Texas Constitution Research Paper

The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land in the United States of America. The Texas Constitution establishes the structure and purpose of the Texas government. Constitution can also be defined as a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged in being governed. Each of these constitutions can be related in many ways as wells as being able do differentiate the two. Coming with strengths and weaknesses each plays a role and ultimately can coexist and learn from each other. These documents are critically important and share common goals that differentiate slightly. By breaking down the internal process of each of these constitutions the end goal is

to further educate and understand each constitution.
In many ways the United States and Texas constitution are similar documents for they are both a centralized form of representative democratic government to follow. Looking closely at some specific content when comparing the main categories of each of these constitutions the first noticeable asset is the length of the document. The Texas constitution is composed of 93,000 words while the U.S Constitution is only composed of 7,000 words that include Texas having over 450 amendments while the US only has 27. With that being said the amendment process is relatively easy in Texas whereas the U.S Constitution process is difficult. With all its content the Texas constitution comes across as broad with general principles where as the U.S. Constitution is very specific with detailed provisions. Both contain a bill of right and a bicameral legislature with a system of checks and balances and separation of powers between each branch of the government (Coleman). These are just a few of the obvious similarities and differences when it comes to comparing the United States Constitution and the Texas Constitution. The U.S. Constitutions supremacy clause and necessary and proper clause distinguish the federal constitution from the states constitution. Texas’s constitution is far more complex although each serves its purpose and continues playing extremely important roles.
When taking a closer look at the Texas Constitution, it has been governed under seven different constitutions.

The seventh and final constitution is the current Constitution of 1876 that we all know of today. There has been much controversy with the frequency the constitution has been amended that has made it so long and difficult to understand. “In 1972 the state tried to replace the Constitution of 1876 with an entirely new document but that effort failed and the problems that it had intended to address remain” (Boatright 2). Despite the endless changing notions always being brought up the Texas Constitution was written to prevent the expansion of governmental authority and to avoid the return of any political power that acted against the interest of the people. These can be included in the weaknesses of the Texas Constitution of 1876 known for its excessive details and loose amendment process. For a constitutional amendment to be passed two thirds of the vote have to be in favor of both houses of legislation. Although the document is so old the passing of amendments will continue to happen, some may think it to be easier to rewrite and condense although at this point the process would take a very long time and probably more difficult than just editing and adding to the current one. Some deliberate strengths of the Texas Constitution is that there is no need for interpretation everything is black and white for all the content provided it allows for the facts to be shown, there is limited power in the government and there is little debate for the intentions of the law. Weaknesses include being hard to change and not flexible, creating many problems resulting in low pay to public officials and as also seen as a strength or weakness limited power of the

government.
Again when comparing the United States Constitution to the Texas Constitution political power is obtained from the people allowing separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, bicameral, and the idea of preventing the tyranny of government by granting individual rights. Being much older than the Texas Constitution the U.S Constitution came into effect in 1789. As one of the first actual written forms of government at large that, “the nature of written constitutions generally precludes the possibility of specifying all of the powers a government may exercise to contain an accurate detail of all the subdivisions of which its great powers will admit and of all the means by which they may be carried into execution, would partake of the prolixity of a legal code, and could scarcely be embraced by the human mind” (Kaczorowski 762). This meaning that the interpretation of the constitution can be taken in so many different directions a humanly possible. The fact that our greatest strength is so vague with few words we have the right to take apart and interpret the document as graciously as expected. Although there are many strengths of the constitution for it is what provides a government for each individual granting our specific rights. It also provides a government that can act when in danger both for federal unions so that people still have certain rights and powers in their own states. It is flexible to be interpreted and is acceptable to apply at changing times ultimately providing orderly changes. Following the strengths comes with an entire new set of weaknesses for constitution is very ridged and there is too much power given to nonelected and unaccountable judges. Limited restriction to the central government can sometimes undermine federalism sometimes overpowering constitutional and states rights leaving them unprotected. Finally having checks and balances makes it difficult to establish and carry out a decision.
Although each constitution has both its strengths and weaknesses if it was possible to make a completely new document and have the best of both that would be an ideal situation. In fact it is necessary that we keep the separate for they lap over each other and coexist as successfully as possible although there is always room for improvement. Hypothetically if it was possible to take ideas from each constitution and improve the existing one it would really come down to preference and being able to pick out what individual needs and ideas consist of. Texas’s constitution was influenced by the federal by having political power be derived from the people, dividing the power among three branches and having a system of checks and balances to limit powers so those automatically can be overlooked for they already share those similarities and it seems to work best that way. Having state constitutions subordinate to the U.S constitution this really results in a close to perfect balance. When the states and feds share powers it is known as concurrent powers, when looking what areas of each can benefit one another it is hard to not have an opinion when the technicalities of things wont add up in the end so it is best for things to stay as they are. With that said, if certain aspect of each constitution were able to improve one another the Texas’s Equal Rights Amendment and the U.S. strength of international human rights documents are two assets that can be shared with one another.
Overall we reviewed the similarities and differences of both the United States and Texas Constitution. Having to opportunity to break down the structure of each and establishing interesting and factual information. For the original purpose of government is for security and order both of these documents successfully fill a need as an order to follow. Throughout the history each have come a long way being able to establish strengths and weaknesses along the way. Being able to coexist each is able to support its own weight, although some may argue for certain aspects. Overall both constitutions are unique documents with grave importance to all individuals.