GOVT 2305 EXAM 2
What is the governors salary?
$150,000, mansion, vehicle, state owned aircraft, and a personal staff
What are the three constitutional qualifications to be governor in Texas?
- Be at least 30 years of age - Be a U.S Citizen - Live in Texas for five years immediately before the election
When. do legislators use business legislation?
- They lack or have weak policy capacity - They are aligned ideologically?
What powers to the governors have?
- To pardon criminals - To appoint people to governing boards and commissions - To declare martial law - To veto acts of the legislature
According to ALEC's own reporting, approximately how of the 826 introduced pieces of legislation based on their proposals ended up becoming law in 2009?
0.14
The number of legislators ALEC claims among its membership is closest to which of the following percentages of all state legislators in the United States?
0.34
When was ALEC founded?
1973
How many legislators are a part of ALEC today?
2000 state legislatures (1/3 of all state legislators)
In order to be eligible to serve in the Texas House, you must be ______ years old; in order to be eligible to serve in the Texas Senate, you must be ______ years old.
21,26
How long can special sessions last?
30 days
Texas senators serve ________-year terms and House members serve ________-year terms.
4,2
Each member of the Texas Senate represents about ___________ people, while each member of the Texas House represents about_________ people.
811,000; 168,000
What is an "Introduction"?
A member files a copy of a bill with the clerk of the house or the secretary of the Senate.
What is ALEC?
American Legislative Exchange Council
What is one thing ALEC is criticized for?
Giving too much power for the business members of the group
Which of the following statements about partisanship in the Texas legislature is correct?
Historically, partisanship has been rather low, but in recent years the legislature has moved into a more partisan era.
What are the states with the most ALEC bills introduced?
Illinois, California, Hawaii, New York, Louisiana
What the only method to remove a governor?
Impeachment and conviction
Which state supreme court reverses the most sentences in criminal cases, though not necessarily the most convictions?
Oregon
What enables the governors to confer grants, licenses, favors and political appointments to supporters?
Patronage
How are most bills killed by chair?
Pigeonholing
What occurs after the legislation adjourns, thus preventing an override?
Post-Adjournment Veto
What do legislation task forces consist of?
Private companies and state legislatures
Which of the following most accurately describes the influential activities undertaken by ALEC in pursuit of policymaking success?
Providing model bills to state legislators with little expertise in particular policy areas
What sets limits of state spending?
Revenue estimates provided by the comptroller
It is the governors responsibility to?
Sign or VETO legislation
Partisan polarization has?
Significantly increased over the last several decades
Representation in Texas is by?
Single member districts
At which level of government is ALEC's primary focus in proposing legislation that it and its supporters wish to become law?
State
What is an line-item veto?
Strike out each line for BUDGET, choose which specific line to veto.
How can the governor's veto be overridden?
2/3rd vote of BOTH house and senate
What is message power?
Any communication between the governor and the legislature, including State of the State message
Legislatures can be removed from ALECs for ANY reason, T o F?
TRUE
What is a "Referral"?
The bill is assigned to the appropriate standing committee.
The media
help choose and frame issues
Which of the following state courts of last resort fully reverses lower court decisions the most?
Texas Supreme Court
What as a reaction to the power under Reconstruction placed strict limits on the governors power?
The Constitution of 1876 - Power was further fragmented among other officeholders - Successful governors are successful politicians
How is the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives chosen?
The Speaker is elected by members of the House
Who has responsibility for redistricting the Texas delegation to the U.S. Congress?
The Texas legislature
Debate in the senate is?
Unlimited, senators can filibuster
What are the states with the most ALEC bills PASSED?
Virginia, Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Montana
In civil cases, the burden is on the plaintiff, and the standard that must be met is known as
beyond a reasonable doubt.
The scrutiny of federal and state courts influences
the legislative agenda
Civil law focuses on __________________, while criminal law focuses on __________________.
disputes about relationships, obligations, and responsibilities; violations of codes of right and wrong as determined by criminal statutes
In the standing committee, the legislators party affiliation and seniority are only of ___ importance?
moderate
Texas has a
one person, one principle
One of the most notable effects of bicameralism in the Texas legislature is that it
permits more opportunities to kill or significantly modify a bill.
