Texas Government Flashcards

Basic Concepts for Texas Government

  • Government
    • Definition: Any institution using laws to regulate personal conduct, produce & distribute services, and allocate resources.
    • Purpose: Laws substitute for interpersonal relationships; without them, society would experience chronic instability in aforementioned duties.
  • Democracy
    • Definition: Governance where the people's participation in decision-making is the origin of the government's legitimacy.
    • Purpose: People would not obey the government if they lacked the right to determine how it governs.
  • Republic
    • Definition: Government where citizens legally grant individuals the right to exercise official authority on their behalf.
    • Purpose: Citizens have a right to participate, but daily obligations make full-time involvement unreasonable, so representatives are chosen.
  • Politics
    • Definition: Processes by which people try to influence government decisions affecting them.
    • Purpose: People seek higher social and economic status by directing rules to favor their behaviors.
  • Characteristics of the Texas Government
    • A constitutional system: Government action is restricted by fundamental laws.
    • A federal system: National government shares sovereignty with states.
    • A three-branch system: Executive, legislative, and judicial functions are distinct.
    • A plural executive system: Executive authority is divided between figures accountable to the public.
    • A two-party system: Two major parties are competitive in most elections.
  • Essential Elements of Societal Stability
    • Government's authority comes from the people's mandate.
    • People expect the government to maintain social stability in exchange for granting power.
    • Stability is defined differently, but six elements are universally observed (PIECES):
      • Prosperity: People believe they can reach their desired standard of living.
      • Institutions: Common respect for influential institutions, like the government.
      • Ethics: Roughly similar philosophical ideas of what is morally acceptable.
      • Culture: Shared language, social behaviors, and interests.
      • Ethnogeny: Belief in shared origin and destiny with fellow citizens.
      • Security: Belief that public authorities protect from threats.
  • PIECES in Texas Public Life
    • (P): Texas is prosperous, attracting interstate and international migrants.
    • (I): Texans trust state and local governments more than the federal government.
    • (E): Values are shared in communities, but there is a divide between urban centers and other areas.
    • (C): Texas has become more cosmopolitan, causing tension between traditional and newer values.
    • (E): Texas has no ethnic majority. An all-encompassing Texas culture is a source of state pride.
    • (S): Texans favor police but view private firearm ownership as the foundation of personal security.
  • PIECES and Policymakers
    • To preserve stability, policymakers must identify strengths and weaknesses among the Essential Elements, and then work through them to deliver the outcomes society needs
  • Role of Government
    • State governments (like Texas) retain sovereign authority to address challenges within their borders.
    • Federal government: Provides solutions for issues of common interest across the Union.
    • Texas government: Provides solutions for issues within Texas.
      • Local governments are constitutional divisions of the state.
    • If government fails, society becomes unstable, and another entity will attempt to replace the old regime.
      • This is political revolution, the cause of the U.S. declaring independence and Texas seceding from Mexico.

Key Statistics - Population

  • Current U.S. Census Bureau figures
  • DFW Metroplex: 7.5 million people in 11 counties (4th largest in the U.S.).
  • Houston: 2.3 million people (exceeds all American cities except New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago).
  • Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, El Paso: All in national top 25 cities.
  • 3/4 of the state’s population lives on 1/4 of the state’s landmass.
  • Birthrate well above the national average.

Key Statistics - Ethnicity

  • Current U.S. Census Bureau figures
  • Whites are a majority in most northern and eastern parts of Texas.
  • Hispanics are a majority in most counties within 100 miles of the Mexican border.
  • Most of the Black population lives east of I-35 and I-37.
  • Asians are heavily concentrated in the DFW, Houston, and Austin areas.
  • There are three Indian reservations in the state, but most Native Americans live in the cities.
  • Texas is one of 28 states with no official language.

Key Statistics - Education

  • Current U.S. Census Bureau figures
  • 83% of adults over age 25 have a high school diploma or GED.
  • 29% of adults over age 25 have a bachelor’s degree.
  • 6% of adults over age 25 have a master’s or professional degree.
  • 1% of adults over age 25 have a doctoral degree.

