texas govt exam 2

Which of the following is a primary function of counties in Texas?

Counties provide the main form of government in rural areas.

If you want to get married and need to get a marriage license, or need to get a copy of a birth or death certificate, which office do you need to contact?

the county clerk where you are getting married, or where the death or birth occurred

In Texas, lesser criminal cases are generally prosecuted by _______________, while the more serious criminal cases tend to be prosecuted by ______________.

county attorneys; district attorneys

One of the most important social services provided by Texas counties is

indigent health care

Who serves on the county commissioners’ court?

a county judge who is elected countywide and presides over the meetings, and four county commissioners who are each elected to represent about one-quarter of the population of the county

To whom are most county officials most accountable, and how?

the voters, through the electoral process

If you live in a Texas city that can set property tax rates up to $2.50 per $100 valuation and may have the power to annex land adjacent to the city, then you live in a city governed by

home-rule charter.

What is preemption?

the legislature’s power to overrule ordinances or actions of local home-rule cities

What is the main difference between a home-rule city and a general-law city in Texas?

A general-law city is chartered for localities with a population of fewer than 5,000 persons.

Mayors are elected using at-large elections because

they represent the entire geographical area of the city rather than one specific district.

What happens when a city council uses single-member districts?

Each member of the city council represents a specific “district” of the city and is elected by residents of that geographical area.

According to the Dillon Rule doctrine,

general-law cities and towns are much more constrained than home-rule cities, and cannot take any action unless explicitly authorized by a law passed by the state.

A school district is

a special district

If you live outside the limits of a city in Texas, water, sewer, sanitation, and electricity services are offered by

municipal utility districts (MUDs).

Special districts in Texas are primarily paid for by revenue generated by

property taxes and user fees.

What is the function of the 24 councils of government in Texas today?

They are regional boards meant to coordinate local planning and development

One goal of the deferred retirement option plan (DROP) was to

keep Dallas police officers and firefighters working on the job instead of retiring and collecting their pension after 20 years of service.

Each county has the ability to set its own budget and tax rate. If you wanted to be involved in these decisions, which elected body would you need to serve on?

county commissioners’ court

Who is the primary record-keeper of documents generated by district courts?

the district clerk

What is a user fee?

a fee paid for a particular good or service, such as water service

Which term describes an interest group that serves as an umbrella organization to coordinate the activities of member groups in specific targeted areas?

peak association

Why do interest groups use judicial strategies?

to challenge existing policies and laws within the court system

In Federalist 10, what was Madison’s primary argument in support of what we could call interest groups today?

The groups would compete against each other, thereby protecting individuals from any one interest becoming too powerful and abusing its power.

Which of the following is the best expression of a “pluralistic society” in action?

People with common interests join together into groups and these groups compete with each other for power and influence.

Why would it be beneficial for an interest group to open an office in Austin?

They can develop long-term relationships with lawmakers and continually present the views of the organization.

Once a lobbyist has access to a member of the legislature, the lobbyist can

provide information about how specific policies can benefit the legislator’s district.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is best described as what kind of interest group?

civil rights

Which of the following has consistently been one of the largest and most effective public employee interest groups in Texas?

teachers

In order to gain access to politicians, interest groups in Texas will often

spend money on entertaining politicians

How long must a former member of a governing body or former executive head of a regulatory agency wait before he or she can lobby that agency?

2 years

Who were the “steak men” identified by Speaker Sam Rayburn at the beginning of the twentieth century?

They were legislators who would “sell” their votes on a bill for free steak dinners.

Why doesn’t the voice of consumers get heard as clearly by Texas legislators through the lobbying process?

There are no dedicated interest groups that focus on consumers among the biggest spending groups.

Suppose an interest group forms a political action committee (PAC). What does this signal to candidates pursuing office?

The interest group’s members care deeply about an issue and will donate money to support the group’s positions.

Which type of group contributed the most to candidates running for seats in the Texas Legislature in 2020?

Ideological/single issue

When people talk about “get out the vote” (GOTV) efforts, what does this mean?

activities such as phone banking, texting, or canvassing to encourage people sympathetic to your position to go vote in an upcoming election

If an interest group “gets on the late train,” it means that

an interest group gives contributions after the election to a winning candidate the group had earlier opposed.

Which 2009 U.S. Supreme Court case created the opportunity for those opposed to powerful incumbents to create organizations without having to disclose their donors?

