Governments come in all sizes from small rural towns, huge cities, and whole states. In Texas especially, is known for there laid out governments that all work together to accomplish few goals such as: meet the needs of the people, avoid any corruptness in both citizens and officials, to avoid debt, and to make sure all services are kept up to date. All these characteristics are vital to all governments in all sizes.
Especially in city governments. Before 1836 there were no official cities in Texas, instead there were few large settlements with a lot of land and a few people. During this time the current Texas territory was under Spanish and Mexican rule, which was the only structure to a government now days. Texas soon gained freedom and
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the first official government was the Texas Republic. Still cities had no power separate from the state until the “Home Rule Act of 1912”, which allowed cities to perform an act that was not specifically granted from the state constitution or legislator. Soon after the act many more cities appeared with population above 5,000. With time Texas cities have become more complex from then till now, with almost 1,200 cities.More over these cities are expensive to maintain. A large majority of revenue Texas cities obtain is from property taxes. To be more in depth cities with less than 5,000 citizens can have a property tax up to $1.50 per $100 assessed value. Any citie above the 5,000 population mark can increase tax to $2.50 per $100 assessed value. However TML.com stated a study in 2011 shown the average property tax per $100 assessed value was $0.51. This being surprisingly low taking to account how much more the tax could be. The second large revenue to texas with 22% is the Sales tax. Nearly all of Texas cities have a sales tax of one cent. This money goes to benefit the cities choice except debt. However this money can go to a “Dedicated Tax” which is money spent on a certain department or activity such as special districts. That being said there must be a local option election that approves these dedicated texas. Other revenue also comes from franchise, permits, specific fees, court fees, interest earning and transfers from other funds. The rest of the revenue that is not obtained from above is from other sources. With cities and revue comes a government. The structure of city government in Texas falls into two categories : Home Rule and General Law governments.
Home Rule governments distribute power among various branches of governments. As for General Law seeks to constitution to determine restrictions and freedoms in there local government. City governments in Home Rule have two different branches. The most common to use in texas cities is Strong Mayor. The main powers a strong mayor can have are (1) the power to appoint and remove department heads and major boards.(2)Prepare city budgets followed by the council's approval.(3) Vetoing actions by council. Weak mayor government consist of few major powers. (1) the mayor is elected by council instead of people.(2) the may for a weak mayor is low. (3) power can be removed by majority council vote.(4) Vetoes have restrictions. Home Rule with a strong mayor is common in large cities, as weak mayor is common in small. The second branch is General Law which can be broken into type A,B,C powers. Most new cities with a population between 201-10,000 our labeled as type B General law. This type consist of 6 member including the mayor and 5 other Aldermen. Giving its’ “Border of Alderman”. A type B can be moved to a type A if the population grows by 600. Type C General Law has a “Board of Commissioners” which in mayor and 2 commissioners. No other city officials our required except a city clerk. The reason there is low number of people in office is because this type is used by towns …show more content…
with 500 or less. The powers out the same as Type B and this branch of government is mostly recognized by Galveston. Lastly type A the largest of the 3 have Aldermen and a City Council. Depending on how they split powers there can be more than 6 members in total involving the treasurer, tax collector, secretary, attorney, engineer, and all of these officials can be elected or appointed. I conclude the purpose of the city government is to enact ordinances and adopt laws to better benefit the city and people.Now to move onto a more larger government. Next topic is county governments. Counties came about similar to the way cities came about under Spanish and Mexican rule called municipalities. Around the 1820s’ there were 4 major settlements in Texas being: San Antonio, Bahia (Goliad), Nacogdoches, and Rio grande Valley. During this time there were no political counties, however there were large areas of Bexar, Branzos, Nacogdoches,(similar to counties); Plus 23 municipalities. It was not until the Texas Republic was established in 1836 that the 23 municipalities become counties. Later on by 1845 when Texas was officially a state there were 36 countries, yet there was not any specific law or government just county officials. However with the new constitution in 1861 there where 122 countries;furthermore by 1836 number grew larger along with power until 1931 where the 254th county was established being the last one since. As for cities counties as well have to have a source of revenue. Just as cities, majority of counties in Texas rely heavily on property tax and sales tax.
These taxes help pay for hospitals, libraries,jails,courthouse, parks, economic development efforts, and many more other public services. Sales tax is used in 124 counties including Angelina county with a rate of 0.5 percent of sales. Only county to go over this is Terrell county with 1.5 percent. As mentioned before since 1836 power grew in counties creating the right to tax by the county governments.
Unlike city governments, county governments are limited on what they can do. The reason being is that the rights our specifically spelled out in constitution and by the legislator. Each county has a commissioners court that includes four precinct commissions and a county judge. The Texas constitution also has a very strict checks and balances that create other offices. These offices are attorneys, district clerks, county treasurer, sheriff, tax collector, justice of peace, and constable.I believe the overall purpose of the of the county is to oversee financial matters and conduct general
business. Lasly Special Districts play a major role in Texas. Special Districts have been around for a while to better help specific services complete certain task with not much restriction. Yet in 1904, the constitution of 1876 was amended allowing establishment of conservation districts with no limit amount of debt or taxation. But where do special districts get their money? As well as the cities and counties, revenue comes from property tax and sales tax or user fees. With 287 countries with specific sales tax to benefit special districts.The structure of special districts mainly rely on the geographic area they our located. Special districts run as “Simple-Purpose” seeking for local governments for services, this excluding school special districts.I believe the purpose of special districts are to benefit certain departments so they can accomplish there going being water conservation, toll roads, hospitals, etc. Overall in my opinion all three of these governments work as a unit meet the needs of the people, avoid any corruptness in both citizens and officials, to avoid debt, and to make sure all services are kept up to date.
