The Government of Texas consists of a state A U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of commonwealth rather than state. State citizenship is government A government is the organization, or agency through which a political unit exercises its authority, controls and administers public policy, and directs and controls the actions of its members or subjects, as well as governments at the county A county is a land area of local government within a country. A county may have cities and towns within its area. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count (conte, comte, conde, Graf) and municipal levels. Austin Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation from 2000 to 2006. According to the 2008 U.S. Census is the capital of Texas. The State Capitol The Texas State Capitol is located in Austin, Texas and is the fourth building in Austin to serve as the seat of Texas government. It houses the chambers of the Texas Legislature and the office of the governor of Texas. It was originally designed in 1881 by architect Elijah E. Myers, who was fired in 1886, and was constructed from 1882–88 under resembles the United States Capitol The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the Federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Though not in the geographic center of the District of Columbia, the Capitol is the origin by which the in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 effectively merged the City and the, but is faced in Texas pink granite and is topped by a statue of the "Statue of Liberty Liberty is the concept of ideological and political philosophy that identifies the condition to which an individual has the right to behave according to one's own personal responsibility and free will" holding aloft a five-point Texas star A pentagram is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes. The word pentagram comes from the Greek word πεντάγραμμον (pentagrammon), a noun form of πεντάγραμμος (pentagrammos) or πεντέγραμμος (pentegrammos), a word meaning roughly "five-lined" or "five lines". The capital is also notable for purposely being built seven feet taller than the U.S. national capital.[citation needed]
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Overview
Republican Rick Perry James Richard "Rick" Perry is an American politician. He is the 47th and incumbent Governor of Texas, having held the office since 2000. He is a member of the Republican Party has served as Governor of Texas The following is a list of the Governors of the State of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature. The governor may grant pardons since December 2000, when George W. Bush George Walker Bush ( /ˈdʒɔrdʒ ˈwɔːkər ˈbʊʃ/ ; born July 6, 1946) was the 43rd President of the United States, serving from 2001 to 2009, and the 46th Governor of Texas, serving from 1995 to 2000 vacated the office to assume the Presidency The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is one of only two nationally elected federal officers, the other being the Vice President of the United States. Two Republicans represent Texas in the U.S. Senate: Kay Bailey Hutchison Kathryn Ann Bailey Hutchison, known as Kay Bailey Hutchison , is the senior United States Senator from Texas. She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. The first woman to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate, Hutchison also became the first Texas U.S (since 1993) and John Cornyn John Cornyn III is the junior United States Senator from Texas. He is a Republican and was elected to his first term in November 2002, having defeated Democrat Ron Kirk, the former mayor of Dallas, Texas. In the general election of November 4, 2008, he defeated the Democratic State Representative Rick Noriega of Houston for his second term. He was (since 2002). Texas has 32 representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives: 20 Republicans and 12 Democrats.
Constitution
Main article: Texas Constitution The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that describes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. State of TexasThe Texas Constitution, adopted in 1876, is the second oldest state constitution still in effect. As with many state constitutions In the United States, each state has its own constitution, it explicitly provides for the separation of powers and incorporates its bill of rights directly into the text of the constitution (as Article I). The bill of rights is considerably lengthier and more detailed than the federal Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights is the name by which the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known. They were introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of articles, and came into effect on December 15, 1791, when they had been ratified by three-fourths of the States. An agreement to create the, and includes some provisions unique to Texas.
Executive branch
See also: List of Governors of Texas The following is a list of the Governors of the State of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature. The governor may grant pardons and List of Texas state agencies Architecture | Climate | Culture | Demographics | Economy | Education | Geography | Government | History | Languages | Literature | Politics | Sports | Texans | Transportation | Symbols | Visitor AttractionsTexas has a plural executive branch On the study of political science the executive branch of government has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the republican idea of the separation of powers system which limits the power of the Governor. Except for the Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Texas is one of six state officials designated by the Texas Constitution to form the executive department of that U.S. state. The Secretary of State is appointed by the Governor, with confirmation by the Texas Senate, and serves at the pleasure of the Governor, all executive officers are elected independently making them directly answerable to the public not the Governor.[1]
The executive branch consists of the Governor The following is a list of the Governors of the State of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature. The governor may grant pardons, Lieutenant Governor The Lieutenant Governor of Texas is the second-highest executive office in the government of Texas, a state in the U.S. It is the second most powerful post in Texas government because its occupant controls the work of the Texas Senate and controls the budgeting process as a leader of the Legislative Budget Board. The Lieutenant Governor assumes, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Land Commissioner, Attorney General The department has offices at the William P. Clements State Office Building at 300 West 15th Street in Austin, Agriculture Commissioner, the three-member Texas Railroad Commission The Railroad Commission of Texas is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and surface coal and uranium mining . Established by the Texas Legislature in 1891, the commission is the state's oldest regulatory agency, the State Board of Education, and the Secretary of State. The comptroller decides if expected state income is sufficient to cover the proposed state budget. There are also many state agencies and numerous boards and commissions. Partly because of many elected officials, the governor's powers are quite limited in comparison to other state governors or the U.S. President. In popular lore and belief the lieutenant governor, who heads the Senate and appoints its committees, has more power Power is a measure of an entity's ability to control the environment around itself, including the behavior of other entities. The term authority is often used for power, perceived as legitimate by the social structure. Power can be seen as evil or unjust, but the exercise of power is accepted as endemic to humans as social beings. Often, the study than the governor. The governor commands the state militia and can veto bills passed by the Legislature and call special sessions of the Legislature (this power is exclusive to the governor and can be exercised as often as desired). The governor also appoints members of various executive boards and fills judicial vacancies between elections.
