GOVT 2306 - Exam 1
Texas became an independent republic in ________ and became part of the United States in ________.
1836; 1845
In what year was Texas's current constitution ratified?
1876
Article 4 of the Texas Constitution divides executive power among how many different offices?
6
Texas has operated under how many constitutions?
7
Which of the following is listed in the Texas Bill of Rights, but is not in the U.S. Bill of Rights?
A list of rights guaranteed to victims of crime, such as the right to restitution and the right to be protected from the accused.
Why did Texas need to create a new constitution in 1861?
After Texas joined the Confederacy in February 1861, a new constitution was needed since Texas was no longer part of the United States.
Which two Texas metropolitan areas are national centers for the high-tech industry?
Dallas and Austin-San Marcos
If you were brought to the United States illegally by your parents when you were a young child, which policy protects you from deportation and allows you to work legally in the United States?
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
For over 100 years, Texas was dominated by the
Democratic Party
Since the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the Border region, including El Paso, McAllen, and Brownsville, has remained politically a ________ bastion.
Democratic Party
Which of the following was a consequence of one-party dominance in Texas?
General elections tended to be non-competitive during this period.
As of 2021, which city in Texas has the largest population?
Houston
According to Article 5 of the Texas Constitution, how are judges selected?
Judges are elected by the people.
As the number one importer of exports from Texas, which country has the most to lose from tighter restrictions on the border?
Mexico
The use of block grants, allowing states considerable leeway in how federal money is spent, was championed by President ________ under the name New Federalism.
Nixon
After the Civil War, much of the area that had been part of the former Confederacy was under military occupation. This period is known as
Reconstruction.
Within the major population centers of the Gulf Coastal Plains region, the suburban areas are becoming more __________________, while urban areas are becoming more.
Republican; Democratic
Texas requires voters to show a state-issued photo ID in order to vote. Voters without a driver's license or other form of state-issued ID can obtain a Texas election identification certificate at no cost to the voter. Why does the state provide these election identification certificates for free?
Requiring voters to pay for something that is necessary to vote would be a poll tax, which is unconstitutional.
Which court case in 2013 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
The idea of "separate but equal" allowed states to do what?
States could decide whether or not they wanted to recognize actions taken in other states.
Which 1869 Supreme Court case resolved the debate over whether states can secede from the Union?
Texas v. White
Which of the following statements about the powers of the national government is most accurate?
The amount of power the national government has exercised has grown over the last 200 years as a result of the "necessary and proper clause."
Thinking about the constitutions of Texas and the United States, both are based upon which fundamental idea?
The best way to prevent tyranny is to give each branch of government a little bit of control over the other branches through the process of checks and balances.
Which of the following is a consequence of the elastic clause?
The federal government often exercises powers in areas originally reserved for the states.
Who made up the Grange, and what effect did they have on the writing of the Texas Constitution of 1876?
They were an agricultural group who wanted a government that would improve the plight of farmers.
If someone has a medical permit that allows them to possess and consume marijuana in one state, why can it still be illegal for that person to possess and consume marijuana in Texas?
Under the public policy exception, states do not have to give "full faith and credit" to actions by another state if those actions are viewed as being against the policy goals of the state.
Why do some constitutional amendment elections tend to have higher levels of turnout than others?
When the issue being voted on is of high importance to a particular group of people, they will be highly motivated to turnout to vote in the election.
The drive to rewrite the Texas Constitution in the 1970s grew out of
a major stock fraud involving bribery of several elected officials, state party officials, and bankers.
Which factor contributed the most to the increase in the population of Texas?
a natural increase of births in proportion to deaths
The Constitution of 1869 created
a strong governor's office.
The Texas Constitution requires which of the following 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
Traditionally, business leaders have played a prominent role in the political culture in Texas. When thinking about the business leaders and business concerns that influence Texas politics, we are referring to
any type of business concern that operates in the state, including state and local businesses but also national and international corporations.
As more women, minorities, and LGBTQ individuals gain influence in politics,
aspects of provincialism are being challenged.