Key Statistics – Standard of Living

  • Current U.S. Census Bureau figures
  • Top 1% of earners control half the national wealth, increasingly concentrated in Texas.
  • Terrell Hills (Bexar County): wealthiest city in Texas.
  • Escobares (Starr County): poorest city in America.
  • Hutto: longest life expectancy at 97 years.
  • South side of Fort Worth: lowest life expectancy at 67 years.

Key Statistics – Religious Affiliation

  • 42% of Texans attend religious services at least once a week.
  • Roman Catholic Church was once the established church.
  • Catholics form a plurality in the southern half of the state.
  • Baptists form a plurality in the northern half of the state.
  • Non-Christian affiliation is largely driven by immigration and found mostly in major metro areas.
  • Just under 20% are nonreligious.

Commonly Used Philosophical Labels

  • Conservative: Preserve our culture’s successful traditions.
  • Liberal: Achieve collective liberty and social equality.
  • Libertarian: Promote personal liberty and individualism.
  • Authoritarian, Centralist, Statist, or Socialist: Achieve collective ownership of valuable things.
  • Centrist or Moderate: Balance everything listed above.

Introduction to Political Culture

  • Political culture: Behavioral patterns setting expectations for what government can and should do.
  • These patterns are products of past experiences.
  • American political culture is divided into three subcultures:
    • Traditionalism: Government's main concern is to preserve the founding social order; elites exercise disproportionate power.
    • Moralism: Government's main concern is to promote the common good, with limited tolerance of other outcomes.
    • Individualism: Government's main concern is to facilitate the economy; individuals develop social order on their own.
  • Traditionalism: Historically associated with the Southern states.
  • Moralism: Historically associated with the Northeast, now with urban areas.
  • Individualism: Historically associated with the former frontier regions.

Cultural Regions of America and Texas

  • Development of political subcultures is inseparable from cultural regions.
  • Northeast: Political and cultural forebear of the Great Lakes, Great Plains, and Northwest regions (Moralism -> Individualism).
  • South: Produced the Southwest region (Traditionalism -> Individualism).
  • Pacific region: Demonstrating a reversal of the pattern above (Individualism -> Moralism).
  • Texas: Simultaneously sits in the South, Southwest, and the Great Plains.
  • Traits of each region are found to varying degrees in different parts of Texas.
  • Texas’ prevailing political subcultures: Traditionalism and Individualism.
  • Urban cores: Beginning to demonstrate a shift toward Moralism.
  • To better understand the degrees of variance, the state can be divided into seven distinct regions of its own.

Texas as a Southern State

  • Most earliest English-speaking settlers came from Texas' east (Anglo-Celtic ancestry; many came with Black slaves).
  • Easternmost counties demonstrate settlement patterns similar to the Deep South.
  • Cash crops play a significant role in the state’s economy, and have since the early 1800s, when plantations were commonplace.
  • Texas was part of the Confederacy during the Civil War.
  • For most of Texas’ history as part of the Union, the Democratic party dominated politics.
  • Many Texans are affiliated with a Baptist church denomination.
  • Traditionalism, which dominates the South, is a major factor in Texas politics.

Texas as a Southwestern State

  • Texas is one of eight in the Union that were once part of Mexico.
  • The modern-day border with Mexico is over 1,250 miles long accounting for 65% of the entire U.S.-Mexico frontier.
  • Roman Catholic missions were the first permanent political, military, and social institutions in Texas, and Catholicism is the state’s largest religious affiliation.
  • The state’s Hispanic population includes many persons with roots in Texas that date to the 1700s or earlier (known as Tejanos).
  • Mining, other extractive industries, and irrigated agriculture play a major role in the economy.
  • Large state and national park areas, low population density, and water scarcity are other Southwestern characteristics that are found in many parts of Texas.

Texas as a Plains State

  • Texas is one of ten in the Union which occupies the prairies, steppes, and grasslands between the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains.
  • Many elements of Western frontier culture associated with Texas come from this part of the United States.
  • Settlers fought for roughly 50 years to secure lands controlled by Plains Indian tribes including the Apache, Comanche, Kiowa, and Wichita.
  • Cattle ranching, dry farming, and railroads have been crucial to the economy since the 19th century.
  • The individualistic political subculture, which dominates the American interior, is a major factor in Texas politics.
  • A persistent problem plaguing this region of the U.S. is rural depopulation, which results from a lack of job opportunities for educated young people in small towns.

