Bonnie Rodriguez
Professor Nejad
GOVT 2306
8 December 2014
Exam 2
Essay #1
The reason that the office of governor in Texas is weak is because the Texas Constitution of 1876 restricted the powers of the governor as a way to prevent the abuse of the office and powers granted to the governor that occurred during the Reconstruction time period in Texas. The governor that preceded this Constitution was Edmund Davis and he had to be removed from office. Texas’ government at that time was viewed as corrupt and the new Constitution did its best to change things for the state. Once the new one was written, the role of Governor was severely limited. When a poll was taken of all the governor positions in the United States, Texas came
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in next to last when it comes to the power of the office of Governor. Unfortunately, the office of Texas Governor is one of the more visible state political offices but it is limited in what it can do. One of the biggest limitations the Constitution of 1876 placed on the office of the Governor is that executive power previously held by the governor had been split among many officials. The Texas governor does not have the power to appoint officials to powerful office. The Plural Executive is the group of officials in Texas that could be compared to the President’s cabinet. Unlike most states, these officials are elected by residents rather than appointed by the governor. Another change but not necessarily a limitation that the new Constitution provided to the role of governor is that the Constitution makes it so that it is easier to remove a governor from office. The Constitution of 1876 does not specify the grounds for removal from office, just lays down the categories such as failure to perform governor duties, incompetence and misconduct. As long as a reason for impeachment can fit into these categories, impeachment proceeding may occur. Another limitation the Constitution of 1876 brought about was that the governor was no longer able to appoint judges to office directly. Under the new constitution, the governor can appoint judges only when there is a vacancy in one of the judgeship created by resignation, death, retirement and new courts that have been created between judicial voting terms. There are a few informal powers that the Texas Governor can use to their advantage to make the office slightly more powerful. Our textbook states that one of these powers is to capitalize on the celebrity of the office of Texas Governor (Champagne, 215). The Texas governor can use this to develop a cooperative relationship with the Texas legislators in order to come to an agreement on laws and regulations and work together to pass laws and regulations in a timely manner. The Governor can also maximize his limited power by exercising his power to veto. The Governor can reach his political goals should they be flexible and willing to cooperative with the other executive offices in Texas government. The most influential informal power is the governor’s ability to persuade. The governor must be willing to explain fully but he has the ability to persuade voters and legislators alike (Champagne, 216). As mentioned above, the office of Texas Governor is a very visible position in overall state politics in the U.S. therefore the governor has the ability to easily get his message to a large number of people in a relatively short amount of time. This would help to get the ball rolling in pushing a governor’s political agenda. Cooperation and compromising goes a long way to get anything and the same applies for the governorship getting laws passed. Working with legislators should be one of the governors top concerns and should concentrate on cultivating those relationships to reach goals that keep the state’s best interest in mind. Works Cited Champagne, Anthony, and Edward J. Harpham. Governing Texas: An Introduction to Texas Politics. Print. Essay #2 The Texas Judicial Branch is set up as follows; the Texas Supreme Court is at the top of Texas civil courts.
It has 9 justices and is the last stop for civil cases in Texas. This court will hear civil cases that have come up through the Texas courts. This court is the last stop for Texas civil cases. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has 9 judges and is the final authority in Texas criminal cases. Once a case is heard in either of these courts the decision is final and cannot be overturned. These two courts are at the top tier of Texas courts. Next comes the Texas Court of Appeals which has a total of 14 Courts in its jurisdiction and has 80 justices. This court is at the intermediate level of Appellate courts in the state. District Courts come in at the level of Trail Courts of General and Special Jurisdiction for the state. There are 456 courts and 456 judges at this level. This court hears civil action involving monetary amounts of greater than $500, divorce land titles, felony criminal matters and juvenile cases to name a few. This court falls directly below the Court of Appeals. Next comes the county level of courts. At this level we have 505 courts and 505 judges in Texas. These types of courts hear cases of civil actions involving monetary values of $2-10 thousand dollars, simple probate cases, some misdemeanor criminal cases, guardianship and mental health commission among others. When a case needs to be heard at a higher level, it jumps up to the Court of …show more content…
Appeals. Below that are the municipal court and Justice of the Peace. These courts have a combined total of 1739 courts and 2350 judges. They, like the County level courts have limited jurisdiction. In Texas, judges are elected to their positions. The Governor has the power to appoint a judge in the case of a vacancy. Municipal Courts will hear cases of fines for misdemeanors, city ordinance violations, and dangerous dog cases and performs magistrate functions. The Justice of the Peace courts can hear civil cases, small claims, magistrate functions and misdemeanors punishable by fines.
