Texas Govt Exam 1 Review

The year the republic of Texas was established

1836

The year Texas joined the Union

1845

What is the Texas Creed?

Anglo belief that their race was superior. Used violence to enforce
this and believed it was honorable to defend oneself.

How does Texas Creed define early Texas history and impact the political culture of Texas?

Anglo immigration to Texas brought homesteading, racist ideology,
and violence toward other races. This built the foundation for traditionalism
and provincialism to dominate the early political culture of Texas.

What were the population demographics of Texas at the time of Independence?

Natives, Tejanos, and Anglos

What were the primary motivations for declaring independence from
Mexico?

To maintain slavery and refusal to follow the Mexican government.

What are the executive powers of the governor?

Appointive power (weak): sec of state, state board chairs, judicial
vacancies, US representatives
Military power: TX air, guard, national, martial law, rangers, DPS
Executive Orders: set policy for executive branch
Proclamations
Promote Economic Development

What are the judicial powers of the governor?

Appoint judges
Grant pardons, but not for death sentences

Why is the office of governor of Texas traditionally considered a weak office?

The Texas Constitution weakens the governor's power and spreads their power among executive officials.

What do we mean by the plural executive?

Group of officials in charge of making decisions and giving orders
(executive branch).

Who makes up the plural executive (be able to name at least three besides
governor), and how are they selected?

Lieutenant Governor, The Comptroller of Public Accounts,
Commissioner of Agriculture, Commissioner of the General Land Office
and The Secretary of State (and the governor)
They are selected by the state's electorate (voters) every four years.

What are the pros of a plural executive?

Prevents abuse of power, laws would appoint friends Officials must defend their positions to be elected

What are the cons of a plural executive?

Less cohesion
Governor has less power
Voters may not elect fully qualified officials

What does it mean that the executive branch has emergency and military powers?

Can deploy martial and military law in a state of emergency

Why would the executive branch hold these powers instead of the
legislative branch?

The Executive branch enforces laws, the Legislative branch only makes them.

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the president in the executive can veto those laws with a presidential veto

Be able to explain the process through which a bill becomes a law, and what a companion bill is.

1. Bill is introduced
a. Companion Bill- introduced in the House and Senate and the
same time
2. First Reading, bill is assigned to a committee
3. Committee Consideration
a. Kill the bill or pass with majority vote
4. Second Reading and Vote
5. Third Reading and Vote
6. If bills differ, conference committee 5 members from each chamber
resolves differences
7. Enrollment and Certification
8. Governor Action
a. Sign or Veto (⅔ vote, both houses)
b. 10 days to sign, if it's not signed then it passes

For how long and how often does the legislature meet?

140 days, every 2 yrs

How are those days of a regular session scheduled?

30- bill introduction
30- committee work/action
80- floor debate and voting

What is the difference between a bicameral and a unicameral legislature?

Bicameral- 2 chambers (House and Senate)
Unicameral- 1 chamber (ex: Nebraska)

How long are term limits for Texas senators and house members?

Senate- 4 yr terms
House- 2 yr terms

what are the legislative powers of the speaker of the house?

presides over meetings, chooses who to call on during
meetings, appoints members to committees, schedules bills for
debate and refers bills to the proper committee

How is the speaker of the house chosen?

selected by the House majority party

How is the lieutenant governor chosen?

Statewide election every 4 years. Same time as governor.

What are the legislative powers of the lieutenant governor?

establishes all special and standing committees,
appoints all chairpersons and members, and assigns all Senate
legislation to the committee of his choice.

What are the formal powers of the Texas Legislature?

include consideration of proposed laws and resolutions, consideration of proposed constitutional amendments for submission to the voters, and appropriation of all funds for the operation of state government

How are special interest groups used in the creation of bills?

Interest groups try to influence Congress by reaching targeted members of Congress, often indirectly through other political actors (thru lobbyists) to get bills they want passed

What is the process through which the Texas Constitution is amended?

⅔ of each chamber pass amendment
Voters can approve with majority vote
Governor has no veto power
Gov needs to be inefficient to not be in daily life

When was the last Texas Constitution ratified?

1876

Is the Texas constitution generally considered to be short or long as
compared to constitutions of others states within the U.S.A.?

