Not only is the state governor the most prominent and noticible state official and needs to have several qualification to represent the state. He or she also acts as the central point of the politics of the state government. This puts a lot of pressure on the governor to be powerful leaders, which is a fairly difficult challenge. The negativity from colonial abuse during the American revolution led several states limited the power of their respective governors. During the reconstruction speculation of power abuse has also lead to give limitied formal powers to several former confederate state governors, including Texas. The governor of the state of Texas has formal and informal powers in various areas ranging from legislating, judicial, law …show more content…
The candidate must be a resident of the state of Texas for at least 5 years before the election and must be meet the mininum age requirement of 30. There are also many informal characteristics such as having a good and well rounded education, being a charasmatic speaker, and engadging the public. A majority of state governors posess the predominant traits of being wealthy, caucasion, male, and have some prior political experience. The annual salary of the Texas governorn is averaged at $133,000, being the second highest salary for govenors in the nation (Salant, 2011).
State governors can be removed from office for any misconduct. During this process the state house of representatives, by majority of those present, adopts articles of impeachment and the state senate, by a two thirds majority of those present, can convict and remove the governor from office. Jim Ferguson was the only Texas govenor to have been impeached due to political reseasons in 1917. Governor EJ Davis, however was supspected of abuses during the Reconstruction period, and since the Texas Constituion has limited the formal powers for
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Though the governor has a limited bugetary power, he or she can signifiantly impact the final state budget signed into law by the veto power. It is very rare for the governors veto to be reversed since the biennial legislative session is fairly short. These powers can be used as bargaining tools. Texan governors have limited judicial powers. In comparison to the other 49 states on the indexes of powers (tenure of office, budgetary powers, appointative powers, and veto powers), Texas goernors have the a relatively weak formal power. They have a high ranking only in veto powers and in tenure of office
The office of president of the Republic of Texas was superseded and the state governor was first established in the Constitution of 1845 (“Phillip, Fry,” 2010) The Constitution of 1845 vested executive power in the governor and the election was done by the qualified voters of the State. In comparison, the Constitution of 1876 created plural executive, dividing the executive power among a governor, lieutenant-governor, Secretary of State, comptroller of public accounts, treasurer, commissioner of the general land office, attorney general and all of the officers of the executive department. All of these positions are elected by qualified voters except the Secretary of State who is appointed by the governor. The governor remains the commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the State and the militia in both the Constitutions. Also, the Constitution of 1845 placed a limit on the governor’s salary to two thousand dollars annually, which was amended on November 2, 1954 removing this limit. Although there has not been much change in the requirements to become a governor, the Constitution of 1845 limited the governor to two two-year terms in six years compared to the four-year term in the Constitution of 1876 (“Constitution of Texas,” n.d.; “Texas Constitution,” n.d.)
The government officials have a scope of duties that they are required deal. The governor may create the budget, appoint executive boards, and declare martial law, so the scope of the governor’s duties range from budget to martial law. I believe citizens will find the budget very important because that is where their tax money is and people typically want to know where that is going. The lieutenant governor is the president of the Senate, which according to the textbook by Benson, Clinkscale, and Giardino, “many political scientist believe…is the most powerful position in the state,” (218). The senate is a part of the Texas legislature, so making laws is very important to the public because the citizens are the ones who have to abide by the law. The attorney general is elected by the public and basically the state’s lawyer, so his issues are important to the people because he deals with making laws (Benson, Clinkscale, and Giardino 220). The comptroller is “the state’s chief accountant and financial officer,” so the public should be interested in the financial aspects of the state (Benson, Clinkscale, and Giardino 221). The land commissioner manages leases and the state’s public land, so the issues that are under the title may not be as important as the comptroller or lieutenant governor’s
Daniel Elazar created a classification scheme moralistic political culture of individuals, and traditionalistic to describe the political culture of the state. According to Elazar, Texas can be described as traditionalistic and individuals. Historically, the Texas political parties demonstrated a strong tradition, provincialism, and business dominance. The models, however, may weaken as the Republicans increase its power in the state and urbanization continues. Texas is the second largest state in the country and there are four different geographical regions: the Gulf coastal plain, the interior lowlands, Great Plains, and the basin and range province,
...iminal code, and the Court of Criminal Appeals, both are equal in prominence and decision-making capability. M most positions in the US Government outside of the President and Congress are appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate. In Texas, only the Governor's and Lt. Governor's aides and some cabinet positions are appointed, all other positions are elected, including that of the State Attorney General, Comptroller of Public Accounts (basically, the State Accountant and Tax Assessor), and Railroad Commissioner (who controls and regulates the state's land and mineral resources).
