The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document representing the structure and function of the Texas government. The current Constitution took effect on February 15, 1876 and is the sixth Constitution in the history of Texas. When first constructed, the Texas Constitution was a poorly organized document that did not explain clearly the responsibility for government actions. Since its conception (through June 2011), there have been 646 proposed amendments and 476 adopted amendments added to this document. The Texas Constitution is also highly restrictive; it only grants enumerated powers to the State of Texas and does not allow for implied powers. The constant change to this Constitution has added to its poor organized condition that is extremely difficult to understand, even by the courts. The amendment process for the Texas Constitution is basic in that, there is only one way to propose and ratify an amendment. A two-thirds majority vote of both the Houses is required to propose an amendment and ratification is executed through a statewide public vote. Once an amendment 's proposed, the legislature sets a date for the election of the proposed amendment. . Before the election takes place, it is mandated that at least three months out from the vote all counties in Texas must publish the proposed amendment once a week for four weeks in a newspaper. Once it is time to vote, general elections are used (whenever possible) throughout the state to avoid the expense of
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
The United States Constitution and Texas Constitution are similar, but not indistinguishable. The constitution was made to prevent tyranny in the states from the idea of the Federalists who wanted to build a strong form of government that gave people rights without giving their representatives too much power. Additionally, both constitutions form a bicameral form of government, a House of Representatives, and a Senate. The Federalists wanted a strong central government to help the economic and social tensions; however, the Anti-Federalist feared the elite. Based on that, the purpose for a government was to protect liberty, which meant the reason for writing the constitution was to enable the government with certain limitations; that way the citizens would have rights by electing representatives. The most significant differences are the importance of why the constitutions were formed, the functions of the unitary or plural representation executives and the limited ability of the legislative power.
The amendments can be ratified by a simple majority of the people. Every 20 years, the people of the state are asked if a constitutional convention needs to be called to amend the constitution. A convention is called if majority of the people vote on having a convention. The Texas Constitution can be amended if two-thirds of members in both houses of the state legislature propose it, and the majority of the people vote on it in an election. Just like the Constitution of Maryland, the Texas amendments can be ratified by a simple majority of the people. Unlike Maryland, Texas is one of the six states that do not hold constitutional conventions
We follow regulations everyday of our lives. Whether it be making a complete stop at a stop sign, paying our taxes, or refraining ourselves from cutting off the tag of a mattress. It’s important to know what rules we and our elected officials are held accountable for. Being aware and knowing the difference between the United States and Texas Constitution allows citizens to be apprehensive of what is happening in our government. The topics on the amending and impeachment system and the Judicial and Executive Branch grant insight of the proceedings in our governments.
The Texas Constitution was amended in 1993, during Governor William P. Clements’ second administration, to prohibit a state income tax. Therefore, any such proposal would have serious difficulties passing both chambers of the legislature and then it would be subject to ratification through a statewide referendum. Texas’ lack of a state income tax seems to have enhanced its economy vitality with this approach. It also lacks a corporate income tax, which is not prohibited by the Constitution. Texas is one of seven
Moreover, it is full of nonessential, and unorganized legislations that have since become outdated and invalidated, and this should be ratified by being rewritten in a more clear, to-the-point, and modernized manner so that the Texas legislating process can function more efficiently and effectively. In addition, the lack of time the Texas Constitution allocates for the Texas House and Senate to meet in correlation with the demands of such a vastly populated state, is beyond outdated, and calls for modification. Moreover, the small salaries these members receive also unduly limits the attention our Executive Branch members can direct towards their responsibilities to Texas and its citizens. Furthermore, although it is important to put some limitations on the power of government, the extreme limitations that the Texas Constitution places on the Legislative and Executive branches unnecessarily impedes the Texas legislating
The U.S. Constitution and Texas Constitution have numerous differences. As mentioned in our textbook, key differences between the two constitutions include how frequently they are amended, the difficulty of the court system, flexibility with allowing the government to act, and the strength of office. The U.S constitution is rarely amended, with a relatively simple court system. It is also more flexible with allowing the government to act, while maintaining presidency as a strong office. While, the Texas constitution is amended frequently, with a complex and confusing court system and weak governorship office.
The word constitution means fundamental law, law determining the fundamental political principles of a government. The U.S Constitution is the fundamental law for the United States, which means the Texas Constitution the fundamental law for the state of Texas. Most constitutions for the states are back up by the U.S Constitution, which means the two constitutions have similarities and differences. First, Texas constitution was written in 1827 and was rewritten six times until the Texas constitution of 1876 was passed down. There are many similarities and differences when comparing and contrasting the constitutions of Texas and New York constitutions.
Texas v U.S. Constitution The United States Constitution compared to the Texas Constitution has many differences of course one being for the entire nation and the other just for Texas citizens (The Texas Constitution). Also some of the other differences are the two were based on two different historical circumstances (The Texas Constitution). The United States Constitution was based on the early Article of Confederations and was to empower the government from its weakness the American government struggled from (The Texas Constitution). The Texas Constitution is the complete opposite of that, it is based on the power for the people and not the government (The Texas Constitution).
The law bicameral: Two houses make up the Texas legislature. 150 deputies and 31 senators met for 140 days in odd numbered years. The founders did not go the way of the traditional aristocracy, but favored a bicameral legislature through great compromise. This effectively created two houses. Congress (the Senate), would have equal representation between countries. The house of representatives (lower house), will more accurately reflect the state's population. In case over spending bills requiring both chambers approve or pass a specific law, where the house is considered more partisan, has been awarded the following powers: The beginning of expenditure or collect money, the power to accuse the officials, and the power to elect the president
The legal framework of a government, which establishes its power and authority as well as the limits on that power is known as Constitution. The Texas Constitution is a legal structure within which government works in Texas as the US Constitution is the legal structure for our national government. Reasonably, even more than US Constitution, the Texas Constitution has an immediate and vast impact on the everyday lives of Texans. The final constitution of Texas was written in 1876 and, in 1875 a constitutional convention was called. The current constitution of the Texas is among the longest of the state constitution in the United States. The Texas constitution performs many important tasks. Although there are rights guaranteed to Texan in Texas constitution that go far beyond those of US constitution addressing issues related to Texans privates lives, there are some weakness that I would like to change if I were given the task of rewrite the Texas Constitution.
The U.S. constitution is brief and vague at the same time, Texas constitution is very long and detailed. For U.S. constitution, it gives flexibility to the federal government to interpret the constitution and make changes in the policies when in need, whereas, in Texas constitution, the government is already assigned what can be done in a given situation and it is very specific. If officials need to work outside of the constitution for public interest, officials will have to amend the constitution. The Texas constitution is very easy to amend but it is the process of amendment that makes it tougher, but U.S. constitution is tough to amend. In the Texas constitution, Bill of Rights is the very first article but in the U.S. constitution, Bill
A constitution is defined as the system of fundamental principles according to which a nation, state, or those of such nature are governed. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law over our nation as a set of rules in which our country is run. In addition to following the rules of the national constitution Texas also has its own constitution as wall as every other state’s; Texas’s is among the longest. Similarly to the United States Constitution, the structure and function of the government is described throughout, although in this case it is specifically addressed to the state of Texas. Originally this document was initially adopted in 1876, currently the document consist of a preamble seventeen articles and
The Texas Constitution, written in 1876, is the second longest state constitution in the nation (Texas GOVT 2306- Week 3 Texas Constitution). The first section of the wordy Constitution is the preamble, followed by sixteen articles divided into subsections. The material in the document can be broadly described as “details of policy and governmental organization” (Newell et al.