Cultural Regions in Detail

  • EAST TEXAS
    • This region is the western edge of America’s Deep South
    • The economy is heavily based on extractive industry and agriculture- as a result, it has many market towns but few sizable cities
  • SOUTHEAST TEXAS
    • This region’s basic culture is Southern, but it also features strong external influences
    • The economy is driven by manufacturing, the petrochemical industry, and maritime trade
  • SOUTH TEXAS
    • This region’s basic culture is Southwestern, despite its Gulf connection with the South
    • This part of the state features strong economic and demographic ties to Mexico; border policy is consequential
  • NORTH TEXAS
    • This prairie region is a cultural mixture of the South and the Great Plains
    • The area is a continental transportation & financial hub, and it is the most heavily populated region of the state
  • WEST TEXAS
    • This region is the largest in Texas, and it is where the Great Plains transition into the Southwest
    • With a population based in just a few cities, the economy relies on agriculture and oil
  • FAR WEST TEXAS
    • This decisively Southwestern region includes all of Texas west of the Pecos River
    • El Paso is the only large settlement in the entire region, which is known for its unspoiled natural areas
  • CENTRAL TEXAS
    • This region is a crossroads of the South, the Plains, and the Southwest- plus historical influences from Central Europe
    • The economy is notable for the dominant role of government and educational institutions

Notes about Major Cities

  • Large cities paradoxically display fewer characteristics of the regions that they anchor.
  • Instead, they tend to adopt universal characteristics shared among large cities in all states and countries. Some examples: higher population density, higher percentages of foreign-born residents, higher cost of living.
  • This is most true of cities that are considered ‘global’ centers
  • Global cities are those with extraordinarily high economic and social connections beyond their region or country
  • In Texas, Houston and Dallas are the cities most frequently categorized as globally influential.

Texas Exceptionalism

  • Despite internal differences, Texas displays statewide unity.
  • Few other states have a similar mass consciousness, which sometimes resembles full-fledged nationhood.
  • This is known as Texas Exceptionalism, which has persisted throughout the years despite significant changes in the state’s demographics and in the way people live.
  • The root of Texas Exceptionalism is the history of Texas as an independent country prior to its accession to the United States.
  • As subsequent generations of Texans have internalized this history, assertions of the state’s uniqueness can be seen throughout daily life all over the state.

Texas as a Formerly Independent Republic

  • Texas is the only state outside of the Thirteen Colonies that obtained political separation from another country by winning a war of secession
  • It joined the United States to reap the political and economic benefits of being part of a large union, but the state government has almost always attempted to maintain some degree of independence from the rest of the country
  • The state’s relatively brief history as an independent republic (1836-1845) continues to shape Texas political culture well into the 21st century. Examples include:
    • Distrust of centralized federal authority, partly stemming from Texas’ experience as part of Mexico
    • Restrained government spending policies, stemming from the Republic’s experience with bankruptcy prior to joining the Union
    • Emphasis placed on firearm ownership, stemming from both the manner in which Texas became independent, and the perceived inability to rely on the government for personal security
    • Insistence on having separate institutions from other states (such as the state’s gold reserves and electrical grid) because they lessen the effect of outside political events- a lesson learned when the Republic was at the mercy of much larger powers

Constitutionalism at the State Level

  • Constitutionalism: Government authority is derived from a fundamental law from which all other laws follow.
  • In a constitutional system, government actions can only take place within the system’s built-in restrictions.
  • The purpose of a constitution is to bring strength and stability to a political unit or an organization.
  • An effective constitution does three things:
    • Establishes the legitimacy of the government
    • Grants the government its powers
    • Limits the exercise of the government’s powers
  • The State of Texas, like all U.S. states, is a unitary constitutional republic
  • Laws passed in this state are subject to both the state constitution and the federal constitution of the United States

