The State Of The Texas Constitution

The 1876 Texas State constitution is the basic framework of today’s legislature it consists of three branches the legislative branch which is comprised of the house and senate, and the executive and judiciary branch. In the following paragraphs we will discuss the Texas legislature’s major responsibilities relative to checks and balances.

Texas has been through a lot of changes and constitutions. After constants debates of what the constitution should be, the current Texas constitution was established in 1876 and is the 7th constitution Texas has had. It created 3 branches of government: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The current constitution has great qualities, but it also contains a lot of weaknesses that shouldn’t be ignored for the sake of pride.

The state of Texas has had six constitutions. The constitution that took effect on February 15, 1876 is the current one still used today. 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

Despite, all of the revisions the Texas Constitution still has its strengths and weaknesses. The strengths it has a clear definition of restrictions on what government officials can and can’t do. It has the Bill of

All three branches of the government contain a crucial role in creating laws step by step. The checks and balances make sure that each branch does not overpower the other branches. For example, the governor is allowed to call special sessions if some important items still need to be discussed for the legislative after the regular sessions. The governor also has the authority to veto a law, but it could be overridden by the legislature with a two-thirds vote. The judicial branch makes sure that the other two branches fulfill their duties properly. Also the judges can be impeached by the legislature as well as the governor from the Senate. These three branches of the Texas government are responsible for running the government with laws: the legislative, executive, and the judiciary.

The Texas Legislature has powers either by non-legislative power or legislative power. The legislative power includes power that can be passed by bills and resolutions, and non-legislative powers by functions falling outside the lawmaking function. In general the Texas Legislatures responsibilities are to set public policy by passing bills and resolutions. It supervises the state bureaucracy through the budgetary process and the Sunset Act, this act provides review and termination of state agencies. The Texas Constitution sets Legislative power in two houses, a Senate of 31 members and a House of Representatives of no more than 150 members. The Texas Constitution stipulates the terms of the office and qualifications, for example House members

To assess how well the government of Texas meets the needs of its citizens we first must look at the document that delegates power to the state government and outlines the rules

In the beginning, it began as Texas became a state in 1845 with the separation of powers. According to Texas constitution “ The powers of the Government of the State of Texas shall be divided into three distinct departments, each of which shall be confided to a separate body of magistracy, Those which are Legislative to one; those which are Executive to another, and those which are Judicial to another; and no person, or collection of persons, being of one of these departments, shall exercise any power properly attached to either of the others, except in the instances herein expressly permitted.” (Article 2 Sec 1). The purpose of this is because they want to disperse the power in-between the people in power. Also, to give power to the people especially at a local level and in their

One major cutback in power for the governor in Texas is the fact that the governor, and lieutenant governor, must share their power with four department heads. These department heads are elected officials. Another way the governor’s power is limited is by a need for a two-thirds majority from each house of the legislature to remove a judge. It is almost like the framers of the 1876 Constitution did not trust the previous governor to run government with righteous intent. They made the chief executive work within and out of government to accomplish agendas. Moving on to the legislative branch, this branch of government was reduced in power and authority in ways similar to the governor. Salaries were lowered and terms were reduced, at least for Representatives. However, even Senators must randomly choose at least half of their members to receive only a two-year term. Perhaps the reason for this is to give legislators some time to get experience about the legislative process and yet also have fresh ideas and agendas. Most likely the most prominent way the legislature is leashed back is the biennial legislative sessions. This allows government to be slower when dealing with issues and was conceived for that express purpose by the framers of the 1876 Constitution. In the individualistic tradition, people should take care of themselves and not relay on legislators to make new laws to try to fix whatever problems people have. Lastly, the judicial branch. The judicial

Texas and California are two states in the US that are comparable in terms of their population, resources, size, economy and constitution. The Texas Constitution is the foundation of the statehood of Texas within which the government operates in the same way that U.S. constitution governs the affairs of the whole country with its allocated power. The Texas constitution has a huge influence on the daily lives of Texans Possibly even more than the U.S. Constitution. Although all states have its own constitution, Texas and California have different ways in which they gained their constitution. Like most state in the U.S. The state of California gained its constitution after the civil war, the constitution was ratified in 1879 and It is similar to the Texas constitution in many ways. Both constitutions are founded on the unanimous vote of its people and are grounded by the rule of

The U.S. constitution and the Texas constitution have similarities and differences. Both constitutions have a Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is a summary of the rights given to all people. These constitutions also talk about suffrage and taxes. Just like how both of these constitutions have similarities, they also have differences. The Texas constitution is longer than the U.S. constitution and discusses the rights first. It also deals with state and local issues not brought up in the U.S. constitution. Both constitutions have a Bill of Rights, but the Texas constitution discusses citizens’ rights at the beginning of article one. The Texas Bill of Rights has the same protections for citizens like the U.S. Bill of Rights does, but the Texas Bill of Rights extends beyond federal protections. The executive branch is the branch that the president is in charge of. The definition of the executive branch is “The branch of federal and state government that is broadly

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.

The constitution mandates the legislators to hold biennial sessions; however, the governor also has the constitutional power to call for special or emergency sessions. Accordingly, the constitution empowers the legislators to amend the constitution, set policies, and also manage all state run institutional affairs. As mentioned in the first question, the constitution empowers the legislators to conduction processes such as legislative oversight and constituent functions, which are necessary whenever it comes to the implementation of government policies and programs. In a nutshell, the constitution of Texas simply provides a means for the legislators to follow the law especially when it comes to performing critical functions of the

The fourth power is the power to appoint reps to conference committee. The fifth power is the power to recognize points of orders/amendments. The sixth and last power is the power to interpret procedural rules. However, all the power is concentrated with the leaders of the House and Senate respectively. All the other power is held when the individual legislators get to vote or act in defiance. Within the Texas House of Representatives and the Senate there are power restraints. The presiding officers may have all the power, however, their power is balanced and checked. This is similar to the Judicial, Executive and Legislative branches of our federal government because they all balance the power within each other. Presiding officers can have their power checked by the governor threatening to veto, not support, or simply gut the bill taking away its teeth. Another way a presiding officer can get his power limited is by group efforts to solve issues of getting bills passed or even block them in the house or senate.The political/economical ambition of the Texas Governor, those beneath him, or of those found in the legislative bodies, is another way of power

The Texas Government is composed of three branches, the executive, legislative, and judicial branch, similar to the federal government. Each branch has its own duties and ways to check the other branches as to ensure no one has too much, or all, the power. The executive branch contains the governor, lieutenant governor, the secretary of state, attorney general, and several other commissioners and executives. The legislative branch contains the Texas House of Representative and the Texas Senate. The Judicial branch contains the Texas Supreme Court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and many other districts, counties, and appeals courts. The federal government operates under a similar separation of power and has done so since the