it to the attention of its audience? Doing so will have the effect of deemphasizing other issues or topics in the eyes of the audience.

agenda setting

Which of the following actions best represents an attempt at framing the issue of voter rights in Texas?

Texas Republicans describing proposed legislation as an attempt to ensure election integrity

A journalist could most clearly be accused of spreading misinformation in which of the following scenarios?

When reviewing data from the Texas Border Patrol, a journalist misinterpreted data related to the number of migrants trying to enter Texas and wrote an article that presented the erroneous data as if it were true.

Disinformation in the media is most often designed to accomplish which of the following goals?

to intentionally deceive one’s audience

A person created a short deepfake movie that supposedly contains a speech made by the governor of Texas, then posted it to his or her social media accounts under the title “You’ll never believe what the Texas Governor REALLY thinks about voter fraud!” Which description best encapsulates what this individual did?

spread disinformation

How can the labels “Conservative,” “Liberal,” and “Libertarian” best be classified together?

They are all examples of political ideologies.

Characteristics such as an individual’s age, income, military status, and the groups to which he or she belongs all help to describe which of the following sources of political socialization?

 

socioeconomic group

As more Texans turn to the internet (and especially social media) for news and information, they have made it easier for what type of journalism to take place?

citizen

Which of the following is the best definition of public policy?

 the expressed goals of a government body that are backed by sanctions or incentives

____ refers to the idea that policy makers have formulated and implemented policies that address problems in an optimal or efficient manner.

Rationality

In terms of per capita spending on education, Texas....

ranks near the bottom in the country.

Suppose you are attracted by the curriculum offered at a charter school and decide to send your children to it rather than the existing public school in your neighborhood) What will be different about how the charter school is funded?

Charter schools are funded by some state public monies; as of 2023, they are not eligible for local tax revenues or funding for facilities.

Under the Gilmer-Aikin Laws,

the State Board of Education was established to supervise public education in Texas

The three main issues that have shaped education policy in Texas over the last 50 years have been....

funding, desegregation, and educational excellence.

The key issue at stake in Edgewood ISD v. Kirby was....

whether the phrase “an efficient system of free public schools” from the Texas Constitution could be fulfilled through funding by local property taxes.

Voucher programs and charter schools have raised much controversy in discussions around education policy in Texas. In the context of this debate, what is the relationship between voucher programs and charter schools?

Voucher programs could be used by parents to send their children to a charter or private school of their choosing.

In 2017, the Texas legislature adopted new benchmarks to ensure public school effectiveness. Which of these accurately describes the new metrics on which schools are judged?

increases in student progress, student achievement, and a “closing the gaps” measure

The principle of federalism allows states to take a wide range of approaches to address poverty. Which statement best describes Texas’s actions in this area over the past two decades?

While generally increasing funding to antipoverty programs over this time, Texas has placed a greater emphasis on social services rather than cash assistance.

The origins of modern welfare policy lie in

President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was a program that....

used federal and state funds to assist children who met certain qualification standards and was replaced by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in 1996.

Which of these is a federal welfare program specifically designed to provide health care for low-income individuals?

Medicaid

In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)the Supreme Court found that....

states could not be forced to expand their Medicaid programs.

Texas’s Medicaid costs are paid for through what combination of sources?

The state and federal government both cover these costs, with the federal funding making up a larger share.

How does the length of Texas’s legislative session effect the policy-making process?

This time constraint of the session encourages compromise, even if it means the resulting policy is incomplete or otherwise suboptimal.

How did Governor Abbott respond to the coronavirus pandemic with respect to public education?

While Governor Abbott first deferred to local governments concerning public mask policies, in May 2021, he issued an executive order prohibiting school districts and other public entities from requiring face coverings or restricting activities due to the pandemic.

Where does Texas rank in terms of the number of people without health insurance?

highest number of uninsured people (#50 in terms of insured people)

How was the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applied to education in Brown v. Board of Education?

Because state-imposed segregation was ruled unconstitutional, school districts were required to desegregate their school systems “with all deliberate speed.”

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) was introduced by the federal government in 1972 to provide aid and assistance to....

people who are disabled or the elderly with low incomes.

Which of the following is an important element of federalism?

Power is divided between a central government and regional governments that both have direct authority over people living within their borders.

According to the supremacy clause, what happens if there is a disagreement between what is written in the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution?

The U.S. Constitution takes precedence over the Texas Constitution.

The Texas Constitution of 1836 showed the direct influence of the U.S. Constitution by including which specific feature?

a bicameral legislature

Which of these was an outcome of the Constitution of 1869?

Black men were given the right to vote.

In order to limit the power of Texas state government, the Constitution of 1876 contained which of these provisions?

The government’s ability to take on debt or tax citizens is restricted.

How is the Texas Bill of Rights different from the U.S. Bill of Rights?

There are many protected rights in the Texas Bill of Rights that are not mentioned in the U.S. Bill of Rights.

Article 7 of the Texas Constitution covers the topic of Education. According to Article 7, what is the purpose of the State Board of Education?

To oversee the operations of elementary and secondary education throughout the state

What was the result of the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1974?

Fewer than the required two-thirds of Constitutional Convention delegates voted in support of the proposed constitution and it failed.

Who is most likely to create an advertising campaign for or against a proposed constitutional amendment in Texas?

Interest groups that either support or oppose the proposed amendment will be most active in these types of campaigns.

Who were the Radical Republicans?

A group of Republicans in the U.S. Congress who pushed through the inclusion of African American suffrage as well as the military occupation of the former states of the Confederacy after the Civil War.

Who made up the Grange, and what effect did they have on the writing of the Texas Constitution of 1876?

They were an agricultural group who wanted a government that would improve the plight of farmers.

What year was the current Texas Constitution ratified?

1876

Which of the following is listed in the Texas Bill of Rights but is not in the U.S. Bill of Rights?

prohibitions of monopolies contrary to the public interest

Which of the following features was found in Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas (1824)?

a unicameral legislature

What stalled Texas’s admission into the United States?

That Texas would be a slave state, which would upset the balance between slave and free states, stalled it admission.

What does the term limited government mean?

The powers of a government are defined and limited by a constitution.

According to Article 4 of the Texas Constitution, each of the following members of the plural executive are elected to their position except for the ____, who is appointed by the governor and approved by the Texas Senate.

secretary of state

While the Constitution of the Republic of Texas (1836) shared many elements with the U.S. Constitution, it also shared many elements with Spanish-Mexican law, including

the idea of community property, whereby property by either spouse during marriage would be jointly owned.

What is the purpose of Article 2 of the current Texas Constitution?

To explicitly separate power between the three branches of Texas’s government: executive, legislative, and judicial.

Which of the following scenarios would fit with James Madison’s definition of tyranny?

All governmental power is consolidated and concentrated in the legislative branch of government.