Pols 207 Jason Smith Exam 1

What is policy conservatism?

A state's tendency to limit the welfare benefits, deregulate business, keep taxes low, and generally place less reliance on government and more reliance on individuals and the marketplace to achieve social goals.

What is policy liberalism?

A state's tendency to expand welfare benefits, regulate business, adopt progressive state income taxes, and generally use government to achieve social change.

From where do state and local governments derive their revenue?

In order to pay for public programs, states and communities must impose taxes. It's important that a state or community find the right level of taxation. States compete for jobs and business within the United States.

Government definition

The institutions that make authoritatively binding decision (laws) for society

Politics definition

Concerns the management of conflict, who gets what when and how?

the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power

Devolution

the transfer or delegation of power to a lower level, especially by central government to local or regional administration

when power starts to recede from national to state governments

Mandate

an official order or commission to do something.

Mandate Blues- Mandates direct states or local governments to comply with federal rules under threat of penalties or as a condition of receipt of a federal grant

Unfunded mandates

Preemption

the purchase of goods or shares by one person or party before the opportunity is offered to others.

Different ideologies

Liberalism- A state's tendency to expand welfare benefits, regulate business, adopt progressive state income taxes, and generally use government to achieve social change.

Conservatism- A state's tendency to limit the welfare benefits, deregulate business, keep taxes low, and generally place less reliance on government and more reliance on individuals and the marketplace to achieve social goals.

Nullification

in United States constitutional history, is a legal theory that a state has the right to nullify, or invalidate, any federal law which that state has deemed unconstitutional.

Enumerated powers

The powers of the federal government that are specifically described in the Constitution are sometimes called 'delegated' or 'expressed powers,' but most often they are known as 'enumerated powers,' and they describe how a central government with three distinct branches can operate effectively.

Implied powers

powers not explicitly named in the Constitution but assumed to exist due to their being necessary to implement the expressed powers that are named in Article I

Political culture

the set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments which give order and meaning to a political process and which provide the underlying assumptions and rules that govern behavior in the political system. It encompasses both the political ideals and the operating norms of a polity.

What are different ways citizens can affect policy?

Public opinion, Media, Interest groups, Elections

Which levels of government deal with what types of policies?

Federal- declare war, coin money, regulate trade & interstate commerce, mandate states, create & manage post offices

State- education, police citizens, administer money provided by fed gov, administer laws & domestic programs

What has been used to expand national power over the states?

It increased with industrialization, expansion of individual rights, and social services

How has federalism evolved over time?

Supremacy clause

Article VI of the Constitution states the following are supreme:

The U.S. Constitution

Laws of Congress

Treaties

Implied powers

Powers inferred from the expressed powers that allow congress to carry out its functions

Elastic clause/ proper clause

a statement in the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8) granting Congress the power to pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated list of powers

Full/faith/credit clause

addresses the duties that states within the United States have to respect the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state

Privileges and immunity clause

prevents a state from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner

When was the current constitution ratified?

1876

When did Texas become a state?

1845

What stopped Texas from becoming a state in 1836?

The Texas war of independence ended on April 21, 1836, but Mexico refused to recognize the independence of the Republic of Texas, and intermittent conflicts between the two states continued into the 1840s. The United States recognized the Republic of Texas in March 1837 but declined to annex the territory

What type of political culture does Texas have?

Texas has a mix of individualistic and traditionalistic (want to limit government

What's the annexation agreement that allowed Texas to become a state and the year it did?

Governor shift under B Davis

Needed due to Governor Davis corruption and power imbalance allowed in 1869 Constitution

From where does any government derive its power?

to govern from the people that it governs

Marbury vs Madison (1803)

1. expanded the authority of the federal courts

2. established judicial review

3. serves as mediator between state and national disputes.

Mcollough vs Maryland (1819)

1. expanded implied powers of the national government

2. says through a very broad interpretation of the Necessary and Proper Clause that Congress can create agencies, programs, and national laws in order to successfully carry out it's enumerated powers.

From where do local governments derive their power?

The state constitutions, the people, and charters

What services do cities provide?

may include sanitation (both sewer and refuse), water, streets, the public library, schools, food inspection, fire department, police, ambulance, and other health department issues and transportation

What services do special districts provide?

What is unitary?

a system of political organization with a central supreme government which holds the authority over and makes the decisions for subordinate local governments

What is confederation?

