Texas Government Exam 2

Who are high-ranking executive branch officials like the attorney general and comptroller elected by?

the voters rather than appointed by the governor

How does the power of the Texas lieutenant governor compare to the powers of lieutenant governors in other states?

Very strong

What was the effect of extending the length of the lieutenant governor’s term of office from two to four years?

It allowed the lieutenant governors to gain more informal influence and legislative expertise

What power allows the lieutenant governor to influence the choices the senate makes?

The power to appoint committees to the senate

To what extent does the Texas attorney general (AG) handle criminal issues?

The AG supports and advises city and county-level officials in promoting awareness on crime and safety issues

What is the impact of the attorney general on public policy?

When the attorney general issues an opinion on public policy, it carries the force of law

What does Texas’s balanced budget requirement entail?

By law, the state legislature cannot adopt a budget that exceeds anticipated revenue

What does it take to override the comptroller?

A four-fifths majority in both houses of the legislature

How is the comptroller of public accounts involved in the Texas budget?

The comptroller provides a revenue forecast and ensures that the budget passed by the legislature is within that revenue estimate

What office does the land commissioner head?

The General Land Office

Why is revenue from state lands so important?

Texas collects no income tax and uses a portion of oil and gas royalties to fund public education

Why is the commissioner of agriculture a key position in the plural executive?

Texas is the second leading overall agricultural producer in the United States

What office has been criticized for placing business interests ahead of environmental concerns?

The Land Office

Who is responsible for regulating the oil and gas industry in Texas?

The Texas Railroad Commission

Why does Texas have a State Board of Education?

The Texas Constitution designates the SBOE to implement the mandate for a free public education system

How is the State Board of Education selected?

Most of its members are elected by voters, but some positions are appointed by the governor

What is the primary role of the Texas secretary of state?

administering elections

Who is the highest-ranking official appointed by the governor in Texas?

the secretary of state

The Texas Public Utilities Commission has jurisdiction over what public utilities?

telephone and electric power companies

What agency was criticized for the statewide power outages that occurred in February 2021?

The Electric Reliability Council in Texas

The bureaucracy in Texas is large in absolute terms but ___

small relative to the size of the state’s population

What is one of the main characteristics of a perfect bureaucracy?

It assigns responsibilities based on technical competence

How did people obtain bureaucratic jobs in the 19th century?

Jobs were awarded based on political allegiance

Bureaucracies rely on complex procedures to make sure that laws are consistent and fair across a wide range of situations. What is the end result of this?

There is an inherent degree of complexity involved in bureaucracies, which tends to make citizens frustrated because things often take longer than expected

Why is the state bureaucracy decebtralized?

to disperse power

Why does Texas have a sizable bureaucracy despite its commitment to small government?

A certain amount of bureaucracy is necessary to establish the basic delivery of goods and services that government provides

What is the purpose of state bureaucracy?

to provide services to the population and to implement state policies

The Sunset review process demonstrates that state agencies are ultimately held accountable for their performance by whom?

The legislative branch, as house and senate members vote on all Sunset bills

What is the lieutenant governor’s responsibility when the governor is out of state?

serving as acting governor

The senate president pro tempore becomes acting governor for the day during ___

the “governor for a day” ritual

The process of accusing an official of misconduct while in office is known as what?

impeachment

The governor has a limited ___

set of formal powers to influence the political process

Historically speaking, why did the Texas Constitution of 1876 limit the powers of the governor?

It was a reaction to the previous constitution, which had given the governor strong executive powers

What effect does the plural executive have on governors?

It weakens governors by allowing the electorate to choose their executive officers for them

How many appointees does a governor choose over the course of a single term?

several hundred

Governors make appointments for what?

pursuit of policy goals, protect those who share same political interests, and to establish a political tone

How is the governor’s appointment power limited?

Senatorial courtesy allows the senator from the district of a nominee to veto the governor’s appointment.

What happens to someone who is appointed to office by a governor while the legislature is not in session?

The appointee’s tenure is still subject to senate confirmation once the legislature reconvenes

What happens when a governor vetoes a bill?

It is returned to the legislature, where the veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each chamber

How has Governor Abbott’s use of the veto compare to other Texas governors?

higher-than average despite working with a Republican legislature

What authority does the governor have over the state budget?

The governor can transfer money between programs or agencies in an emergency

What are the governor’s military and police powers?

The governor is commander in chief of the Texas National Guard and has limited police powers as selector of the Public Safety Commission

What opportunity do governors in Texas have to influence the state judiciary?

Governors can fill judicial vacancies

Who has power to issue a pardon?

the Board of Pardons and Paroles

The governor has important powers, which include ___

the power to persuade and the message power

What does the “power to persuade” mean when used in reference to the Texas governor?

It refers to the governor’s use of personal influence to manage relationships with the legislature and the bureaucracy during the session

Why is the informal side of the message power more important than the formal side?

