GOVT 2306 Review One
The governor of Texas's salary is ________ per year.
$150,000
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?
$28,200
In addition to a preamble and appendix, how many articles are contained in the Texas Constitution?
17
As of 2014, Hispanics made up about ________ percent of the state's population.
39
As of 2014, white non-Hispanics made up about ________ percent of the state's population.
44
The strict procedural rules that govern courts:
Allow them to initiate policies
Which executive-level office serves as chief counsel to the governor and state agencies?
Attorney General
Which region of the state is known primarily for its production of citrus fruits and vegetables?
Border area
Which of the following is a national government power and NOT a state power?
Declare war
A murder case would most likely first be tried in a/an:
District court
How often does reapportionment and redistricting of seats occur in the House of Representatives?
Every 10 years
What office was created under the 1836 constitution to administer state-owned land?
General Land Office
In 2014, ________ was elected Attorney General of Texas.
Greg Abbott
Who is the current Governor of Texas?
Greg Abbott
Which of the following statements about reapportionment is NOT accurate?
It redraws the congressional district boundaries within the state.
Judges appointed by governors are typically:
More competent and less responsive
All Texas judges are selected by partisan elections EXCEPT:
Municipal judges
What is the primary attribute voters use to select judges?
Name familiarity
Judges must base their decisions only on the federal and state constitutions, statutes, and earlier court decisions. This concept is called:
Objectivity
Which state pays its governor the highest salary?
Pennsylvania
Texas is an example of a plural executive system because:
Power is divided among several elected officials
Why are state constitutions amended more frequently than the U.S. Constitution?
State constitutions deal with a wider range of functions.
What is the main reason why early petitions by the Republic of Texas to join the United States were rejected?
There was controversy over Texas becoming a slave state.
Which of the following characterizes the evolution of the political climate in Texas over the past 50 years?
While partisanship has shifted, ideology has remained relatively constant
To be eligible to run for the Texas House you must
be at least 26 years of age.
Which of the following defines tenure of office?
both the ability of elected officials to succeed themselves and the term length
Most of the work of the attorney general involves ________ rather than ________.
civil law; criminal law
Which of the following is NOT among the powers of the speaker of the house in the Texas House of Representatives?
committee chair appointment
What are the two kinds of county courts?
constitutional county courts and county courts at law
What does the Texas Constitution contain that the U.S. Constitution does not?
equal rights amendment
The system that provides for a sharing of powers between the national government and the state governments is known as
federalism.
The "carpetbagger's constitution" reversed which right of whites who had participated in the Civil War?
habeas corpus
Because of high levels of controversy surrounding redistricting, about a dozen states use this method of redistricting:
independent commissions.
In any given legislative session, most bills
make only minor changes to existing law.
Between 1900 and 1950, what was the primary factor that accelerated the demographic shift from a rural society to an urban society in Texas?
oil
Which of the following elements dominated the land-based economy of post-Reconstruction Texas and is/are still important today?
oil, cotton, and cattle
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?
oversight
Except in the state of Delaware, two steps are involved in changing constitutions:
proposal of amendments and citizen approval.
In 1984, many incumbent Democratic judges lost their seats in large urban counties to unknown Republican challengers because of
straight ticket voting.
Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution contains the ________ clause establishing the U.S. Constitution as the law of the land that no federal or state law may violate.
supremacy
The merit system used to identify and select judges is also known as
the Missouri system.
Which office created in 1876 functions as the chief fiscal and revenue forecasting office and is responsible for investing state funds?
the comptroller of public accounts
In a large majority of the states, the legislature can override the governor's veto with a ________ vote in each house.
two-thirds
The Texas legislature can override the governor's general veto with a ________ vote in each house.
two-thirds
Most countries in the world have a ________ form of government.
unitary