The people of Texas are diverse and carry their “big can-do attitudes and accents” (Pearson); making Texas a bigger than life state. The political culture of Texas is impacted by two different subgroups of individualistic and traditionalistic characteristics. The combination of traditionalism and individualism has had a huge impact on the state and Texas’ seven different constitutions. The shift in power between 1827 and 1876 has impacted the political diversity Texas has today. Looking at the specifics of these subcultures, the traditionalists believe government should benefit the wealthy and powerful, and that government services must be limited.
Mike Lee, The Forth Worth Star-Telegram. Texas Governor should have term limit. Fort Worth, 01 September 2010.
The Governor of Texas needs to not only be a citizen of the United States, but also reside in Texas for at least five years immediately preceding the election in order to fully understand the policies Texas residents’ are dealing with, the culture of Texas, as well as how Texas’ political decision impacts the rest of the nation. Both the President and the Governor are required to give an address to the legislatures, which cover very similar topics. The President’s State of the Union address “…recommends to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;” while the Governor of Texas gives the Condition of the State in which, “…he shall recommend to the Legislature such measures as
Texas went through a great amount of political change from being dominated by the Democratic Party during the 1960s and 70s, from the Republican Party taking over in the 80s. One of the big reasons for this change was due to the political party’s views. Throughout this essay I will discuss the changes of the political stances in Texas as well as the present day factors that affect America.
The three different branches of government in Texas are the following: The executive branch, which is directed by the governor, executes the laws, the judicial branch, which is run through the supreme court and state courts, interpret the laws, and the legislative branch, which is bicameral, includes the 150 members of the house of representatives and the 31 members of the state senate that make the laws.
Texas politics is an interesting ecosystem of power, rules and regulations. Of course, in typical Texas fashion, most of the politics we engage in we do our own way. From governors who stay in office for a decade to our extremely diverse demographics, Texas is extremely unique. This uniqueness of course comes with its critics, benefits, and downsides. This is particularly true with the Texas Court system compared to both the federal courts and many other states.
Functioning under the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, it works as representative of the people of Texas, and has powers which can only be limited by the Texas and United States constitutions and valid federal laws. The legislative department is also the state 's policing branch, which promotes and safeguards the safety, health, morals, and welfare of the citizens of Texas. In addition, it has the traditional legislative power of the purse (to tax, spend, and borrow money for public purposes), and to organize and confer powers on the executive and the judiciary departments only as much as they are allowed in the Texas Constitution. Legislative powers of the State of Texas are under The House of Representatives and a Senate, which combine to make the Legislature of the State. The head of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the house and who currently is Honorable Joe Straus. He is selected by the members of the House of Representatives from among their ranks and his main duties include conducting meetings of the House, appointing committees, and enforcing the Rules of the House. The proceedings in the Senate are run by the current Lieutenant Governor, Honorable Dan Patrick, who was elected by a statewide vote. He is the one who controls the work of the Texas Senate and controls the budgeting process as a leader of the Legislative Budget Board. Under the Texas
The constitution establish major governing institutions, assign institution’s power, place explicit and implicit control on power granted. All this gives the political legitimacy. The U.S constitution gives the base model for state constitution for Texas.
The role of an executive branch is to carry out the law. Many states switched to the plural executive form of government because state governors were known for abusing their power when appointing friends to political positions or handing out favors when they requested. A plural executive system which means the power of a governor is limited and distributed among other government officials. Which means, that there is not an government official in Texas that has the solely responsible for the Texas Executive Branch. Some of the members of the Texas Plural Executive and their roles are Lieutenant Governor serves as the presiding officer is first in line of succession for governor, is elected to 4 years terms by the public with no terms limits. Attorney General serves as the lawyer for the state also represents the state on civil matters and is responsible for the interpretation of the
Our government here in Texas has three major parts that play a significant part in our decision making process. These levels have been deigned to decentralize power and make it more affective for the public's needs. The primary level is the Texas legislature. It is almost a given to say that everyone has at least heard of the legislature. Some variables that the legislature contains are the Lt. Governor, the Speaker of the house of Representatives and Committee Chairs. The Speaker acts as the presiding officer over the house and has two levels of power. These two levels are institutional powers which allow the officer to preside over the Legislative Audit Committee and Sunset Advisory Committee.
Unlike the United States Executive Branch, where the President of the United States appoints his cabinet, the Executive Department of the State of Texas is all elected by the public with the exception of the Secretary of State and the State Board of Education, which are appointed. With this power being distributed by the voters, it makes the Executive Branch less powerful than the other two branches in the state. This weakness in the branch was even stated in a Wall Street Journal article by Jonathan Weisman in 2011, “By constitutional design that dates to Reconstruction, Texas has a weak governorship. In addition to the legislature, power is diffused among 270 agencies, boards and commissions”. This statement alone certainly conveys that the Executive Branch has clearly been weaker than the other two branches of authority in the State of Texas.