A group of nations or states, or a government encompassing several states or political divisions, in which the component states retain considerable independence

What is federalism?

way of representing a nation of two or more governments that have authority over land and people

What do county governments do across most of the United States?

they govern uncorroporated areas, set property taxes, create sheriff offices, have a county commissioner

Why are states called "laboratories of democracy"?

Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis used this phrase in defense of state experimentation with new solutions to solve social and economic problems

10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." This amendment establishes federalism. It says that any power not always enumerated, delegated, is the right of the state and people to decide.

Why are federal grants-in-aid important?

States rely on national funding as revenue to:

1. build infrastructure

2. educate their children and

3. to develop community based programs.

The grants are voluntarily accepted and sometimes can be seen as oppressive.

Know what is usually contained in state constitutions

Govern governments , Set government structure and organization , Distribute powers among branches of the government , Prescribe the rules by which decisions are made , Limit the powers of government and protect the rights of citizens

What is constitutionalism?

Constitutionalism means "limited government." All 50 state constitutions limit the power of the state government similar to the way the Bill of Rights limits the national government. Constitutions serve as legal protection. Constitutional government places personal liberties and freedoms beyond the power of the government.

Why are state constitutions long?

So many policy decisions put into constitution ; Amending the state constitution is easy

Know the functions of counties and cities

County collects tax (i.e. property tax) and turns it into the state Register vehicle

Registering to vote

"Administrative arm of the state"

How do most states amend their constitution?

There are four methods for constitutional change in the states: legislative proposal, popular initiative, constitutional convention, and constitutional commission.

What do special districts do?

A special district is a unit of local government that performs a single service in a limited geographic area, services such as education or sanitation

What are the different types of elections?

At-large systems, single-member district systems, combination election systems, federal court intervention

At-large systems

pure, by position, from residency district

Single-member district systems

Candidates are chosen by voters in separate geographically defined districts

Combination election systems

Some officials are elected at large; others from single-member districts

Federal court intervention

Getting harder for cities to defend exclusive reliance on at-large elections

What are the different political cultures?

Moralistic, Individualistic, Traditionalistic

Moralistic

government is seen as a "good" thing, there to help man search for a "good" society

Individualistic

government is more of a market place concept, supply and demand concept, government supplies itself only when the people demand it

Traditionalistic

stresses that politics is for the elite, do not stress mass participation, politicians say "want everyone to participate" unless not voting for them, based on who you know and not what you know, economic elite run everything

What is the political culture of Texas?

A mix of individualistic and traditionalistic (want to limit government)

What is the philosophy behind the current Texas Constitution?

The Texas Constitution lays out the basic outline for the Texas government. It divide power into three branches, following after the national government and creating a system of checks and balances. The Texas Constitution is organized as follows: preamble, bill of rights, powers and organization of government, education-taxation-and revenue (one "section), methods of amendment, and other more specific articles. The state Constitution is described by some as overly long, poorly written, extremely detailed and confusing in organization. It is the second longest state constitution.

The Texas constitution is set up to allow a strong control of government by the people, government powers to be limited, no debt limits for local and state governments, and to promote agriculture interests such as homesteads.

Limited govt and limited powers for the Governor

In response to the oppressive Davis Administration

The Texas Const. does not have the necessary and proper clause like the US Const. and other state Const. that provide flexibility in policy making. This means the Texas Const. must be amended each time the Texas State govt wants to do something new or different.

Know the historical development of the Texas Constitution

Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas, 1827; resembles the Spanish Constitution of 1812 in content, separation of powers, establishes Catholicism as official state religion, homestead protection-Republic of Texas, 1836; features a preamble, separation of powers, introduction of bicameral legislature, checks and balances among branches of government, a bill of rights, and an outlines democratic process to select officials for governmental office (limited to free, non-aboriginal males—>which would be defined as native americans living there at the time).

Texas State Constitution, 1845; arguably the most respected of Texas' constitutions because of the simplicity and directness, embodied good features of previous constitution such as homestead and property provisions, granted appointment powers to the governor, limited state debt to not exceed $100,000 except for in times of war or invasion, also had provisions necessary to join the Union such as prohibiting the legislature from authorizing an individual to issue bills, new provisions made sure to prohibit the circulation of money at a state level, this power is enumerated to the national government.

Confederate Constitution, 1861; for the most part this version retains most of the text from previous state constitutions which was primarily due to a time constraint, most changes are changing text that references the United States of America, stepped back from a radical slavery agenda, eliminated the clause calling for the emancipation of all slaves although it did not allow the resumption of the African slave trade, this version retained all laws previously passed as long as they did not directly contradict the changes made under the new Confederate Constitution.