Pre-Constitutional Political History of Texas

  • Imperial French: 1684-1689
    • French sailors heading for Louisiana mistakenly wound up at Matagorda Bay, but stayed and decided to established a colony
    • The colony’s existence provoked the ire of Spain, which also claimed the area
    • Most of the settlers did not survive, and French control eventually lapsed
  • Imperial Spanish: 1690-1821
    • Spanish exploration of Texas began in 1519, but a colonial government was not established until 1690, after France’s colony collapsed
    • Texas was considered part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain
    • Much of the actual governing was done through Catholic missions
  • Imperial Mexican: 1821-1823
    • Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821 after a long war
    • After securing its independence, Mexico established its own monarchy, which included Texas in its territory
    • During this period, heavy American colonization began

Coahuila y Tejas under the First Mexican Republic

  • Transition: 1824-1827
  • Constitution in Effect: 1827-1835
  • The Mexican Empire was replaced with a constitutional republican government in 1824
  • Under this constitution, Mexico was divided into federated states
  • One of these states, Coahuila y Tejas, was a combination of three of Mexico’s most remote districts: southern Coahuila, northern Coahuila, and Texas
  • The state’s written constitution was ratified in 1827; it was the first of its kind in Texas’s political history
  • However, many of its provisions were unpopular here
  • Only a sixth of the legislature’s seats were apportioned to Texas constituencies
  • Roman Catholicism was made the official state religion, which annoyed Baptist settlers from the American South
  • The capital was established at Saltillo, and later at Monclova- both of which were distant from the center of Texas population and culture, which was San Antonio

The Republic of Texas

  • Texas Revolution: 1835-1836
  • Constitution in Effect: 1836-1845
  • Tensions between Texas and the Mexican Government peaked in 1835, when the federal system was essentially abolished, and power was centralized in Mexico City
  • Armed movements arose nationwide, in an attempt to bring back the 1824 constitution
  • When it became clear that no restoration was forthcoming, Texas declared itself to be an independent republic
  • After defeating centralist forces, Texans adopted a unitary republican constitution which borrowed many principles from the U.S. Constitution
  • During this period, Texas had the full functions of an independent nation- including its own currency, army, navy, and foreign diplomatic missions
  • This constitution also legalized slavery, which was technically prohibited-but-tolerated under Mexican law
  • Most Texans sought annexation into the United States to protect their nation from reconquest by Mexico, but the U.S. was not initially interested because of its own politics
  • Instead, Texas remained independent for a decade, and survived under the leadership of four eccentric Presidents

Presidents of the Republic of Texas

  • David Burnet (1836): agenda was to keep Texas afloat during the war of independence
  • Sam Houston (1836-1838, 1841-1844): agenda was to stave off bankruptcy and entice the U.S. to annex Texas
  • Mirabeau Lamar (1838-1841): agenda was to expand Texas to the Pacific Ocean as an independent empire
  • Anson Jones (1844-1845): negotiate the terms of Texas’s entry into the Union

State of Texas: Early Statehood

  • Texas joins the United States: 1845
  • Constitution in Effect: 1845-1861
  • In 1845, Texas finally brokered a deal with the United States to join as its 28th state
  • This required the Republic to replace its constitution with one more suitable for statehood, which meant relinquishing some sovereignty to the U.S. government
  • The 1845 constitution replaced the Texas Congress with the Texas Legislature
  • It also replaced the offices of President and Vice President with those of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor
  • The document reflected the principles of Jacksonian democracy, which was typical in states like Texas which were controlled by Southern Democrats
  • Throughout this time, tensions were increasing over the future of the American economy, and the anti-slavery Republican party gained power in northern and western states
  • When Republican Abraham Lincoln won the U.S. Presidency in 1860, most pro-slavery Southern Democrats favored forming a new confederal union, and Texas voters opted to join it