All members of the executive branch are elected statewide except for the Secretary of State (appointed) and the State Board of Education (each of its 15 members are elected from single-member districts). Past executive branches have been split between parties. When Republican The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. The party's platform is generally considered right of center President George W. Bush George Walker Bush ( /ˈdʒɔrdʒ ˈwɔːkər ˈbʊʃ/ ; born July 6, 1946) was the 43rd President of the United States, serving from 2001 to 2009, and the 46th Governor of Texas, serving from 1995 to 2000 served as Texas's governor, the state's Lieutenant Governor, Bob Bullock Robert D. "Bob" Bullock was a Democratic politician from Texas, whose career spanned four decades. His service culminated in his term as Lieutenant Governor of Texas from 1991–1999 during the terms of Governors Ann Richards and George W. Bush, was a Democrat The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. It is one of the world's oldest political parties and boasts the lengthiest record of continuous operation in the United. However, since 1994 the Republican Party has won all statewide elections, and also holds a majority of the seats on the State Board of Education.
Legislature
Main article: Legislature of TexasThe Legislature of Texas, like the legislature of every other state except Nebraska Once considered part of the Great American Desert , Nebraska is now a leading farming and ranching state, is bicameral In government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses. Bicameralism is an essential and defining feature of the classical notion of mixed government. Bicameral legislatures tend to require a. The House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits. The House meets at the Texas Capitol in Austin has 150 members, while the Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing 31 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 672,000 per constituency. There are no term limits, and each term is four years long. The Senate meets at the Texas State Capitol in Austin. The Republicans has 31. The Speaker of the House, currently Joe Straus (R The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. The party's platform is generally considered right of center-San Antonio San Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventh-largest city in the United States with a population of 1.3 million. The city is the seat of Bexar County. Located in the American Southwest and the northern part of South Texas, San Antonio is the center of Tejano culture and Texas tourism.[citation needed] The city is) leads the House, and the Lieutenant Governor leads the Senate. The Legislature meets in regular session only once every two years. The Legislature cannot call itself into special session; only the governor may call a special session, and may call as many sessions as often as wanted.
Judicial system
Main article: Texas judicial system The structure of the Texas judicial system is laid out in Article 5 of the Texas Constitution, and is further defined under the Texas Government Code and, with regards to probate matters, under the Texas Probate CodeThe judicial system of Texas has a reputation[who?] as one of the most complex in the United States, with many layers and many overlapping jurisdictions.[citation needed] Texas has two courts of last resort: the Texas Supreme Court The Texas Supreme Court is the court of last resort for non-criminal matters in the state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is the court of last resort for criminal matters, which hears civil cases, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in the State of Texas, United States. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in the Downtown of the state capital, Austin, is composed of a Presiding Judge and eight Judges. Except in the case of some municipal benches, partisan elections choose all of the judges at all levels of the judiciary; the governor fills vacancies by appointment.
All members of the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals are elected statewide; since 1994, all 18 seats (nine on each court) have been held by the Republican Party.
County government
Map of Texas counties See also: List of Texas counties The state of Texas is divided into 254 counties, more than any other U.S. state. Texas was originally divided into municipalities, a unit of local government under Spanish and Mexican rule. When the Republic of Texas gained its independence in 1836, there were 23 municipalities, which became the original Texas counties. Many of these would laterTexas has a total of 254 counties, by far the most counties of any state.
Each county is run by a five-member Commissioners' Court Commissioners' Court is the governing body of county government in several US states, including Texas and Missouri. It is similar in function to a board of county commissioners consisting of four commissioners elected from single-member districts An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body. Not all political systems use separate districts to conduct elections; Israel and The Netherlands, for instance, conduct parliamentary elections as a single, nationwide entity. In contrast, the United Kingdom, (called precincts) and a county judge elected at-large At-Large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership. At-large voting is in contrast to voting by electoral districts. The county judge does not have authority to veto a decision of the commissioners court; the judge votes along with the commissioners. In smaller counties, the county judge actually does perform judicial duties, but in larger counties the judge's role is limited to serving on the commissioners court. Certain officials, such as the sheriff and tax collector, are elected separately by the voters, but the commissioners court determines their office budgets, and sets overall county policy. All county elections are partisan.
