GOVT 2306 Final Review (BLINN)
What year is the current Texas constitution ratified?
1876
Texas has operated under how many constitutions?
7
Individuals who are elected to the Texas Legislature are eligible for a legislative retirement pension after how many years of service?
8
The Texas Bill of Rights included the right to a "republican government." What does this mean?
A government where officials are selected through the use of free and fair elections
The Texas Bill of Rights includes the right to a "republican government." What does this mean?
A government where officials are selected through the use of free and fair elections.
Which program was designed for undocumented individuals who have lived in the United States since 2010, and have children who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, in order to help them avoid immediate removal from the United States?
Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA)
In which 1989 cour case did the Texas Supreme Court unanimously declare that the huge disparities bwtween rich and under resourced school districts were unacceptable and order changes in the financing of Texas's public Schools?
Edgwood v. Kirby
Which of the following is found in the Texas Constitution, but not in the U.S. Constitution?
Equal Rights Amendment
The governor of Texas can use the line-item veto on any type of legislation.
FALSE
Unfunded mandates are used by the states to force the federal governemnt to implement the policy goals of the states.
FALSE
Houston is the second-largest city in the United States.
FALSE ( it is the 4th in U.S. and largest populated in Texas)
After reforms adopted in 2015, public schools in Texas are rated on a pass/fail system.
False
Districts for members of the Texas House include more people than districts for members of the Texas Senate.
False
In 2019 the Texas legislature created a state income tax in order to provide more equal school funding across Texas School Districts.
False
Like the U.S. president, the governor of Texas can kill a bill by refusing to sign it.
False
Nafta has created a free-trade market throughout North and South America.
False
Once you are certified as eligible to participate in Medicaid, your eligibility status cannot change.
False
Texas is known as a high tax state.
False
Texas's Rainy Day Fund is more properly known as the National Research University Fund.
False
The Texas House of Representatives is responsible for both impeaching government officials and holding the trials after impeachment.
False
The redistricting process only impacts the districts for the U.S. House of Representatives, not the Texas Legislature.
False
Everyone who entered into the United States before they turned 18 is eligible for DACA protections.
False (it is 16)
Texas's political life grew out of which region?
Gulf Coastal Plains
What impact did McCulloch v Maryland (1819) have on the powers of the federal government?
It expanded the federal government
Who dominated the secession convention of 1861?
Lawyers and slaveholders
In what way did President Biden establish a larger role for the federal government in responding to the coronavirus pandemic?
Mandating that masks be wornd on public transportation and on federal property. *
What made Spindletop, Texas Famous?
Oil was discovered there in 1901
Which of the following was included in the Texas State Constitution of 1845?
Ownership of all public lands and minerals under these lands remained with the state
Who is most likely to create an advertising campaign for or against a proposed constitutional amendment in Texas?
Political parties will mobilize their voters for all elections, including each and every sonstitutional amendment on the ballot.
What is the era of U.S. history after the Civil War, when much of the former Confederacy was under military occupation, best know as?
Reconstruction Era
Texas relies on _____________taxes more than any other source of revenue to fund the government.
Sales Tax
According to Article 4 of the Texas Constitution, each of the follwoing members of the plural executive are elected to their position except for the _________________ who is appointed by the governor and approved by the Texas Senate.
Secretary of state
The origins of ranching and the cattle industy in Texas extend back to the late___________centry.
Seventeenth
Which 2013 U.S. Supreme Court case struck down the formula for determining the states covered under the Section 5 preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
Shelby County v. Holder
Andrew Johnson's Presidential Reconstruction had which of these effects on the Texas Constitution of 1866?
Since many of the people writing the Constituion of 1866 were former secessionist, this document still reflected many of the same values of the Constitution of 1861, such as denying freed enslaved people the right to vote or the ability to hold public office.
Andrew Johnson's Presidential Reconstruction had which of these effects on texas Constitution of 1866?
Since many of the people writing the Constitution of 1866 were former secessionist, this document still reflected many of the same values of the Constituion of 1861, such as denying freed ensalved people the right to vote or the avility to hold public office. *
In the Texas Republican party, which of the follwoing groups is strting to challenge business groups for more influence?
Social Conservatives
When you pay your Texas motor vehicle registration fees, the money goes into which fund?
State Highway Fund
Prior to the New Deal, who was responsible for welfare programs?
State and local Government
Which component of government was created by the Constitution of 1869?
Strong Govenor's Offices
Indepenent state grounds allow for states to provide additional rights and guareantees for their citizens beyond those listed in the U.S. Constitution
TRUE
San Antonio is the second larges city in Texas.
TRUE
State retirement systems are addressed in Article 16 of the Texas Constituion.
TRUE
The Texas Bill of Rights guarantees the right to a republican form of government.
TRUE
The Texas Constitution lists reasons why judges in texas can be impeached, including for "habitual drunkenness."
TRUE
The Texas Constitution of 1876 created a plural executive, consisting of multiple elected executive officers.
TRUE
The Texas Constitution of 1876 created a plural executive, consiting of multiple elected executive officers.
TRUE
The University of Texas and Texas A&M Univeristy systems get large sums of money for their endowments fromoil and gas royalties.
TRUE
The boom era of fracking for oil and gas in Texas lasted from 1973 to 2006
TRUE
The bulk of Texas' Federal Funds expenditures is in two areas; health and human services and education.
TRUE
The majority of the urban population in Texas lives in the Interior Lowlands region.
TRUE
The most recent attempt to fully rewrite the Texas Constitution was in 1974.
TRUE
The first federal constitution that Texas operated under was the Mexican Constitution of 1824.
