Texas government has a unique style of legislature in the manner in which it functions. In this essay I will attempt to briefly cover: the structure and role of local governments within the state of Texas; the purpose and function of each type of local government; the consolidation of county and city functions into a single governmental entity; and if Texas would be better served by maintaining its several, distinct, types of government, or by consolidating them into broader units of government that would handle the various functions within a single governmental entity.
The state of Texas operates under a 131 year old constitution, comprised of 385 sections. Amendments to the Constitution are voted in and out at least every two years. The
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Under the Home Rule laws, cities may choose any organizational form or policies as long as they do not conflict with the state constitution or state laws. While under General Rule laws, cities may organize according to any of the traditional forms of municipal government The legal position of home rule cities is the reverse of general law cities. Rather than looking to the state constitution to determine what they may do, as general law cities must, home rule cities look to the state constitution and state statutes for what they may not do. Thus, if a proposed home rule city action has not been prohibited or preempted by the state, the city as a rule can proceed.
A special district is a unit of local government created to perform limited functions. Texas statutes stipulate that the legislature can create some types of special districts, that counties and municipalities can create some types of special districts (utilities, other basic services, and economic development) and that even some state agencies can create some special districts (natural resources). Special districts lack uniformity and resulting confusion is caused. Special Districts tend to be “hidden governments,” with far less visibility than city or county
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What may be a good reason for some may not look so good to others. It is my belief that Texans in general are not ready to accept this type of change. I have a good friend that has recently retired and is a native Texan. I recently spoke to him regarding his thoughts on the subject of consolidation of local government; this is what he had to say. “I do not believe that this would benefit the citizens in rural locations. A consolidation would force them to travel more of a distance to a commissioner’s court or city council meeting, resulting in the fact that these residents would eventually lose their voice. Currently every county has their own county court house, which makes it more convenient for the county residents. The fear that decisions made outside of the county may benefit larger corporations, but hurt the small business in rural areas, such as farming, cattle ranchers, and game.” (Whitesides) As an example, the Texas Central Partners are currently planning on breaking ground on the development of a high speed rail. The plan is to have a train that will travel between Houston and Dallas in under 90 minutes. This may sound great for the big cities, but the negative effects on rural locations would be devastating. Residents would be forced out of their homes, some of which have been passed down from generation to generation. These families would be forced to relocate and build a new
In both constitutions, this article spells out the powers and limitations of the legislature. One obvious difference was that “qualified electors” were restricted to “every free male excluding Indians not taxed, Africans, and descendants of Africans, excepted,” in the Constitution of 1845. In contrast, the Constitution of 1876 does not explicitly state restrictions for “qualified voters” (“Constitution of Texas,” n.d.; “Texas Constitution,”n.d.). The size of the Senate and the House of Representative is not mentioned in the Constitution of 1845 unlike the Constitution of 1876 which restricted the sizes to thirty-one members and 150 members, respectively. The term for a Senator has remained four years. However, the minimum age requirement to be a Senator changed from 30 years in the Constitution of 1945 to 26 years in the “Modern Day” Constitution. Although, the minimum requirement to be the resident of the state has gone up from three years to five years. The qualification for the Representatives has remained unchanged from the Constitution of 1845 to the “Modern Day.” The compensation for the legislature has not increased significantly. Legislature were paid three dollars a day when in session and three dollars travel compensation for twenty-five miles in 1845 and today legislature are paid $600 a month. A provision of Article
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,
The principles, which define the work of juridical branch, are relevant nowadays, as they have proved their effectiveness and managed to gain confidence of population. Texas juridical branch is complex and confusing. According to the principles of the Texas Constitution, six types of courts are established, some of which have simultaneous or overlapping jurisdictions. In accordance with the Texas Constitution of 1876, two high courts were established. In addition, in the traditions of Jacksonian Democracy, all the judges in Texas courts should be ready to compete with electoral politics and take their positions according to the results of partisan elections. This democratic principle of fair elections and respect to the votes of citizens is still applied in the juridical branch of Texas
The Texas constitution of 1876 is made up of 18 sections including the preamble, each section covering a different aspect of governing decisions and how they should be handled including defining what the powers of the government actually are, managing taxes and revenue, public land and titles, and the different departments of the government branches. It is the sixth constitution that has fallen under Texas since independence in 1836. The constitution was thought of by the 1875 Texas constitutional convention and h...
