Identify the three branches of Texas government and describe their functions.
Texas was admitted as the 28th State back on 29 December 1845. This was nine years after its secession from Mexico in 1836. The current constitution of Texas was adopted in the year 1876 (“Texas State Government at a Glance, n.d.”).
As a result, the Texas’ government operates under its Constitution, which comprises a type of unitary democracy for its state government, one that uses the Dillon Rule in addition to governments both at the municipal and county levels (“Abbott, n.d.”). The Constitution of Texas divides the power of state movement into three specific departments namely the legislative, executive and judicial (“Texas State Government at a Glance, n.d.”).The terms laid out in the Constitution stipulate that no individual in any of the three mentioned department can exercise power in conjunction with another of the three departments unless the Constitution authorized that person to do so (“Texas State Government at a Glance, n.d.”).
Executive: Often this branch/department is seen as pluralistic due to the fact that numerous offices within this department of government are directly elected by voters in Texas (“Texas State Government at a Glance, n.d.”). The Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Comptroller of Public Accounts, the Commissioner of the General Land Office, the Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner and the Secretary of State all make up the Executive branch; all of these individuals are elected, but not the Secretary of State as the Governor appoints this person. The State Board of Education as well as the three Commissioners who work for the Railroad Commission is also elected State officials. There is also a compliance/regulatory division that is in charge of certain transportation, public utilities as well as the gas and oil industry (“About America: How the United States is governed, n.d.”). This executive branch limits gubernatorial powers. All executive officials are elected and are answerable to the public, and not to the Governor(“Abbott, n.d.”).
This is the case because many of the officials are elected and the governor’s powers are limited in comparison to governors in other States or even then President of the United States of America. The lieutenant governor is in charge of the Senate and also is responsible for appointing its committees also has more power than the governor (“The Powers of Government, n.d.”). The governor is in charge of the state’s militia and has the power to veto bills the legislature passed and can also call special legislatives sessions; this is an exclusive gubernatorial power and can be used as often as the governor deems necessary. The governor is responsible for appointing different members of executive boards as well as between elections full judicial vacancies (“About America: How the United States is governed, n.d.”).
Legislative: The House of Representative and Senate possess the legislative power, and together they form the State legislature. There are about 150 members in the House of Representatives who for two terms are elected; two years each and 31 members of the Senate who serve a term of four years (“About America: How the United States is governed, n.d.”). Senatorial redistricting occurs every 10 years, after this, each member must run in order to be re-elected. At that time member draw lots, giving 15 of those Senators permissions to serve two years and the other 16 to serve four terms(“About America: How the United States is governed, n.d.”). In the House of Representatives, proceedings are presided over by a person called ‘Speaker of the House’, who also is a selected member if the House of Representative, selected by his/her peers, and proceedings within the Senate run by the Lieutenant Governor, who also is elected by a vote from the entire state (“About America: How the United States is governed, n.d.”). Sessions in the Legislature run every two years in the odd number years and cannot exceed 140 days in length. The Governor may convene legislative sessions at any time. Special sessions cannot exceed 30 days and can only focus on subjects that the governor designates (“The Powers of Government, n.d.”).
Judicial: In Texas, the judicial branch is responsible for adjudicating and enforcing law that overlap local, state and federal jurisdictions (“About America: How the United States is governed, n.d.”). There are two types of Supreme Courts; the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Supreme Court of Texas (“About America: How the United States is governed, n.d.”). The first court deals with criminal matter and the Supreme Court focuses on civil cases and cases involving youth offenders There is one Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals, but there are 14 courts of appeals, numerous district and lower courts , which all have judicial powers vested in them. The Supreme Court is called the court of last resort in all cases except for criminal cases, and also has primary rule over issues brought against state officials regarding certain issues (“Texas State Government at a Glance, n.d.”). The Court of Criminal Appeals has primary jurisdiction over criminal cases. Judges and justices in all types of courts throughout Texas are also elected officials. Members of the Supreme Court are elected to a six-year term and a four-year term is reserved for judges in the lower courts(“The Powers of Government, n.d.”). Texas judicial system is seen as the most complex throughout the Unites States due to its many jurisdictions and layers.
In your essay, please specify the current leaders of each branch of Texas government
Greg Abbott is Governor, Dan Patrick is Lieutenant Governor, Ken Paxton is the Attorney General , Glenn Hegar is the Comptroller, George P. Bush is the Land Commissioner, Sid Miller is the Agriculture Commissioner , Christi Craddick, David Porter and Ryan Sitton are the Railroad Commissioners is the Railroad Commissioner.
Identify ways in which each branch of Texas government can exercise a check on each of the other branches.
The concept of ‘Checks and Balances’ refers to each department of Texas government giving each other some power to be used in the form of a checks on the actions of the other department, preventing them from being too independent to a degree of each other (“Checks and Balances: Internal Constraints on Government Power, n.d.”). Each of these branches possesses levels of checks or control over the other two (“Seven Basic Principles Preserving Liberty: The Texas Constitution, n.d.”).
The Texas House of Representatives has the power to impeach any of the executive officers in the state such as the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and judges of Texas District Courts as well as higher courts as granted to them by Article XV (“Seven Basic Principles Preserving Liberty: The Texas Constitution, n.d.”). The Article also grants the members of the Senate the power to try any person whom the House impeaches (“Seven Basic Principles Preserving Liberty: The Texas Constitution, n.d.”). In addition, Article IV states that each bill that passes through both the Senate and the House of Representative should receive approval from the Governor” (“Seven Basic Principles Preserving Liberty: The Texas Constitution, n.d.”). Article IV also gives the Governor permission to veto one or more items of an appropriations bill and approving the rest of the bill at the same time (“Seven Basic Principles Preserving Liberty: The Texas Constitution, n.d.”). In Article III, Section 33 provides it states that all bills created with the purpose of raising revenues should always and only originate in the House of Representatives, however, the Senate may also reject and amend them as other types of bills(“Seven Basic Principles Preserving Liberty: The Texas Constitution, n.d.”).
Reference Page
Abbott, Greg. “Restoring the Rule of Law: With States Leading the Way”, n.d. Web. 02 July 2016
About America: How the United States is governed, n.d. Web. 02 July 2016
Checks and Balances: Internal Constraints on Government Power, n.d. Web. 02 July 2016
Texas State Government at a Glance, n.d. Web. 02 July 2016
The Powers of Government, n.d. Web. 02 July 2016
The Texas Constitution, n.d. Web. 02 July 2016
Seven Basic Principles Preserving Liberty: The Texas Constitution, n.d. Web. 02 July 2016