Texas State Constitution, 1866; revised constitution to conform to United States Constitution policy following the Confederacy's defeat in the Civil War, increased governor terms to 4 years, changed the method of election for the Treasurer and Comptroller, contained elaborate plans for public improvements and a statewide public education system

Reconstruction Constitution, 1869; written after being pressured by Washington to revise the state constitution to comply with the Congressional Reconstruction Acts of 1876, includes specifications for range of activist public policies, included policy and administrative provisions that: established and immigration bureau, established no-fee granting of homesteads to settlers, assigned mineral rights to property owners, authorized the Legislature to prohibit the sale of alcohol and liquor near colleges (except in county seats), forbade the legislature to grant divorces or authorize lotteries.

Political climate of the Constitutional Convention of 1875

mostly democrats

limited govt powers as a result of corruption of EJ Davis

40% of people in attendance were farmers

What are the differences between the Bill of Rights in Texas and U.S. constitutions?

The USBOR is an addendum while Texas' is Article 1. Originally spanning 29 sections, Texas' BOR seems more extensive but most sections are actually just overlapped coverage of personal freedoms. One main difference is that Texas' BOR has a declaratory tone. Section one of Texas' BOR imitates the threat of secession if the national government overly imposes or cannot provide for the welfare and defense of the state.Section 2 justifies the conventioneers' reasoning for drafting a new constitution. Section 3 comes off as criticism since many perceived corruption occurred under the ministration of Governor E. J. Davis. Rights specific to voting are in Article 6 of Texas' Constitution rather than it's BOR.

What were the conditions of the annexation agreement for Texas to join the United States in 1845?

Any questions of adjusting government boundaries that could occur with other governments would be directed to the Congress and President of the United States

All forts, navy harbors, ports, arms, etc, which are necessary to the public defense and belonging to the the Republic of Texas would retain all funds, taxes, and dues that were already established, Texas would also retain all of it's land within the proposed state borders and could sell said land to the national government to apply the land's value to the incurred debt of the state, after debt had been paid the state could use remaining lands as they wish, the national government would also not take on any of the debt Texas had incurred in previous decades

New states of reasonable size not to exceed more than 4 total, include the State of Texas, could be formed if there is sufficient populations in said areas, this did not happen but could, at the time of annexation this provision stated that a formation of states out of the land of northern parts of Texas would be admitted and not be prohibited to lawfully allow slavery, states formed out of the land of southern parts of Texas would be given the opportunity to vote whether or not to allow slavery

The president must deem it most advisable, and if so Texas would receive two congressional representatives to allow for immediate representation in the national government, remaining land that was formerly the Republic of Texas that was not included in the state boundaries set forth by Congress were ceded to the national government, this does not include land within the state boundaries that Texas has full control over, a sum of $100 was also required to cover the expense of missions or negotiations submitted and decided on by Congress.

What is the process to amend the Texas and U.S. Constitution?

Legislature proposes amendments

Approval by two thirds of each chamber

Amendments must be published twice in recognized newspapers

A majority of state voters must approve

Majority of those who vote; turnout usually low

Thus a low number of actual votes needed

What are the different types of federalism?

Dual, Cooperative, Fiscal

Dual Federalism

A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies

Cooperative Federalism

A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government

Fiscal Federalism

The pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system

Mayor-council

May be "strong" or "weak" (Houston has strong one, most successful)

Commission

Gives legislative and executive power to a small body, usually of five members

Council-manager

Elected council or commission appoints manager

Elected mayor (hybrid mayor-manager form of government)

About two-thirds of council-manager communities elect a mayor

Changing city charters

The trend toward hybrid forms: Many options, but getting voters to support structural changes is difficult

Sixteenth amendments

federal government has power to levy income tax

Seventeenth Amendment

establishes the popular election of US senators by the people of the states

Constitutional Convention- way for states to change constitution

Constitutional convention is where legislature proposes a convention be held and must be approved by the voters. At the convention legislatures convene and decide on revisions for the constitution, once done the revised constitution is submitted to the voters for approval.

Legislative Proposal

the most common method; an amendment is passed by the legislature and put to the voters in a referendum

Popular Initiative

citizens can bypass the legislature for a direct vote if they obtain a requisite number of petition signatures

Constitutional Revision Committees

rarely used but effective when attempted; Every 20 years, a 37-member committee convenes to review and propose changes to the Florida Constitution. From there, the potential amendments the CRC approves go directly to the ballot so voters can decide for themselves in the following election