The main difference in Texas’ Appellate Courts is that the judges are elected to their positions. Even if a judge was appointed originally by the governor to fill a vacancy, they will eventually have to be elected to their position. Elections for judges are often expensive and can become very politically in regards to party affiliation. Judges are susceptible to the popular public opinions and that tends to play a large role in the decisions that are made. The Texas Constitution of 1876 was so concerned with making sure that the judicial and executive branches of Texas government be independent of each other that it created many check and balances on judges and made them more responsible to the people. Under this, Texas judges are held to a strict discipline.
Works Cited
Champagne, Anthony, and Edward J. Harpham. Governing Texas: An Introduction to Texas Politics. Print.
Essay #3
Tuition and fees prior to 2003 were set by the state government, but when the state of Texas found they had a $10 billion dollar budget deficit they started looking for ways to stop the spending. The state did not want to raise taxes to cover the negative cash flow but they needed to find a way to save money. One of the ways decided was to decrease the amount of money the state allocated to universities. Overall, the state funding to schools took an 11% hit per student in attendance. To make up for the shortfall, the universities were given permission to raise tuition on their own. Where this helped to solve some of the money flow problems for the state, it put some pressure on the universities as raising tuition costs is never a popular decision. According to our textbook, as a result of the state funding shortages, tuition has gone up ranging from 71-110% across the state of Texas. However, it is worth mentioning that even though tuition has gone up, on average, Texas tuition rates remain lower than the national average of tuition rates.
The state has had to continue with the lowered funding of universities and schools are continuing to raise tuition to cover that loss. Even though state funds have gone down and university costs have gone up, financial aid qualifications have not changed so some students now find themselves unable to get financial aid and unable to pay for school on their own. Despite the push back, the state still firmly stands behind their decision to raise tuition.
Works Cited
Cardona, Claire. "Texas College Tuition up 55% since 2003 Deregulation, Analysis Shows." The Dallas Morning News. 22 Sept. 2012. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.
This special election needs to be authorized by law and once held the special district needs to win more than 50% of the votes. Once completed, the special district can be created. Special Districts then have a boards or committee elected which will perform the governing functions. All boards establish the rules, operating instructions and taxes for the district. A special district is tasked with having one full time employee who will manage the daily operation of the district. Property taxes are the main source of income for special districts. Those fees that are paid by the users of the public service provided make up the next level of funding for the special district. Federal and state grants supplement the special districts finances where property taxes and user fees fail to provide financial resources.
Works Cited
"Bexar County Flood Control." Bexar County Flood Control. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. <http://www.bexarfloodcontrol.org/>.
Champagne, Anthony, and Edward J. Harpham. Governing Texas: An Introduction to Texas Politics. Print.
"Invisible Government: Special Districts in Texas." 1 Oct. 2008. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
The local governments in Texas are smaller units that form part of the larger state government. These local government extensions act as the administrative branch of the state government. The state of Texas relies mainly on its constitution of 1876 to establish the various local government jurisdictions. Currently, there are 254 counties, 50 cities, 1,100 education districts and 2,393 special districts in the state serving a population of 26 million people (Collier et al.). Each of these branches of the local government has specific roles, which they are supposed to play.
