Gov Review 1

278,324

Texas has ____ full-time state government employees.

Power is divided among several elected officials

Texas is an example of a plural executive system because:

right to vote

The "carpetbagger's constitution" reversed which right of whites who had participated in the Civil War?

Adopting progressive reforms into its own platform

The Democratic Party was able to retain power during the Progressive Era by:

oversight

The House Insurance Committee is hearing testimony from the Texas Department of Insurance about the effectiveness of recent procedural changes within the department. Which legislative function is this committee demonstrating?

property rights for women

The Spanish constitutions contributed what key element to the political climate of Texas?

both registered voters and licensed drivers

The Texas Government Code allows jurisdictions to draw upon which source(s) for jury selection?

two-thirds

The Texas legislature can override the governor's general veto with a ________ vote in each house.

be at least 26 years of age.

To be eligible to run for the Texas Senate you must

constitutional county courts and county courts at law

What are the two kinds of county courts?

equal rights amendment

What does the Texas Constitution contain that the U.S. Constitution does not?

$28,200

What is the pay of a member of the Texas legislature, taking into account salary and per diem compensation, in a year that the legislature is in session?

Name familiarity

What is the primary attribute voters use to select judges?

Intergovernmental coordinator

When a governor coordinates activities with other state government, he or she is fulfilling the role of:

Attorney General

Which executive-level office serves as chief counsel to the governor and state agencies?

Commissioner of the General Land Office

Which executive-level officer administers state-owned land and coastal lands?

election by the legislature

Which method of judicial selection is a system left over from colonial America?

While partisanship has shifted, ideology has remained relatively constant

Which of the following characterizes the evolution of the political climate in Texas over the past 50 years?

both the ability of elected officials to succeed themselves and the term length

Which of the following defines tenure of office?

having previously held elected office

Which of the following informal qualifications for governor is nearly universal in Texas?

appoint judges

Which of the following is NOT a power of the Texas legislature?

registered voter

Which of the following is NOT among the formal qualifications for the office of governor in Texas?

appoints all members of standing committees

Which of the following is NOT among the powers of the speaker of the house in the Texas House of Representatives?

Declare war

Which of the following is a national government power and NOT a state power?

The legislator wants to avoid public scrutiny

Which of the following is the most likely reason a legislator would attach a closed rider to a bill?

the comptroller of public accounts

Which office created in 1876 functions as the chief fiscal and revenue forecasting office and is responsible for investing state funds?

traditionalistic

Which political subculture was a natural extension of the practice of slavery?

Border area

Which region of the state is known primarily for its production of citrus fruits and vegetables?

Pennsylvania

Which state pays its governor the highest salary?

Governor

Who calls a special session in Texas?

Rick Perry

Who was the first Texas governor to be elected to three consecutive four-year terms?

State constitutions deal with a wider range of functions.

Why are state constitutions amended more frequently than the U.S. Constitution?

plural executive system

Why is the Texas governor's power exceptionally weak as compared to that of the governors of some other states?

moralistic

A belief that government is a positive instrument for change and a means for promoting the general welfare of all citizens defines which political subculture?

Senate

According to Table 3.6, in your textbook, does the Texas House or Senate have a greater proportion of Safe Republican seats?

Fourteenth

After World War I, the Supreme Court required states to adhere to basic protections in the Bill of Rights through the use of clauses in the ________ Amendment.

Municipal judges

All Texas judges are selected by partisan elections EXCEPT:

independent commissions

Because of high levels of controversy surrounding redistricting, about a dozen states use this method of redistricting:

oil

Between 1900 and 1950, what was the primary factor that accelerated the demographic shift from a rural society to an urban society in Texas?

85

Between 1975 and 2013, the Texas legislature proposed 299 amendments for voter approval, and of these, voters accepted ________ percent.

Courts cannot initiate policy changes

Courts differ from legislatures in that:

5

Discussion of the judicial department is in Article ____ of Texas Constitution

proposal of amendments and citizen approval.

Except in the state of Delaware, two steps are involved in changing constitutions:

A lawyer

Given the demographic makeup of the Texas legislature, which of the following people would be most likely to hold a seat?

9

How many justices are on the Texas Supreme Court?

Every 10 years

How often does reapportionment and redistricting of seats occur in the House of Representatives?

straight ticket voting.

In 1984, many incumbent Democratic judges lost their seats in large urban counties to unknown Republican challengers because of

two-thirds

In a large majority of the states, the legislature can override the governor's veto with a ________ vote in each house.

17

In addition to a preamble and appendix, how many articles are contained in the Texas Constitution?

make only minor changes to existing law.

In any given legislative session, most bills

senatorial courtesy

In the process known as ________, the governor must clear his or her appointments with the state senator from the appointee's home district.

Objectivity

Judges must base their decisions only on the federal and state constitutions, statutes, and earlier court decisions. This concept is called:

more than 4,000 acres

Mexican governments provided generous land grants to any family willing to settle in the state. The sitio or legua each family could receive was how large?

civil law; criminal law

Most of the work of the attorney general involves ________ rather than ________.

collect money for campaign contributions

Political Action Committees or PACs engage in activities such as

District court

A murder case would most likely first be tried in a/an:

A delegate

A voter who wants his representative to make decisions based solely on the will of the people desires which type of representative?

39

As of 2014, Hispanics made up about ________ percent of the state's population.

44

As of 2014, white non-Hispanics made up about ________ percent of the state's population.

43.5%; 15%

As of 2015, ________ of Texans identify as Hispanic or Latino while ________ of all judges in the state identify as Hispanic.

California

As of the 2010 census, there were about 811,147 constituents per state senate district in Texas. What is the only state that had more constituents per senator?

41

Based on efforts to increase minority representation in Texas, how many Hispanic legislators served in the Texas legislature in 2015?

1876

The current Texas Constitution was approved by voters in ________.

Limit the Power of the governor

The framers of the 1876 Texas constitution adopted a plural executive system in order to:

$150,000

The governor of Texas's salary is ________ per year.

males

The highest percentage of Texas inmates are

The level of conflict the bill is expected to generate within the legislature

The major criteria for distinguishing major from minor bills is:

the Missouri system

The merit system used to identify and select judges is also known as

Disallow evidence gathered in an illegal manner

The strict procedural rules that govern courts:

federalism.

The system that provides for a sharing of powers between the national government and the state governments is known as

when Texas and Mexico forces fought over a small six-pound canon

The war that led to the declaration of the Republic of Texas began