Ideological differences between Democrats and Republicans now
play a major role in legislative politis
What types of resolutions are acted on without debate and without requiring members to read the resolution?
resolutions of honor or recognition
The legislature has "directive and supervisory powers" that include the ability to
review each state agency every twelve years
Which of the following has been given as a reason for reforming the way judges are selected in Texas?
the importance of a judicial candidate's name in the current system
The Legislative Redistricting Board has the authority to draw new districts if
the legislature fails to redistrict at the first regular session after the census
At the same time that the Texas Supreme Court become more conservative,
the legislature was also passing laws that favored businesses, creating a situation where it is becoming more difficult for individuals to successfully sue businesses in civil lawsuits.
The majority of the cases that justice of the peace judges hear are those regarding
traffic misdemeanors.
How many corporations are represented by ALECS?
~ 300 corporations
Private sectors members can be remove from ALECs for ANY reason, T o F?
FALSE, can only be removed "with cause"
Corporate take over of American politics?
No, ALEC can introduce but cannot pass.
When are elections held for governors?
Off years
Who has the power to assign members to standing committee?
The speaker and the lieutenant governor
What is the governors most significant power?
Appointment power, allows a degree of control over 400 governmental entities
Which of the following best describes how US state courts fair, in comparison to other courts, in public opinion polls asking about confidence the public has in how well they do their job? (Job approval, here, is being used to measure the courts' legitimacy.)
Approval is higher than European courts but lower than the US Supreme Court
When are special sessions usually called?
At the end of the 140 days to wrap up, to finish bills
Elitist (Pessimistic)
Business control capital and investment so they hold a special privileged place in politics
Pluralists (Optimists)
Business is the same as any other interest, no special treatment
________ is a kind of talking that is used to stall legislation.
Chubbing
How can governors realize more goals than their position allows?
Develop collaborative relationships
Executive power in Texas is?
Divided, and the governor has less formal power than most state governors
Districts must have roughly?
Equal populations
What are the most successful ALEC states? (Ratio of introductions to passed)
Indiana, Montana, Virginia, Idaho
As in the U.S. Congress, the purpose of a conference committee in the Texas legislature is to do what?
It is a committee designed to make differing House and Senate versions of the same bill identical.
What is the function of the "local and consent" calendar?
It is reserved for uncontroversial bills or bills limited to a localized problem.
What was the only Texas governor to be impeached?
James Ferguson
Who draws the new maps for redistricting?
Legislature
The Texas Legislature has many powers that are not related to legislation, including which of the following?
Legislature - the power to formally count returns for the governor's and lieutenant governor's elections.
A bill in the Texas legislature that would allow a county to establish a new community college would be classified as a
Local bill.
Who becomes the governor after the governor office becomes vacant?
Lt. Governor
Which of the following groups is most likely to be a supporter of ALEC legislation?
Merck Pharmaceuticals
What is "Consideration by Comittee"?
The bill is killed, amended, or heard.
What happens in a Floor Action?
The bill is referred by the standing committee and scheduled for floor debate.
In the Texas legislature, when a committee chair "pigeonholes" a bill, what happens?
The bill is set aside before it is ever discussed in committee.
Who has the ability to call special sessions?
The governor
Who rules in cases of no agreement in redistricting?
The legislative redistricting board
Redistricting
The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population. Especially imporant in texas
Whats the purpose of special sessions?
To address critical problems as defined by the governor
Why was ALEC designed?
To promote pro business legislation
When does redistricting take place?
after each census
Special sessions of the legislature
are called frequently because the legislature is unable to complete all of its required business in the allotted 140 days of its regular sessions.
Texas operating budgets must
balance
Campaigns
first to win the partys primary and then to win the election in November
Which is the most important bill that applies to all people and property throughout the state?
general bill
The agenda for special sessions in the Texas legislature is set by the
governor
A conference committee is a
joint committee created to work out a compromise on House and Senate versions of a piece of legislation.
Which judicial office has existed in Texas since 1837, even before statehood?
justice of peace
Lobbyists and the public also influence
legislators
When the governor strikes out specific spending provisions in large appropriations bills it is called
line-item veto
Legislative districts in the Texas House and Senate are
single-member districts.
If the legislature grants a particular corporation an exception from a state law, it is called
special bill.
In addition to the legislators and the governor, there are others involved in the lawmaking process during both regular and special sessions. Which one official has direct involvement in the legislative process, while other players are involved indirectly?
the comptroller of public accounts
County judges preside over
the county commissioners' court
Which of the following statements about simple resolutions is correct?
they do not require the signature of the governor