The modern day federalism that is applied today is structured like that of the Connecticut federalism. A general court in Hartford acts like a central meeting place like that of present day Washington D.C.. This General court has the ability to rule over the towns of Connecticut, but the locals of a town may provide input to their public officer and he can provide the central court with this information. The general court is not to be mistaken as an absolute rule. An example is found in section 11 of the Fundamental Orders. The general court may distribute funding to the towns, and they may distribute them as they please. If this was a dictatorship, the general court would tell the local governments how to distribute their funds.
It was a remarkable coup Texas least three of their own to serve as an important adviser in the cabinet of Wilson. Because of one-party rule in the state, members of parliament from southern Texas and can build seniority and gain positions of power simply by being elected and reelected in a noncompetitive political environment. During Wilson, the state lost power in the national government by the establishment of the Federal Reserve system and some constitutional amendment allowed the direct election of senators, Range Women's right to vote, and allowing for a federal income tax was
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
Texas and Federal Constitutions contain the principles needed for a representative democratic government and both arose from different historical situations; for instance, the U.S. Constitution was made to replace the Articles of Confederation, a weak decentralized form of national government with no president or taxes, which made the government not powerful enough to start a war. The U.S. Constitution was made to improve these weaknesses by proposing a degree of centralization which increased government power. On the other hand, Texas Constitution was made to reverse or avoid the ideas of the U.S. Constitution. On one part, the U.S. Constitution wanted to empower government action whereas the Texas Constitution wanted to weaken government action. The Texas Constitution is more geared toward protecting people’s rights whereas the U.S. Constitution protects the nation’s interest. The Texas Constitution has been amended more than 300 times whereas the US Constitution includes the Bill of Rights and the subsequent
...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.
Our Legislative Branch has two chambers or as some will call it bicameral. The chambers consist of the Senate and the House of Representatives just like the National Legislative Branch. In our Senate we currently have a total of 31 members and there are 150 members in the House of Representatives. Senators hold their seat for 4 years and their election years are spread out while the House of Representatives are elected for two-year terms. In our Texas Legislature we have a few authority figures. “The Texas Constitution provides that the lieutenant governor shall serve as president of the senate, the presiding officer of that body. The lieutenant governor is elected statewide by voters of Texas and is the second-highest ranking officer of the executive branch of government”. (Texas Medical Associaton) In the House of Representatives we have a Speaker of the House who is chosen in each time a new legislature starts by its own members. “The speaker maintains order during floor debate, recognizing legislators who wish to speak and ruling on procedural matters.” (Joe Straus Speaker) There are also many committees who act as important gatekeepers and shape the proposed legislation. (University of Texas at Austin). The main pu...
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 Texas Constitution delegates authority to three departments; Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The Legislative Department
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.
Its breakdown in Mexican Statehood was caused by Gnereal Santa Anna’s centralized all power in Mexico City and limited U.S. trade, and the Battle of the Alamo was the final nail in the coffin. Then Texas was called the Republic of the Rio Grande, and the capital was Laredo. It was a small country that only existed in 1840, but it was never officially recognized. The second constitution was the Republic of Texas in 1836 to 1845. It was an independent nation that nearly copied the US Document. Texas mandated homestead protections, establish wife and community property rights, and legalized slavery. The Republic of Texas breakdown caused by the US Statehood in 1845. After, the Republic of Texas became the State of Texas in 1845. This breakdown when economic tyranny by the north and slavery. 1861 - 1865, the Confederate State of Texas replaced US with Confederacy in the documents of 1845 and banned the freeing of slaves. It breakdown caused by the lose of Confederacy in Civil War. The history of how Texas got to the current constitution can be compare to the Mexico history. As Texas gained their independence from Mexico, Mexico gained their independence from Spain.
The Annexation of Texas was one of the most debatable events in the history of the United States. This paper argues the different opinions about doing the annexation of Texas or not. In this case Henry Clay and John L. O’Sullivan had completely opposite opinions about this issue. The reasons of why not do it was because of the desire to prevent war, for division over slavery, and for constitutional rights. On the other hand, John L. O’ Sullivan wanted to do this because of his idea of Manifest Destiny. By 1845, the annexation of Texas went into effect.
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.
...it follows perfectly with the notion of manifest destiny. Charles Creighton Hazewell, an expert on Mexican-Texas history once said that, "The mere thought of the changes that have occurred there bewilders the mind; and the inhabitants of orderly countries, whether that order be the consequence of despotism or of constitutionalism, wonder that society should continue to exist in a country where government appears to be unknown."
Then there is the state government which are responsible for governing affairs within their borders, and carrying out federal laws and programs at the state level. They are governed by their own constitutions and retain any rights that the U.S. Constitution does not exclusively grant to the federal government. The state government is limited as they cannot form alliances with other states and must honor and respect the laws and institutions of the other states. And finally there is the federal government which is the central and highest level of government in the U.S. It is divided into three branches and each branch has its own rights and power to check and balance the powers of each branch. The federal government has the power to regulate taxes, establish federal welfare programs and make laws in the interest of the nation as a whole. There are also limitations set to the federal government’s authority, as they cannot ask local law enforcements agencies to do minor administrative jobs. Although all levels of government have their own responsibilities there are limits to interfering with other governments