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

When doesinterest-group capture occur?

when a state agency ends up furthering the objectives of the interest group rather than behaving as an independent actor

Why do we generally not see strong interest groups focusing on issue areas where there is a large or broad common interest, but we do where there is a narrow common interest?

The broader the interest, the harder it is to overcome the free rider problem and create an effective interest group.

You recently received a postcard in the mail encouraging you to vote in favor of a particular issue that is on an upcoming ballot in your local community. When you look carefully at the postcard, you see that it was sent by a PAC. This is an example of

issue advocacy.

When deciding how to vote, people will use mental shortcuts. Political scientists call these shortcuts

cues

Which scenario would make a runoff primary most likely to occur?

Six candidates are all running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate

When people vote in a primary election, they are

selecting a party’s candidate for the general election.

Why are statewide officials in Texas, such as the governor and lieutenant governor, elected in nonpresidential years?

It prevents presidential candidates from influencing the outcome of Texas races

What is the most basic and fundamental duty citizens have in a democracy?

voting

Suffrage refers to

the right to vote.

Texas was the first state in the South to

ratify the women’s suffrage amendment

Outlawed by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a ________ was a state-imposed tax on voters as a prerequisite for voting.

poll tax

Which of these is the main activity of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)?

monitoring changes in electoral law that may suppress the votes of minorities

The Voting Rights Act has been renewed several times since 1965, and new provisions have been added since then. For example,

bilingual ballots are now required in certain areas where more than 5 percent of voters speak another language.

In 1923, the Texas legislature established ____________________ to prohibit African Americans from voting in the Democratic primary.

the White primary

The 1993 federal law known as the “motor voter law”

allows citizens to register to vote while applying for a driver’s license.

Which of these individuals are legally disqualified from voting?

individuals who have been judged by a court to be mentally incompetent

What happens when a voter chooses in straight-ticket voting?

The voter can check one box at the top of the ballot for one party and this will then cast a vote for each candidate on the ballot with that party’s affiliation.

Which of the following tends to lower voter turnout?

most elections for low-visibility offices

Suppose you wanted to create a method of redistricting that would make races for the Texas legislature more competitive. Which plan would you recommend be enacted to do so?

Give the redistricting process to a nonpartisan commission.

In Texas, candidates for state office and lobbyists have to file quarterly reports detailing their spending and donations with which agency?

Texas Ethics Commission

Which of the following is an advantage incumbents have when they run for reelection?

name recognition and visibility

In Evenwel v. Abbott (2015), the Supreme Court ruled that

states can use total population when drawing legislative districts.

What is the greatest expense for most campaigns?

Payment for media ads

In Texas, political parties help candidates by providing

training for a campaign.

When former speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O’Neill said, “all politics is local,” he was talking about how

local issues are not generally ideological.

Parties use social media for which of the following?

voter mobilization

Which movement has had the largest impact on Texas state legislative races in recent years?

tea party movement

In a “first past the post” electoral system, the winner of the election is

whoever gets the plurality of the votes

In a nonpartisan election ________.

the party affiliation of the candidates does not appear on the ballots

How often do political parties in Texas hold their state conventions?

every two years

Which statement correctly describes the requirements for membership in a major political party in Texas?

With no requirements, a registered voter simply chooses which party primary to vote in.

The Latino movement known as La Raza Unida mostly occurred during the

1970s

The States’ Rights Party, also known as the Dixiecrats, split with the national Democratic Party over which issue?

radical integration

What is one of the key functions of the county executive committee in Texas?

 

running the county’s primary elections

In Texas, which group is responsible for fundraising for the party and establishing the party’s policies?

the state executive committee

Presidential Republicanism describes a pattern in which Texas voters would vote for a Republican president and

conservative Democrats for state offices

By the 1940s, which issues created a split between liberal and conservative members of the Democratic Party?

New Deal economic policies and civil rights measures

The exodus of more affluent White people from urban areas to suburban areas is sometimes referred to as

White flight

Why is the process of political socialization important?

It introduces individuals to the political culture and can help them discover and develop their partisan identification.

The Tea Party movement advocated for which of the following?

Limited government, lower taxes, and less government spending

One of the consequences of partisan polarization is that

compromise becomes very difficult, because neither side wants to be seen as “caving in” to the other side.

Which of the following third parties has been most successful in terms of winning elections in Texas?

la raza unida