The office of president of the Republic of Texas was superseded and the state governor was first established in the Constitution of 1845 (“Phillip, Fry,” 2010) The Constitution of 1845 vested executive power in the governor and the election was done by the qualified voters of the State. In comparison, the Constitution of 1876 created plural executive, dividing the executive power among a governor, lieutenant-governor, Secretary of State, comptroller of public accounts, treasurer, commissioner of the general land office, attorney general and all of the officers of the executive department. All of these positions are elected by qualified voters except the Secretary of State who is appointed by the governor. The governor remains the commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the State and the militia in both the Constitutions. Also, the Constitution of 1845 placed a limit on the governor’s salary to two thousand dollars annually, which was amended on November 2, 1954 removing this limit. Although there has not been much change in the requirements to become a governor, the Constitution of 1845 limited the governor to two two-year terms in six years compared to the four-year term in the Constitution of 1876 (“Constitution of Texas,” n.d.; “Texas Constitution,” n.d.)
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 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.
The Texas government is a complex system whose ultimate purpose is to serve its citizens. Oftentimes, its complexity in certain aspects causes problems in its efficiency in serving. The way the Texas Constitution is written, how local governments run, the judicial, legislative, and executive branches’ efficiency, as well as Texas public policy and fiscal policy result in a government that is not set up to best serve its citizens. By 1875 the need to rewrite the Texas Constitution had become very evident, and a Convention was held to rewrite the Constitution.
The Governor of Texas needs to not only be a citizen of the United States, but also reside in Texas for at least five years immediately preceding the election in order to fully understand the policies Texas residents’ are dealing with, the culture of Texas, as well as how Texas’ political decision impacts the rest of the nation. Both the President and the Governor are required to give an address to the legislatures, which cover very similar topics. The President’s State of the Union address “…recommends to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;” while the Governor of Texas gives the Condition of the State in which, “…he shall recommend to the Legislature such measures as
The three different branches of government in Texas are the following: The executive branch, which is directed by the governor, executes the laws, the judicial branch, which is run through the supreme court and state courts, interpret the laws, and the legislative branch, which is bicameral, includes the 150 members of the house of representatives and the 31 members of the state senate that make the laws.
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The constitution establish major governing institutions, assign institution’s power, place explicit and implicit control on power granted. All this gives the political legitimacy. The U.S constitution gives the base model for state constitution for Texas.
The Texas Revolution is one of the biggest events that contributed to the founding of this country. Texas’s fight for independence from the Mexican government was very beneficial to the young and growing United States. The effects of this war play a crucial role in how this country came to be
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.
Now, the district court system is the beginning step of the judicial system. A good amount of the case handled by the district court system is either criminal or civil trial cases. According to Roger Miller, “trial courts that have general jurisdiction as to the subject matter may be called county, district, superior, or circuit courts.” The majority of their cases are to be handled in-county first before proceeding further through the court system. Just as businesses and organizations have a chain-of-command or protocol system the government has the
Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians are perhaps three of the most prominent political parties within Texas. Within the pages of their party platforms, we see that each possesses a unique philosophy, with specific viewpoints and recommendations for shaping or reforming government policy. To be sure, the people of Texas face many challenges, two of the most compelling issues being the crisis in healthcare and in education. Not only are we lacking in these areas as Texans, but also on the national level. The parties’ stance on these two major issues defines them, giving us insight into the mind and intentions of each.
The US court system consists of a trial court, an appellate court, and a supreme or high court. The trial court is the first to hear the facts of a case and has original jurisdiction. The appellate court hears cases whose resolution is disputed by the losing party in the trial court. The supreme or high court hears cases whose outcome is disputed by the losing party in the appellate court. The supreme or high court chooses which cases warrant a hearing. The federal and the state court system have the same basic structure. Each consists of a trial court, an appellate court, and a supreme or high court. The Federal Court of Appeals has thirteen (13) circuits which cover most states except the District of Columbia. The federal system also has specialty courts such as the Court of Federal Claims and the United States Tax Court.
Democracy has been the root of a limited government, the system of which government powers are distributed so that one group of leaders do not have too much influence. The limited government has been structured to keep peace amongst all parties that are involved in the government. And under the U.S. Constitution, citizens are given ultimate power by their right to choose their representatives through the democratic process of voting. Each levels of the government are limited as they have their own responsibilities. The city government has the most local level of government as the residents elect a city council and mayor to represent their interest at the city level. All city governments establish housing and health regulations, and are responsible