Texas Constitution Strengths

The Constitution or the fundamental law is a set of legal texts defining the different institutions of a country and organizing their relationship. Federalism is a political system in which a federal state shares the constitutional powers with member states, sovereign in their own areas of competence. This definition is respected by the U.S. Constitution through its 10th amendment. It guarantees to the states all the powers that are not delegated to the federal government by the constitution. Thereby, to define those powers, Texas has voted his own constitution. This constitution is different from other states’ constitution. Like any human work, it has its strengths and weaknesses, although it has been difficult to change since 1876.

A federal state is constituted of many states with different cultures. The United States Constitution has exclusive and concurrent powers. The exclusive powers are those regarding matters of defense, foreign affairs, oversea trade, and

monetary system. They are the powers reserved to the federal government. The concurrent powers are those powers shared by the federal and the state governments. However, conscious of the differences between the states, the U.S. Constitution has expressly omitted to define certain powers. Those residual powers are given to the states by the 10th amendment of the constitution. Thus, the state constitution is there to define and specify concurrent and residual powers respectively to the culture and the aspirations of its population. State constitution represents the identity of every state in the federation.
The current constitution of Texas took effect on February 15, 1876.

Including the Mexican constitution of 1824, it is the eight constitution in the Texas history. Despite it was written in particular circumstances (breaches of the constitution of 1869), it remains the foundation of state government. The intention of the framers was to prevent abuse due to an excessive power given to the government. Thereby, the current constitution was strengthened by putting all the powers in the hand of the Texans. For instance, the Bill of Rights represents the first article of the constitution. It is lengthier and more detailed than the U.S. Bill of Rights. Texas’ Constitution separates power in tree branches like the U.S. Constitution. However, to prevent an arbitrary and dictatorial governor, corresponding state level cabinet positions are designated by the people through elections. Also, in contrast of many others states where the judges are appointed by the governor, judges in Texas are elected by the

people.
Although its strengths, the current constitution of Texas has many weaknesses. Its first problem is its length. With its 474 amendments, it represents the second longest state constitution of the United States. Also, the high level of details in the constitution reduces its flexibility. Furthermore, it has a confusing organization which makes its appropriation difficult for the people. Being an old document, the 1876 constitution is poorly written and inappropriate to the current configuration of Texas, hence the multiples revision’s attempts. However, several revision attempts have failed. Difficult revisions can be explained by the lack of charisma of the political leaders, disagreements, and even public criticism.
Conclusively, in a federalism system, every state needs its own constitution to respond accurately to the needs of its people. The current constitution of Texas is the Constitution of February 15, 1876. Its strengths are its detailed Bill of Rights, its plural executive system, and its judicial power. Its weaknesses are its length, its confusing organization, and its writing. Difficulties to revise the Texas’ Constitution is due to the lack of interest of the Texans and their politicians. As the foundation of the state government, this current constitution will change only in the case of a major event in the world.