The U.S. Constitution was completed on September 17, 1789 and has served as a model for the constitutions of many other nations. The constitution of the United States of America is the oldest written national constitution in use and consists of twenty-seven amendments. The state of Texas has had six constitutions. The Constitution of the Republic of Texas was written in 1836 between the fall of the Alamo Mission in San Antonio and Sam Houston's stunning victory at San Jacinto. The constitution was written quickly and while on the run from Santa Anna. It was written by George Childress along with Sam Houston. .The Texas Constitution is the second longest constitution in the United States, and one of the oldest still in effect. Since the constitution has been adopted it has been amended 439 times and consists of seventeen amendments. 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 U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution have similarities and differences. First, both constitutions consist of a Bill of Rights. This is a formal summary of the rights and liberties considered essential to a people or group of people. The individual rights provide a variety of restraints on political power to protect people against unwarranted intrusions and abuses. Also, in both constitutions it outlines and talks about the powers of government in each separate department. Both talk about suffrage, taxation and revenue, along with general provisions, and modes of amending the c... ... middle of paper ... ...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). On a final note, both Constitutions were created for the same purpose namely, to withhold the fundamental principles of a nation. They are governed by a group of people who limit and regulate the basic rules. Texas has had a constitution for each political condition of its history.
The purpose of a constitution was to remove the royal authority 's institution and still govern the people with a popular sovereignty. Each colony developed their own constitution in different ways based on the economic, political, freedom, and social demands of the people as well as the states ' experiences. The Virginia constitution and the Massachusetts constitution were the two of the many states that created a constitution. Both of the constitutions have their similarity and difference, but they are more in common. In fact, It is said to be that the Massachusetts constitution was often overshadowed by the Virginia constitution. Nonetheless, the similarity between both constitutions is the structure of a commonwealth. That being the case, each state 's government are related to the federal government.
Constitution, creates a unitary executive whereas the Texas Constitution creates a plural executive government. In the Texas Constitution, the government is plural executive and disperses the power among several elected officials. On the other hand, the U.S. Constitution creates a unitary executive, which concentrates the executive power on a single representative, the president. The president has a right to veto any bill he dislikes, but the Congress is also able to approve a bill if the president refuses to adopt it. In the Texas Constitution, there is a line-veto which allows the governor to veto specific items on the legislature of bills passed. The Texas government is more of a limited government whereas the U.S. constitution grants power to the president. Furthermore, in the U.S. Constitution the legislative branch is responsible for making the laws being very limited in government spending, and in the Texas Constitution there were detailed restrictions on tax and specific policies depending on the states legislatures. Legislatures are not allowed to oppose a tax on personal income and are forbidden to make states government develop into debt. Even though the Constitution was ratified, the anti-federalist adopted the Bill of Rights, which promises basic human rights to citizens. Moreover, 27 amendments are in the U.S. Constitution; nevertheless, the state
The United States' Constitution is one the most heralded documents in our nation's history. It is also the most copied Constitution in the world. Many nations have taken the ideals and values from our Constitution and instilled them in their own. It is amazing to think that after 200 years, it still holds relevance to our nation's politics and procedures. However, regardless of how important this document is to our government, the operation remains time consuming and ineffective. The U.S. Constitution established an inefficient system that encourages careful deliberation between government factions representing different and sometimes competing interests.
Researching and reading about both documents entirely enforces the notion that to govern is to control, influence, or regulate. All these laws and rights make for a controlled environment to live in which is being constantly questioned and infracted unpin everyday. The Founding Fathers put forth an amazing document that will live on for years and years to pass.
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.
By 1875 the need to rewrite the Texas Constitution had become very evident, and a Convention was held to rewrite the Constitution. The constitution written then was the fifth that the state has been ruled under, and is the one still in place today. At that point in Texas history, the state was primarily agricultural,
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,
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).
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.
In 1787, The United States of America formally replaced the Articles of Confederation with a wholly new governing document, written by the delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. This document, known as the Constitution, has served as the supreme law of our land for the past 228 years. It has stood the test of time and a majority of Americans still support it today (Dougherty). The Constitution was designed in a way that allows for it to be amended, in order to address changing societal needs. Article V discusses the process by which the Constitution can be altered. This feature has enabled it to stay in effect and keep up with current times. The Constitution should not be rewritten every 19 years because it would not only weaken its importance, but it would also hurt foreign relations and continuously rewriting it would give political parties too much power.
The first recognizable difference between the constitutions is structure and length. The Texas constitution consists of seventeen articles while the US constitution only has seven articles. However, parts of the Texas constitution were removed or repealed. These repeals happen in 1969 the article thirteen of the Texas Constitution under the title of Spanish and Mexican Land Titles, and sections
The state of Texas was founded on the backs and sweat of men who believed in independence through the people. Texans had a strong belief in how the government could assist the people while leaving the rights to be governed to the people. The Federal Constitution is no exception. Inherently, similarities between these two constitutions were created for democracy, and for citizens and their protections. Both share a House of Representatives, which is the initial line of political hierarchy often called the lower house who consider constitutional amendments and state spending. There is also the Senate, which is called the upper house and is responsible for recommending new laws and managing the state budget.
The Texas constitution provided the people with equal rights under the Constitution of the United States, by doing so, this allowed for the people to have access to liberties they were not inclined to prior. The institution I chose to address in this paper is that of the judicial, because under the judicial article of the Texas constitution it gives great examples of being democratic in nature. The first specific about the judicial institution is that, unlike the federal government, the judicial article implements partisan election. In federal courts, judges are appointed, and the people do not get to vote. Whereas in Texas, it's the people's choice. Judges are than elected based on the popular vote. Judges in Texas are also given limitations to the time they are allowed to serve by having terms in place. For supreme and criminal appeal courts the term limit is six years, district courts are four years, and all other courts are two years.
The constitution in itself decentralizes power because in the Reconstruction of 1869 the main goal was to avoid the happenings of past constitutions that allowed too much power to be given to the Governor’s office that caused corruption and turmoil. Because of the money that was stolen, the lost property of citizens, and businesses, the Texas Constitution made the office of the governor weak. The government structure is now referred to as a Plural Executive, meaning the power is spread out throughout executive positions. These executives are now state wide elected officials that represent the values of the percentage of the population who vote, who are mostly white, of higher income and higher education. The agriculture commissioner is responsible for varieties of programs that promotes agricultural economy and encourage healthy living. The land commissioner serves as the head of the Texas General Land Commission which manages land and mineral rights. The comptroller heads the department that tracks all state money and they provide the framework for developing the state’s biannual budget which can then be signed by the governor and back to the comptroller to at least balance out the budget that the State of Texas is constitutionally obligated to adhere to. Until the comptroller certifies that the budget is balanced or a
Before entering the United States, Texas had a few other existing constitutions, the Coahuila y Tejas, the 1836 constitution of the Republic of Texas, and a few others. The current Texas Constitution included nearly 289 sections which were then organized into 17 different articles upon being ratified in the year 1876. After this 211 additional sections have been included, but 66 of the original Texas constitution sections along with 49 of the newly added sections have thus been removed. Today in total the Texas constitution holds 385 sections. From the year 1876 to the year January 2015 it is noted that the Texas legislature has proposed more than or equal to 666 amendments to Texas's current constitution. The Texas Constitution is comprised of 17 different