The governor’s formal messages can be ignored, whereas statements receive extensive media coverage

What is one limitation of using approval ratings to measure the current standing of the governor?

Polls rarely contain information regarding the reasoning behind people’s opinions

What is the bully pulpit?

A figurative platform public official uses to build support for their agenda

The governor’s emergency items are officially submitted to who?

the house and senate

What describes Abbott’s emergency items from the 85th Legislative Session?

They identified general policy areas

How did the Texas Legislature respond to the governor’s emergency items?

The senate acted quickly, but the house was slower in passing legislation

Why did members of the house pass legislation to reform Child Protective Services

they had no choice

Emergency item that was the least successful

immigration

Both the United States and Texas use the common law system. What does it rely on?

written laws as well as judges’ interpretations of those laws over time

What does the common law system being built on precedent mean?

Previous court decisions are applied to current and future cases

What does the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution mean for the states?

The law of all states must conform to the Constitution mean for the states

Law made by municipal and county governments

ordinances

What would happen if cases were decided based on written law alone?

Inconsistencies might emerge in the rulings on similar cases

Just like the state itself, the Texas court system is

very large and complex

What does it mean for a court to have original jurisdiction over a case?

The court has the authority to hear the case first, before any other court

Example of concurrent jurisdiction

both local police and the FBI having the authority to deal with a case

Appellate Jurisdiction

the court hears cases that were originally tried in other courts

What is true about appeals process?

No new facts or evidence may be introduced during an appeal

What is the focus of appellate courts?

court procedures

How many municipal courts were there in Texas in 2020?

945

What county trial courts has appellate jurisdiction over cases appealed from other courts?

constitutional county courts

What is true about Texas district courts?

These courts have original jurisdiction in all felony criminal cases, divorce cases, and cases involving title to land

What is true about Texas courts of appeals

The Texas Constitution was amended to give the legislature the power to create additional courts of appeals

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has discretion to hear criminal appeals and does not have to hear all cases, with what exception?

capital punishment cases

The Texas Supreme Court has final jurisdiction over what type of cases appealed through the state courts?

civil cases

In using partisan elections to select judges, Texas ___

prizes accountability over independence in the judiciary

What two characteristics allow judges to make the kind of unbiased and well-reasoned decisions necessary for a credible justice system?

capability and independence

What is based on the idea that encouraging lawyers to pursue the best interests of their respective clients is the best way for the system to ensure justice?

the adversarial system

What two sources set the formal requirements to serve as a state judge in Texas?

The Texas Constitution and the Texas Legislature

Do all Texas judges have to be licensed to practice law?

No, constitutional county court judges and justices of the peace do not have to be licensed to practice law

What judges have to satisfy the most rigorous requirements before they can assume their posts?

appeals court judges

As of October 2020, how many judges on the Texas Supreme Court were women?

4

Municipal judges serve terms of what length?

2 years

What happens if there is a judicial vacancy outside of the normal electoral calendar?

The vacancy is filled by someone appointed by the relevant elected official

What is the purpose of the Commission on Judicial Conduct?

to consider whether a judge has violated the Code of Judicial Conduct

How does the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct affect judicial campaigns?

No effect because judges discuss their political ideology

What do believers in the Hamiltonian approach to government argue?

Judges cannot be independent if they’re worried about reelection

Why are independence and accountability considered contradictory goals with respect to judges

accountability limits independence

What concern was of primary importance to the drafters of the Texas Constitution when creating the judicial selection system?

the accountability of judges

What allows judges to focus on cases that will contribute something meaningful to the collective understanding of the law?

The principle of discretionary review

What is one important reason why the Texas Supreme Court may be susceptible to improper influence by moneyed interests?

The court does not reveal how the justices voted in each decision to accept or reject a petition for appeal

Most recent attempt to overhaul the present system for filing judicial posts

2003

Ex-officio member

Board or commission members who automatically serve because of some other position they occupy

senatorial courtesy

An informal custom of the Texas Senate that senators may reject gubernatorial nominees from their own districts

line-item veto

The governor’s power to veto specific items in the legislature’s budget bill rather than the whole bill

Statutory laws

Bills that the Texas Legislature made into laws

The history of Texas reveals a criminal justice system marked by ___

racial inequality

Criminal justice is administered through three distinct institutions:

law enforcement, courts, and corrections

During what phase of the criminal justice process would the municipal police most likely be involved?

entrance into the system

What does the corrections component of the justice system encompass?

the system of incarceration and parole

Texans are most likely to come in contact with what kind of law enforcement agent?

municipal police

Primary duty of Texas Rangers

investigating murder and sexual assault cases

Due Process

principle that government must protect the legal rights of citizens

Adjudication

a legal process whereby an arbiter or judge makes a legal judgement on disputed matter