State of Texas: During the Civil War

  • Texas joins the Confederacy: 1861
  • Constitution in Effect: 1861-1865
  • In February 1861, the Legislature passed a secession ordinance, and voters approved it in a referendum
  • There was considerable opposition in North and Central Texas, but the overall margin was about 76% in favor
  • Texas subsequently entered the Confederate States of America as its 7th state, and this called for a new constitution
  • Former President Sam Houston, who at this point was the governor, vocally opposed secession and was deposed from office for refusing to acknowledge the change in regime
  • For the most part, the new constitution was not significantly different from its predecessor
  • One major change was that slaveholders were no longer allowed to free slaves without the permission of the state government
  • Many other changes were cosmetic- such as deleting references to the United States and replacing them with references to the Confederate States

State of Texas: Post-Civil War

  • Confederate Government Collapses: 1865
  • Constitution in Effect: 1866-1869
  • Between 1861 and 1865, the federal government gradually reconquered all of the Confederate States and territories, and declared anything pertaining to their governments as legally null and void
  • The U.S. Congress subsequently decreed that for any seceding state to fully rejoin the Union, it would be required to ratify the 14th amendment and write a new constitution
  • Texas adopted a new constitution in 1866, and its authors tried to make it as similar as possible to previous governments
  • This attempt was futile- in 1867, Congress voted to impose military rule on the ex-Confederate states, and Texas was placed in the Fifth Military District alongside Louisiana
  • A series of commanding generals then began to purge ex-Confederates from public offices and politics at all levels
  • Federal authorities also considered proposals to divide Texas into between 2 and 5 new states during this time period

State of Texas: Reconstruction

  • Radical Reconstruction Begins: 1869
  • Constitution in Effect: 1869-1876
  • After Ulysses S. Grant became U.S. President in 1869, Texas was offered new terms for being re-admitted to the Union, and a new constitution was again required
  • Delegates convened but were unable to produce a final document, so military authorities wrote one instead- and it was a complete departure from what Texans were used to
  • This constitution created a powerful state government, enfranchised ex-slaves, and disenfranchised ex-Confederates- which effectively guaranteed Republican control of the government
  • Former Union general Edmund J. Davis won the governorship and ruled Texas with an iron fist for the duration of this constitution
  • Davis is best known for creating a force called the Texas State Police, which had extraordinary arrest powers and which frequently operated in secret
  • He also used emergency powers to cancel local elections, to create a state-run press, and to spend the state’s entire treasury
  • This level of overt corruption made Davis the most unpopular governor in Texas history

Background to Adopting the Modern Constitution

  • In 1872, federal restrictions on the political participation of ex-Confederates ended, which revived the Democratic Party- and Davis was subsequently voted out of office in 1873
  • After Davis lost by a 2-to-1 margin, the Texas Supreme Court (packed with his appointees) declared the entire election invalid
  • Democrats ignored the court decision, and armed mobs began to converge on Austin to seize the Capitol
  • When they arrived, they found that Davis had already fortified the building and refused to leave
  • One night during the standoff, newly elected Democrats used a ladder to sneak into the second floor of the Capitol- they then convened themselves into a legislative session and declared the election valid, while Davis was still downstairs
  • Davis fled, but only after locking and barricading the door to his office, forcing governor-elect Richard Coke to break in with a pickaxe
  • After Coke was formally sworn in as Governor, Davis asked President Grant for federal troops to help him keep power- Grant refused, and the saga ended
  • For the new government, adopting a new constitution was the top priority

Constitutional Convention of 1875

  • Number of Democratic Delegates: 75
  • Number of Republican Delegates: 15
  • Number of former Confederate military officers: 20
  • Number of former Union military officers: 3
  • Number of former slaves: 6
  • Priority for Democrats: Restore and entrench their dominant pre-war political position
  • Priority for Republicans: Hold onto power & civil rights gained in the past decade

Fundamental Changes Under the New Constitution

  • Voters approved this new state constitution in February of 1876, and it is still in effect today
  • Most of its important provisions exist as a reaction against the constitution which came before it
  • The Legislature only convenes for 140 days every other year, unless the Governor calls a special session
  • Instead of a full-time salary, legislators are restricted to per diem payments during the session and limited expense allowances
  • The Legislature is constitutionally required to adhere to a balanced budget when appropriating funds
  • The Governor serves as part of a plural executive system, where some important state officials are directly elected
  • Many executive agencies report to citizen oversight commissions rather than reporting to the Governor alone
  • The Governor’s term was cut to just two years, before being restored to four years in 1972
  • All judgeships on all state courts are elected, except some of those on municipal courts
  • Final judicial power is divided between two courts of last resort: one for civil & juvenile cases, and one for criminal cases

