The government of the state of Texas is a difficult and complicated institution that is composed of many different levels. The question comes in to everyone's mind at one time or another whether or not to trust the government. It could be that people believe that the officials will take advantage of their power, or simply people don't like the idea of being controlled by someone who is not a family member or friend. To avoid this centralized power, the government is divided into stages and this is a reasonable ground for trusting the government. Government runs this state and it does deserve to be trusted.
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.
The procedural powers include those of appointing most committee members, assign bills to committees and schedule legislation. As you can see, the speaker has powers but these powers are limited and leave no room for error. As mentioned earlier, the legislature is divided into several different committees that make for a good spread between authority. Legislative Committees provide orders and handle proposed legislation. Sta...
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...he public is the dichotomy, which means that decisions are made without the political environment. As always, the disagreement for certain decisions made in the government will be present, but believe that the officials are working in a unison team to try to provide the best for all.
These three branches of our government are a strong and well laid out process. As you can clearly see, no one person all power and not even a lot of power. This is good. The "iron triangle" of our government has no reason not to be trusted. If an official is going into the government with the idea of taking on the role of a "dictator", then he or she should think twice. The system does not allow for that kind of attitude, and the Checks and Balance system in Texas has almost been perfected. So why not trust the political officials in Texas? After all, they are normal people!
It is surprising to know that in the span of 49 years, Texas went through seven different constitutions reflecting the changes of time. Every experience Texas went through made the constitution more and more detailed and showed more distrust in the government. However, time has changed Texas from an agricultural world to a technological world and yet the Constitution of 1876 remains the law of the state. Although Texas endured the Civil War and the Reconstruction period after the Constitution of 1845 was ratified, the Constitution of 1876 was drafted from the Constitution of 1845.
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,
Texas Constitution is long and detailed, containing a range of statutory provisions that specify exactly what the government is allowed to do and is prohibited to do. In case of any public policy challenges, public
The Constitution of the United States and the Texas Constitution share many similarities. They also have important differences due to different attitudes about what the role of government should be. It is important to know the limits of the state’s power as it can help us better understand our role as a Texas citizen.
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.
The Texas Legislature is far too archaic to provide consistent leadership for a state government; Congress has become too enmeshed with the executive branch and leaves blurry lines drawn in its separation of powers. The ideal legislature would be a modernized version of what the Texas Constitution created.
In my analysis of the Texas Constitution I will assess the three branches of our State Government, the Legislative Branch, Executive Branch and finally the Judicial Branch. Our State Government resembles our National Government in various ways but also in very different ways which we will review in this essay. I will identify a handful of criticisms and problems associated with the provisions in each of these branches of our State Government and identify suggested reforms that many feel are needed.
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.
In the great state of Texas, the governor is the highest ranked official that is elected. Even though it is believed the governor has minimal power due to EJ Davis and his abuse of power in the 1800’s, the governor still has an influence on many things and has the power to implement things as well. According to the Associated Press (2011), “The governor’s chair is an increasingly powerful institution in most states, with the clout, control, and visibility that has long made it the leading stepping stone to the oval office.” (Associated Press [AP],2011). The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch and the commander-in-chief of the state’s military forces. One key role the governor has is the power to appoint or select members to
As stated in the book Texas Politics: Ideal and reality, the two most important and main type of municipal government would be council-manager form and the mayor-council form. San Antonio and Dallas are two of the largest cities in the country. It is not uncommon across the country for cities to switch from council-manager government to mayor-council government once they near or exceed one-half-million people in size. In Texas, Dallas has struggled bitterly with the issue of possible change. Any large city should adopt a new municipal charter calling for a strong mayor-council form, because It needs a strong chief executive as leaders, someone elected to provide political and policy direction for the city. A large city that has council-manager government should keep its present
The legislative branches are the U.S. Congress on the federal level, various general assemblies on the state level and on the local level town councils or township trustees. The legislative branch is said to be the most important player in the policy process and is so powerful ...
American politics is often defined by a continuing power conflict between the executive and the legislative branches of the government. This struggle for political power between the two stronger branches of the three is inherent in the Constitution, itself. The concepts of separation of powers and checks and balances ensure that the branches of government will remain in conflict and provide a balance that keeps the entire government under control. As it was first established, the executive branch was much smaller and weaker than as we know it today. Consequently, the legislative branch was unquestionably dominant. Over the course of history, the executive branch grew in both size and power to the point where it occasionally overtook the legislative and today rivals the legislative in a much closer political battle. Today both branches have major factors that contribute to their power, but on the whole the legislative remains the lastingly dominant branch.
As stated in the book Texas Politics: Ideal and Reality, the state of Texas lacks a cabinet system and an integrated executive branch. Yes, the Texas governor needs a cabinet governor to make the policymaking more efficient, because citizens are affected on a daily basis because of what these boards do. An example I found in the book is, each professor decides on the balance between lecture and discussion, textbooks, or whether to mix power point lessons with quizzes, or maybe even essays. Just like If using a cabinet, it can help out by interpreting laws faster, making rules, and making judgements, administrators make public policy. A cabinet is important, because it would allow the governor to have stronger super vision control, and it would allow the governor to exercise greater influence over major policy decisions. “Thirty-nine other states have an executive branch that is organized like that of U.S. government-that is, a chief executive who heads a cabinet made up of directors or secretaries.” The book states and I