Longer than most but not Alabama's

What article of the U.S. constitution formally identifies states' powers?

Article 2

What is federalism?

Separation of power between the national and state governments.

What are the principles of checks and balances and balance of power?

Each branch of government with individual powers to check the other branches and prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.

How are the principles of checks and balances exemplified through federalism?

state and federal gov balance each other; limit national gov power

How are the principles of checks and balances exemplified through how a bill becomes a law?

the president can veto any bill passed by Congress, but a two-thirds vote in Congress can override the veto

Why is redistricting necessary?

Represents common views held by a district’s population to insure the right official is elected for them

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it can allow equal representation and allow communities to give input

Why is redistricting controversial?

One party can maintain power in state legislature through gerrymandering.

Gerrymandering

when a political group tries to change a voting
district boundary to create a result that helps them or hurts the group who is against them.

What is the definition of a caucus?

a meeting at which members of a political party assemble to select delegates and to make policy recommendations at the precinct, county, or state senatorial district, and state levels

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a discussion where they make NO DECISIONS, basically just talking

What is the difference between a Traditionalist and a Revisionist interpretation of Texas history?

Traditionalist: a person who believes that older ways of doing or thinking about things are better than newer ways

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Revisionist: someone who examines and tries to change existing beliefs about how events happened or what their importance or meaning is

The difference between Individualistic, Traditionalistic, Moralistic and Provincial political cultures

Individualistic: view the govt. as their enemy that uses taxes and regulations to limit economic freedom. Therefore, they view the govt. negatively and wanted to limit their size.

* They believe the govt. should maintain a stable society but intervene as little as possible in the lives of people

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Traditionalistic: the belief that government should be dominated by political elites and guided by tradition, only elites belong in the political enterprise

* strengthen people who are already powerful
* they want to preserve their dominant role in society

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Moralistic: expect the government to improve conditions for the people through economic regulation and to advance the public good in order to create a just society

* citizens believe it’s their duty to become active in governmental decision-making through participation in politics and govt.

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Provincial political cultures: broadly shared values, beliefs, and attitudes about how government and society should function

What are the executive, judicial powers and legislative powers of the governor?

Executive: regulating law

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Judicial: interpreting law

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Legislative powers: making law

What is a veto?

to approve or reject a bill to become a law

What is the role of the Texas attorney general, the comptroller, and secretary of state?

Texas Attorney General:

* one of texas’ most visible and powerful officeholders
* a major player in making important public policy decisions
* represents the state government in lawsuits and provides legal advice to state and local officials

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Comptroller:

* one of the most powerful elected officers in the texas government
* responsible for collecting taxes, keeping accounts, estimating revenue, and serving as treasurer for the state

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Secretary of state:

* assisting county election officials and ensuring the uniform application and interpretation of election laws throughout Texas

What is the role of the house and senate in the impeachment process? 

The Senate: The Senate acts as the jury and has the right to try the executive (president) or judicial (judges) official. The Senate's duty is to try the officials

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The House: lists the charges of impeachment only. They have the sole power to list and bring charges of impeachment

* THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HAS THE SOLE POWER OF IMPEACHMENT.

What is the definition of quorum?

the smallest number of people who must be at a meeting for official decisions to be made by voting

What are the founding principles of Texas Constitution?

* popular sovereignty
* limited government
* separation of powers
* checks and balances
* federalism
* protection of individual rights

What is the definition of social construction?

is a concept that exists not in objective reality, but as a result of human interaction. It exists because humans agree that it exists

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Examples: Race, age, beauty, nationality, etc.

Provincialism

a narrow self interested view of politics often associated of rural or common value limited government

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OR

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belief in the superiority of one's regional government

3 ethnic groups

1. Anglos
* smallest population
* many ethics
* upper south
* they all use guns
* TX creed ( belief in the superiority of their institutions, acceptance of violence to sustain them)
2. Tejanos
* largely separated by class
* farmers
3. Indigenous
* largest population
* fractured/ not unified

What makes a good constitution?