Constitutional Amendments

  • When compared to other states and the federal government, the Texas constitution is highly restrictive in the degree of power that it grants to the government
  • Even relatively minor changes require constitutional amendments, which the Legislature may pass and then submit to the public for ratification
  • Around 700 amendments have been submitted to the public, and 515 of them have been ratified
  • The vast number of amendments give Texas the second-longest constitution of any state, at nearly 90,000 words
  • By comparison, the federal constitution has only been amended 27 times and has just under 7,600 words
  • Notably, eight amendments meant to simplify the constitution were all rejected by voters in 1975

The Texas Bill of Rights

  • Texans enjoy constitutional protections under the Texas Bill of Rights, which is contained in Article I of the state constitution
  • It contains 34 protections, some of which duplicate those found in the federal constitution
  • The main difference is that the Texas version goes into far greater detail about protections during the criminal justice process
  • It also includes protections like the right to use public beaches and to harvest wildlife
  • Some sections, such as the ‘supreme being’ clause of Section 4, and the protection against the state creating alternative forms of marriage (Section 32) are unenforceable
  • Aside from state-level rights, the federal bill of rights is also automatically incorporated into state law

Origins of the Concept of Statehood

  • Generally, the term state refers to any entity under a defined system of governance
  • The notion of a state is inseparable from the concept of an estate- a grouping of properties controlled by a recognized owner
  • Most political entities across human history were considered to be the estate of their rulers, with all other residents being considered tenants that had varying rights based on their social class
  • In our political tradition, however, a state is considered to be the collective domain of all of its citizens
  • Example 1: The State of Texas, a unitary state, is a political entity controlled by Texas citizens
  • Example 2: The United States of America, a federal state containing smaller states, is a political entity controlled by American citizens
  • Americans typically use the term state to refer to type of entity in the first example above: sovereign sub-national entities that share authority with the Federal government
  • In order for any entity to become a state with sovereign authority within the United States, it must undergo an Article IV process called Admission to the Union
  • Texas underwent this process in 1845- although it negotiated its entry into the Union as an independent country, which is an anomaly among the states

The Purpose of the State Government

  • The states retain their sovereignty and authority for both symbolic and practical reasons
  • On the symbolic side, the states are the vessels through which Americans manifest political and cultural traditions which may not be shared in other parts of the country
  • On the practical side, states address social and economic issues that may not affect people in other parts of the country
  • If there were no states, it would be difficult for the central government to efficiently administer a country as geographically diverse as the U.S.
  • The state government works closely with the federal government, but its priority is always to pursue the state’s best interest above all else

The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution

  • Establishes a de facto hierarchy of laws: 1) U.S. Constitution 2) Congressional statutes and treaties 3) State Constitutions 4) State statutes 5) Local laws
  • When the laws of Texas and the laws of the U.S. conflict, the federal laws take precedence- this ensures the integrity of the legal system
  • If there were no supremacy clause, federal officials would be more reluctant to exercise their authority when wealthy and powerful states like Texas disagreed with them
  • Such a relationship would essentially make the states unequal to each other, which would destabilize the Union as a whole

Basis of Power Sharing

  • Even with a legal hierarchy, two key provisions of the U.S. Constitution are still needed in order to establish how states like Texas share their authority with the federal government
  • One is the Necessary and Proper Clause in Article I, also known as the Elastic Clause
    • The U.S. Congress has the authority to do whatever is necessary and proper to fulfill its duties, which empowers it to preempt state legislatures
    • The federal government typically interprets this clause very broadly
  • The other is the 10th Amendment, which is the basis of the doctrine of States’ Rights
    • All powers not specifically assigned to the federal government are restricted to the States, or to the people living in them
    • The state government typically interprets this clause very broadly
  • The result is a state-federal framework where power sharing is worked out on an issue-by-issue basis
  • In cases of serious disputes, federal courts will hear cases between Texas and the U.S.

