Revised Study Guide for the 2306 Final

Here is a – purposely - vague guide to what might be on the final next week for lecture GOVT 2306 classes.

voter turnout
education funding
the 2016-2017 Texas budget
the presidential preference primary
special districts
party con
public integrity unit
the regular session of the Texas legislature
the plural executive
state-wide office holders
Article 4 of the U.S. Constitution
the pros and cons of an elected judiciary
debt in Texas
basic facts about the Texas Constitution
the Texas Bill of Rights
the function of counties
the leaders of the Texas Legislature
the powers of the Texas Speaker
elected and appointed positions in the executive branch
popular sovereignty
public schools
the role of cities
the chief elections officer
initiative elections
the Voting Rights Act
the formal and informal powers of the Texas Governor
the content of the Texas Constitution
voter eligibility in Texas
the Texas Declaration of Independence
suffrage in Texas
state powers defined in the U.S. Constitution
the general session of the Texas Legislature
primary elections in Texas
federal spending in Texas
the rainy day fund
the Texas CEO
the right to vote
the transition from Democratic to Republican rule in Texas
limits on the powers of government in the Texas Constitution
mayor-council forms of government
independent school districts
state powers under the U.S. Constitution
chief elections officers
basic facts about the Texas House and Senate
the reserved powers
sources of revenue in Texas
selection of general election candidates
the budgetary process
managing elections in the state
the voter registration process
drawing legislative districts
the powers of the speaker and lieutenant governor
the bill making process
the temporary party organization
term limits in Texas
the design of the State Board of Education
strong / weak mayor
city managers
the design of area city governments
the Voting Rights Act
gerrymandering
Smith v. Allwright
political culture
local government
the powers of the members of the plural executive
parties in the Texas Legislature
the relationship between the state and national governments
primary elections in Texas
the line item veto
outlaws
the role of counties
the role of cities
spending in Texas
the role of the comptroller
the governor’s influence on the legislative process
debt in Texas
amendments to the Texas Constitution
county officials
the role of states in the federal system

Main points from 2306

For our review of a semester's worth of material today:

• The need for public education was written into both the Texas Declaration of Independence and the 1876 Texas Constitution. It explains why you have to take this class.
• The precise role of the states within the national governing systems was fluid from 1776 to 1789.
• In the U.S. Constitution delegates from the original states gave up some their claims to national powers.
• The U.S. Constitution carves out specific roles for the state to play in running elections and provides guarantees and obligations for them. It also establishes that new states can be formed and that they are to be organized into republics.
• With few exceptions, the United States Constitution allows the states to pass whatever policies it chooses.
• However, the Texas Constitution – independently – places limits on policymaking in the state.
• Most of the states after the original 13 were US territories prior to becoming states.
• Texas was never a US territory. This explains why it controls so much of its land.
• Expansion westward happened almost immediately after the Constitutional was ratified. By mid-century, all the territory that would become the lower 48 was acquired.
• The U.S. Constitution says nothing about cities.
• The precise relationship between the state and nation governments has been debated ever since.
• This involves debates over the meaning of the commerce and equal protection clauses among many others.
• Conflicts over those two clauses form the heart of the conflict between Texas and the national government.
• Major periods of expansion of national power over the states include the post Civil War era, The New Deal and the Great Society.
• The people who populated Texas came primarily from Southern, protestant slave states. This created conflict with the Mexican government.
• Political culture still helps explains the conflict between Texas and the national government.
• The state of Texas had several constitutions between 1824 and 1876. Each was a reflection on the politics and circumstances of that era.
• The Texas Constitution is quite long and detailed due to the amount of times it has been amended.
• The structure of the Texas Constitution is designed to place specific limits on what the state government can do.
• The design of Texas government – and the ideas Texans have about the relationship between government and the people – was heavily influence by the Jacksonian movement.
• The Texas Bill of Rights provides a more explicit set of guarantees of individual rights to Texans than the US Bill of rights.
• Cities are primarily economic entities, political entities second once they are granted governing authority by the state.
• Cities do not have an independent sovereign status – they exist because states allow them to.
• Counties serve as administrative units of the state.
• County officials elected locally.
• Key positions in all three branches of government in Texas are elected – this creates problems for the separation of powers in the state.
• The Texas Legislature only meets in session briefly every two years.
• Texas legislators are expected to hold other jobs or positions.
• There are significant limits placed on spending in the state, including pay as you go requirements that can only be surpassed if allowed by a constitutional amendment.
• Executive power in the state is divided into separately elected positions in order to distribute power.
• The Texas Governor is argued to be among the weaker among the states.
• Texas elects its judges – this is alleged to have consequences since judges need campaign contributions in order to run successful.
• Each state is in charge of its own election rules.
• These rules include the ability to regulate political parties and primary elections.
• Texas has open primaries – voters do not register as members of a political party.
• The national government can hear challenges to election rules based on the Voting Rights Act – which rests its authority on the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
• - The U.S. government had no authority over suffrage until the 15th Amendment.
• - Texas has a tendency to be dominated by one political party.
• - Policymaking in the states – Texas included – tend to focus on the “police powers.”