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.
Web. 09 Feb. 2011. O'Connor, Karen J. "Chapter 20: The Context for Texas Politics and Government. " American Government Continuity And Change, 2006 Election Update Texas Edition.
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.
The United States Constitution is one of the most used documents in American History, as it is the foundation of American democracy. Within the constitution, the tenth amendment grants, “…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.” Thus, Texas also has a Constitution, which outlines important powers within the state, itself. Both of these documents are extremely important to understand together, but to also understand their differences. Some examples of the differences between the Texas State Constitution and the United States Constitution include, the powers of the President and the Governor, the varying Legislative sessions,
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.
To define the terminology of federalism to a simplistic way is the sharing of sovereignty between the national government and the local government. It is often described as the dual sovereignty of governments between the national and the local to exert power in the political system. In the US it is often been justified as one of the first to introduce federalism by the ‘founding fathers’ which were developed in order to escape from the overpowered central government. However, federalism in the United States is hitherto uncertain where the power lies in the contemporary political system. In this essay I will outline and explain how power relationship alternates between states and federal government. Moreover I will also discuss my perspective by weighing the evidence based upon resources. Based on these resources, it will aid me to evaluate the recent development in the federal-state relationship.
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.
The funding of public education has long been an issue for the state government of Texas. Starting before Texas was even a state, public education funding was at the forefront of politicians’ minds. In 1836, one of the reasons Anglo-Texans wanted to become independent from Mexico was Mexico’s lack of a public school system (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). This drove the desire of President Mirabeau B. Lamar of the Republic of Texas to create legislation that would grant public schools land (A Brief History of Public Education, n.d.). This act set aside four leagues of land per county for the use of free education centers and thus began the funding of public education by the state government (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). In the last 177 years, the Texas Legislature and the Texas Education Agency have created numerous acts and laws regarding the funding of education, but it has been in the last 50 years that this topic has become highly contested, resulting in several lawsuits and endless efforts (by the school districts) to equalize the distribution of funds to Texas school districts (Texas School Finance History, n.d.). In sum, the complex issues and policies that surround the funding of public education are derived from a combination of the legislature, bureaucratic agencies, and local governments in the form of school districts.
Texas is an intricate state with deep roots embedded in limited government authority. Almost all, Texans, favor the limited government between citizens and state. The two most important cultures in Texas are individualistic and traditionalistic culture. Individualistic views are summoned by limited government and that politics are the root of malicious acts, and is usually responded with negative reactions from the community. The individualistic cultures’ vision is egotistical for ones self-interest. The individualistic culture is viewed as priority in private independent business rather that those of the community as a whole. Unlike individualistic views, traditionalistic culture is motioned by conservatism. This cultures vision is supported by the common wealth of society’s privileged. Its beliefs are usually of distrust in its bureaucracy. Traditionalistic culture maintains an obligation to its family hierarchy. The traditionalistic subculture has a lower voting turn out rate compared to the opposition. These distinctive cultures were bestowed upon Texans in the 1800’s, when Texas was changing into a diverse and demographically society. Individualistic and traditionalistic cultures are the outline of ideology and certainty to the way Texas government is administrated. This has a huge impact on the way the Texas structures its government and why people support such a structure. And Texas is viewed as both subcultures.
The Texas Constitution provides for the division of power and integration of Bill of Rights to the constituents of the State of Texas. The Texas Constitution is made up of a preamble, seventeen articles, and an appendix. The current Constitution was written on November 26, 1875, and adopted February 15, 1876, it is also the eighth constitution to be adopted by the State of Texas. Similar to the United States Constitution the Texas Constitution contains a preamble as follows, “Humbly invoking the blessing of Almighty God, the people of the State of Texas do ordain and establish this Constitution” (Tex. Const., pmbl).