* Not too broad
* clear, easy to understand
* able to change (flexible/rigid)
* establish guiding principles how power is shared, basic rules/ power of government
* equitable/ inclusive (include everyone)

6 constitution of TX

1. Coahuila y Tejas (1827)
* first state of consitution
2. Republic of texas (1836)
3. State of TX (1845)
4. Confederate state constitution (1861)
5. Reconstruction (1869)
6. TX Constitution of 1876 (current)
* distrust in government
* weak executive
* binial, short legislative session
* lengthy, over 200 pages

Amend

* 2/3 vote in both chambers
* majority vote

Key principles of constitution

* distrust in government
* self-interest is expected
* separation of powers
* division of responsibilities between branches
* Checks and balances
* the ability of one branch to check or constrain another

shared sovereignty

home rule, self rule

10th amendment

powers not delegated by the constitution nor prohibited by its state, are reserved for the states, or to the people

Article 6 U.S. constitution

national supremacy Claus

* federal law, constitution, treaties are supreme law of land

Jurisdiction

scope of authority

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the power, right, or authority to interpret and apply the law

full faith and credit clause

contracts of one state must be honored in all states

Privileges and immunities

citizens of one state shall be treated as citizens of another

reserved state powers

* police
* taxation
* eminent domain → allows state to steal individual private property
* proprietary power → the right to own property

grants

federal money provided to the states

Legislatures

filled up legislators

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Representatives = legislators

Bicameral

made up two chambers

Unicameral

made up one chambers

What’s the requirement to be in the house?

* 2 years term
* 21 years old
* 2 years state resident

What’s the requirement to be in the Senate?

* 4 years terms
* 26 years old
* 5 years resident

How many members does the house have?

150 members

How many members does the Senate have?

31 members

Redistricting

redrawing of voting boundaries to create equal representation → every 10 years

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Every ten years, local governments use new census data to redraw their district lines to reflect how local populations have changed.

Trustee

elected officials rely on their own judgement

Delegates

rely on the ==constituents==

==voters represented by politician==

President of Senate (lieutenant govt.)

popular elected

Speaker of the house

voted by representatives

Powers of both speaker of the house and president of senate

1. Create/ abolish committees
2. Appoint committee chairs
3. Send bills to committee chairs
4. recognize speakers
5. Lt. government appoints all committee member
6. speaker of the house appoints most committee members BUT NOT ALL OF THEM

committee - tx house

* substantive - permanent
* 7 most common number
* seniority accounts for 1/2 of membership

procedural

deal with procedural matters in the house

Ex: calendar, redistricting

interim committee

between session of the Legislature in order to study subjects of legislative concern

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study key issues facing the state to help prepare for the 45-day general session.

select committee

issues that cross committee jurisdiction, temporary committees and asked to perform a specific task or study by the senate

oversight

state agencies report to congress is responsible to monitor their spendings and actions

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legislative function

impeachment

* state judges, executive officers, appointed state officials
* majority of house to impeach (how impeachment works)
* 2/3 of senate remove (remove from office)

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Presidents can still run for office after impeachment because they haven’t been remove from office

simple resolution

rule changes to the house or senate

concurrent resolution

majority of both chambers government signature

joint resolutions

majority of 2/3 of chambers and no action from the government

companion bill

introduced in both chambers at the same time

140 days

* 30 days - introduce bills, resolutions
* 30 days -committee work
* 80 days - floor debate voting

= 140 days

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14% bill to become a law

how many senators needed for quorum?

21 senators

Executive

enforce/ carry out laws

chief executive

head of executive branch

governor

* 30 years old
* 5 years Texas resident
* 4 year term, no term limits
* U.S citizen

Executive power

* appointive (weak)
* secretary of state, state board chairs, confirmed 2/3 senator vote → checks and balances
* Secretary of state serve 6 years, replace 1/3 every 2 years

U.S. representative

replace, call special election

TX representative

only special election

incumbent

* current office holder running for re-election
* could have an upper hand
* people already know them and how they are

military

* commander and chief of TX armed forces
* martial law
* temporary military law
* head of DPS, rangers

executive orders

sets policy within the executive branch, carries force of law

proclamations

* formal announcements
* head of economics development
* head of state

Legislative

make law → congress

legislative powers

budgetery - submit a budget line -item veto- strikesingle items from bills

veto

rejection of bill

* 2/3 congress to overrule
* checks and balancesspecial session power

special session power

* call 30 day issue specific session