TRUE (*)
Which U.S. Supreme Court case ruled that any decisions made by Texas during the Civil War were null and void because Texas did not have a lawful government during that time?
Texas v. White
Who has responsibility for resistricting the legislative districts in Texas?
The Texas legislature treies first, but if it is unable to do so at the first regular session after the census, the job goes to the legislative redistricting board.
Which of the follwing fundementat ideals is a key component of both the Texas and United States constitutions?
The best way to prevent tyranny is to give each branch of government a little bit of control over other brances through the process of checks and balances.
Why is the comptroller of public accounts so important to the Texas legislature?
The comptroller informs the legislature how much money it hs ato spnd on the budget.
What is the laregest single source of revenue for the state of Texas?
The federal government
What happens if money needs to be transferred from one agency to another and the Texas legislature is not in session to authorize this transfer?
The governor can propose the transfer and the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) can approve the proposal.
One of the powers of both the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor is the appointment power. Who can they appoint?
They can assign members to standing committees and appoint the chairs to those committees.
Article 7 of the Texas Constitution covers the topic of Education. According to Article 7, what is the purpose of the State Board of Education?
To oversee the operations of elementary and secondary education throughout the state
Between 2001 and 2010, the majority of amendments to the Texas Constitution have been approved by voters.
True
One factor that works againist rationality is the fact that the government tends to work incrementally.
True
Public policy refers to the outputs of governmental institutions.
True
The "No Pass, No Play" rules were reformed in 1995 so that if a student failed a course, he or she must sit out of extracurricular activities for the next three weeks.
True
Under the public policy exception, states can decide that they don't want to fully implement federal laws that conflict with state laws.
True
Fractious federalsim developed due to low levels of partisan polarization.
True (?)
The generally accepted standard by which poverty is measured int he United States is the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poverty index.
The key issue at stake in Edgewood ISD v. Kirby was
Whether the phrase "an efficient system of free public schools' from the Texas Consitution could be fullfilled through funding by local property taxes.
Which of the following is the best definition of federalism?
a form of government where power is divided between regional governments and a central government
The Texas Constitution requires which of the follwoing for amending the state constitution?
a two-thirds vote in both houses of the state legislature and a majority vote from the voters of Texas.
The Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas (1824) created a unicameral legislature. How is a unicameral legislature different from a bicameral legislature?
a unicameral legislature has one house or chamber, while a bicameral legislature has two houses or chambers.
Special session of the Texas Legislature
are called because the legislature is unable to complete all of its required business in the allotted 140 days of its regular sessions. (?)
Based on information from the 2021 Kaiser Foundation study on state spending, the national average state spending per capita expenditure was $6,906. Where was Texas's average per capital expenditure according to this study?
below national average of about $4,600
In order to save time in the compressed legislative session,
bills are often introduced at the same time in both the Texas House and Texas Senate, in a process know as simultaneous consideration.
As federal regulations became more intrusive, forcing states to change their policies in order to meet national goals, some people began calling our system a ________ federalism.
coercive
La Raza Unida Party was established in the mid-1960's in order to
confront discriminatory practices that prevented Texas Latinos from participating in mainstream political and economic life.
Prior to the Texas Revolution, Spanish and Mexican leaders relied on ________________ to encourage to people to move to Texas.
empresarios or land grants *
Texas determines which children are eligible for reduced-price or free lunch at school based on
federal poverty guidelines
The agenda for special sessions in the Texas legislature are set by the
govenor
When the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Seneate pass different versions of similar bills, a confere3nce committte is established to reconcile the differences. Which of the following is true about conference committees for appropriations
if an item appears in both versions of the bill and has identical amounts of funding allocated in both versions of the bill, the conference committee may not change the allocation.
Fort Bliss and the city of El Paso, Texas worked together to create the world's largest
inland desalination plant, which provides fresh water to both the base and the city.
According to Article 5 of the Texas Constitution, how are judges selected?
judges are elected by the people
A bill in Texas Legislature that would allow a county to establish a new community college would be classified as a
local bill
Cooperative federalism is also known as
marble cake federalism
Which of these is a defining characteristic of federalism?
rather than being held exclusivly or primarly by one body, govverning authroity is divided at different levels between several bodies.
The Grange and Populist movements of the late nineteenth century were supported by which group?
tenant farmers
It was difficult for the national government of the United States to act under the Articles of Confederation because of all of the following EXCEPT,
the Congress had no ability to tax (?)
The motivation to rewrite the Texas Constitution in the 1970's came primarily from
the aftermath of a financial scandal
While the Texas Constitution does require that the state maintains a balanced budget, the state is allowed to carry debt as long as:
the debt payments are not more than 5 percent of the state's revenue.
In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendemtn right to "keep and bear arms" was a fundamental right and also applied at the state level. This is an example of:
the incorporation of the Bill of Rights.
In a representative democracy, such as the one established by the Texas Consitution, members of the legislature are elected to represent
the interest of their constituents
In theory, Texas has a dual-budget system, meaning the budget authority is shared by the governor and the legislature; however, in practice, the primary player(s) in the duget is/are
the legislature
Which of the following was passed by the U.S. Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850?
the present boundaries of Texas were established in exchange for a payment from the federal government. (???)
Which of the following was one of the goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconcilliation Act of 2010, commonly referred to as either the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare?
to increase access to health insurance coverage for people with preexisting conditions
Since 1850 there has been a marked shift of the population in Texas from rural to urban areas. This process is known as
urbanization
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was a program that
used federal and state funds to assist children who met certain qualification statndards and was replaced by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) progam in 1996.
During the 1980's a growing number of critics alleged that welfare prorams
were helping to create a dysfunctional underclass of pepole who depnded upon them for survival.