Counties also have much less legal power than municipalities. For instance, counties in Texas do not have zoning power (except in very rare circumstances). However, counties do have eminent domain Eminent domain , compulsory purchase (United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ireland), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Australia) or expropriation (South Africa and Canada's common law systems) is the inherent power of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary power. Counties do not have "home rule In the United Kingdom, it has traditionally referred to self-government, or devolution or independence, of constituent nations , and at one point Ireland. In the United States and other countries organized as federations of states, the term usually refers to the process and mechanisms of self-government as exercised by municipalities, counties, or" authority; whatever powers are not specifically granted by the state are not permitted (as an example, most counties have no authority to require property owners to maintain their lands free of weeds and trash).
Unlike other states, Texas does not allow for consolidated city-county governments. Cities and counties (as well as other political entities) are permitted to enter "interlocal agreements" to share services (as an example, a city and a school district may enter into agreements with the county whereby the county bills for and collects property taxes for the city and school district; thus, only one tax bill is sent instead of three).
Municipal government
Texas does not have townships; areas within a county are either incorporated or unincorporated. Incorporated areas are part of a city, though the city may contract with the county for needed services. Unincorporated areas are not part of a city; in these areas the county has authority for law enforcement and road maintenance.
Cities are classified as either "general law" or "home rule In the United Kingdom, it has traditionally referred to self-government, or devolution or independence, of constituent nations , and at one point Ireland. In the United States and other countries organized as federations of states, the term usually refers to the process and mechanisms of self-government as exercised by municipalities, counties, or". A city may elect home rule status (i.e., draft an independent city charter) once it exceeds 5,000 population and the voters agree to home rule. Otherwise, it is classified as general law and has very limited powers. One example of the difference in the two structures regards annexation Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity (either adjacent or non-contiguous). Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size. It can also imply a certain measure of coercion,. General law cities cannot annex adjacent unincorporated areas without the property owner's consent; home rule cities may annex without consent but must provide essential services within a specified period of time (generally within three years) or the property owner may file suit to be deannexed. Once a city adopts home rule it may continue to keep this status even if the population later falls below 5,000.
Larger cities (those exceeding 225,000) have a unique authority: that of "limited annexation", whereby an adjoining area may be annexed for purposes of imposing city ordinances related to safety and building codes. The residents can vote for mayor and council races but cannot vote in bond elections (and, consequently, the city cannot collect city sales tax A sales tax is a consumption tax charged at the point of purchase for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale. A portion of the sale may be exempt from the calculation of tax, because sales tax laws usually contain a list of exemptions. Laws governing the tax may from businesses or city property tax Property tax, or millage tax, is an ad valorem tax that an owner is required to pay on the value of the property being taxed. Property tax can be defined as "generally, tax imposed by municipalities upon owners of real property within their jurisdiction based on the value of such property." There are three species or types of property: from owners). The purpose of limited annexation is to allow the city to control development in an area that it eventually will fully annex; it must do so within three years (though it can arrange "non-annexation agreements" with local property owners). During each of the three years, the city must develop a land use plan (zoning, for example), identify needed capital improvements, and identify the financing for such improvements as well as to provide essential services.[2]
Municipal elections in Texas are nonpartisan in the sense that candidates do not appear on the ballot on party lines, and do not run as party tickets. However, a candidate's party affiliation is usually known or can be discerned with minimal effort (as the candidate most likely has supported other candidates on partisan tickets). In some instances, an informal citizen's group will support a slate of candidates that it desires to see elected (often in opposition to an incumbent group with which it disagreed on an issue). However, each candidate must be voted on individually.
School and special districts
In addition to cities and counties, Texas has numerous special districts. The most common is the independent school district, which (with one exception) has a board of trustees that is independent of any other governing authority. School district boundaries are not generally aligned with city or county boundaries; it is common for a school district to cover one or more counties or for a large city to be served by several school districts.
Other special districts include Groundwater Conservation Districts (regulatory agencies), river authorities, water supply districts (for irrigation or municipal supply), public hospitals, road districts and community colleges.
As with municipal elections in Texas, board members or trustees are elected on a nonpartisan basis or may be appointed.
The Texas Education Agency governs public education in Texas.
State agencies
Most state agencies are headquartered in Austin. Notable exceptions are the Texas Forest Service and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (which are headquartered in College Station)[3][4] and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (headquartered in both Austin and Huntsville, the latter being the home of the state's execution chamber).
See also
| Texas portal |
- United States Congressional Delegations from Texas
- Government Finance Officers Association of Texas (GFOAT)
References
- ^ () The Plural Executive, University of Texas at Austin, 2005, http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/html/exec/0900.html, retrieved 2008-05-07
- ^ "Limited Purpose Annexation" (PDF). SanAntonio.gov. http://www.sanantonio.gov/planning/Limited_Purpose_annexation_2004.pdf. Retrieved 2006-04-29.
- ^ "We found 6 TFS offices based on your search for College Station, TX (6).." Texas Forest Service. Accessed August 30, 2008.
- ^ "Contact Us." Texas Engineering Experiment Station. Accessed October 19, 2008.
External links
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Categories: Government of Texas | State governments of the United States
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