Dual Federalism vs. Cooperative Federalism

  • In the past, most Americans considered themselves to be citizens of their state first, and of the United States second
    • Polling shows that millions of Texans feel this way even today, particularly younger voters
  • As a result, the public didn’t have major expectations of the federal government to play a role in their daily lives
  • The form of Federalism dating back to this time is described as a “layer cake” with each level of government operating independently in its own sphere: Dual Federalism
  • As time has passed, we now have a model described as a “marble cake” with each level indistinguishable from the other, as they cooperate in overlapping areas: Cooperative Federalism
  • Under the cooperative model, state government is still the most relevant tier of government in most of our daily lives
  • However, there are very few aspects of governing that proceed without at least some federal involvement

Cooperative Federalism in Practice

  • Economy: Federal agencies attract investment, regulate interstate and international trade; state and local agencies attract investment, regulate intrastate trade, set occupational licensing standards
  • Education: Federal agencies promote access to education; state and local agencies construct, operate, and set curriculum for educational facilities within the state
  • Environment & Natural Resources: Federal agencies manage federal lands and waters, direct conservation and extraction of natural resources; state and local agencies manage state lands & waters, direct conservation and extraction of natural resources
  • Health: Federal agencies promote society-wide health strategies, deliver direct services to qualifying beneficiaries; state and local agencies promote society-wide health strategies, deliver direct services to qualifying beneficiaries
  • Law Enforcement: Federal agencies investigate interstate and international crime; state and local agencies investigate intrastate crime, conduct routine traffic enforcement
  • Military: Federal agencies defend against external threats; state agencies manage internal emergencies
  • Public Infrastructure: Federal agencies set basic regulations for interstate infrastructure networks; state and local agencies construct and operate infrastructure within the state
  • Treasury: Federal agencies collect income taxes, tariffs, and other federal excise taxes; state and local agencies collect sales taxes, property taxes, franchise taxes, and state excise taxes

Powers that the Texas Government Cannot Exercise

  • As a condition of statehood, states agree to cede the following sovereign powers to the federal government:
    • Printing & coining money
    • Declaring war and entering into treaties
    • Commissioning diplomats and consuls
    • Regulating commerce with other states and other countries
    • Operating a postal service
    • Establishing a system of weights & measures
  • There are other sovereign powers which many people believe to be federal, but which actually remain with the state to exercise. These include:
    • Establishing an official language
    • Choosing a time zone
    • Conducting elections
    • Building and maintaining U.S. Highways and Interstate Highways
    • Setting speed limits

Coercive Federalism and Responses

  • The term coercive federalism refers to the federal government’s attempts to circumvent the U.S. Constitution’s limitations on how much control Washington can exert on the states
  • Coercive federalist practices include the attachment of conditions to federal financial support to the individual states. Some well-known examples include:
    • Congress declaring states ineligible for federal highway funding grants if they set a speed limit above 55 (1974; repealed 1995)
    • Congress declaring states ineligible for federal highway funding grants if they set a drinking age below 21 (1984)
    • The Federal Aviation Administration threatening to ban all flights to Texas after the state House of Representatives passed a bill banning intrusive security screening at the state’s airports (2011)
  • Another type of coercion is known as issuing an unfunded mandate: when Congress imposes an obligation on a state without providing funds to carry out the obligation, which in effect constrains state-level budgeting
  • Since the 1990s, the state government has developed a reputation for filing lawsuits against the federal government to prevent coercive tactics
  • This battle has also happened in reverse from time to time, such as when Texas deployed a fleet of armored gunboats in the Rio Grande in 2012- because of voter dissatisfaction with federal policing of the Mexican border

Relationships with Other States

  • The basics of interstate interactions are spelled out in the federal constitution, and they apply to all states equally
  • Texas must accept public acts, records, civil, and judicial proceedings of every other state
  • Privileges & Immunities: Texas may not legally discriminate against citizens of other states
  • Texas must allow freedom of movement to citizens of other states- but this rule does not apply to fugitives
  • Texas must extradite fugitives to the state in which they