According to the Tenth Amendment, any powers not delegated to the national government by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states,
belong to either the people or the state.
The individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act requires all individuals to
buy health insurance.
La Raza Unida Party was established in the mid-1960s in order to
confront discriminatory practices that prevented Texas Latinos from participating in mainstream political and economic life.
The understanding that the national government and state governments are both sovereign within their sphere of influence is called
dual federalism or layer-cake federalism.
Under Article 7 of the Texas Constitution, the State Board of Education has responsibility for which of the following?
elementary and secondary education
Prior to the Texas Revolution, Spanish and Mexican leaders relied on ________________ to encourage to people to move to Texas.
empresarios
The 1819 McCulloch v. Maryland case ________ the powers of the federal government.
expanded
The Constitution of 1836 showed the direct influence of the U.S. Constitution through the inclusion of which of the following?
government divided into three branches with a system of checks and balances
In 1950, the Supreme Court case Sweatt v. Painter
guaranteed African Americans admission to Texas's graduate and professional schools.
According to the supremacy clause, found in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution,
in a conflict between federal and state laws, federal laws take precedence and will override state laws.
According to Section 33 of the Texas Bill of Rights (Article 1 of the Texas Constitution), Texans are guaranteed the right to use and access public beaches. This is not a right that is protected under the U.S. Constitution. Which concept allows Texas to grant its citizens more rights than those listed in the U.S. Constitution?
independent state grounds
When we talk about American political culture, we tend to refer to which set of values?
liberty, equality, democracy
Cooperative federalism is also known as
marble-cake federalism.
Which of the following elements dominated the land-based economy of post-Reconstruction Texas and is/are still relevant today?
oil, cotton, and cattle
States can be prevented from enacting policies that interfere with powers of the federal government because of which aspect of coercive federalism?
preemption
A defining characteristic of federalism is that
rather than being held exclusively or primarily by one body, governing authority is divided at different levels between several bodies.
Texas is among several states that have decided to take what action in response to the Affordable Care Act?
refuse to expand access to Medicaid
The origins of ranching and the cattle industry extend back to the late ________ century.
seventeenth
Which of the following groups are starting to challenge business groups for influence in Texas politics?
social conservatives
The Compromise of 1850, which was passed by the U.S. Congress,
stated that Texas was responsible for reimbursing the federal government for costs incurred in defending Texas in any military actions.
With categorical grants,
states are given money from the federal government to spend on specific issues or to solve specific problems that are determined by the federal government.
According to the __________________, the U.S. Constitution takes precedence over the Texas Constitution.
supremacy clause
Who led the Grange and Populist movements of the late nineteenth century?
tenant farmers
What stalled Texas's admission into the United States?
that Texas would be a proslavery state
Texas is often characterized as a "low tax, low social service" state. This is a result of
the "traditionalistic individualistic" political culture in Texas.
Which part of the U.S. Constitution requires that states provide all individuals equal protection of the laws?
the Fourteenth Amendment
Texas's political life grew out of which region?
the Gulf Coastal Plains
Which amendments are collectively known as the "Civil War Amendments"?
the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments
Political culture is a term used to describe
the broadly shared values and beliefs about government.
In federalism, an individual citizen lives under the direct authority of which of the following?
the central government and regional government
Among the grievances against the Mexican government listed in the Texas Declaration of Independence was
the failure to provide a system of public education.
In the case of Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), the Supreme Court decided that
the federal government's authority to regulate international and interstate commerce bestowed on it some power to regulate intrastate commerce.
One explanation for why laws and policies related to things like personal income taxes and alcohol sales are different in different states is
the impact of political culture.
In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment 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.
When drafting the Texas Constitution of 1876, the framers wanted to create a government based on which of the following principles?
the necessity of strong limitations on the power of state government
The U.S. Constitution created a system of government where both the federal and state governments are sovereign. This means that both the federal and state governments derive their power from
the people, through their state constitutions.
Which component of the current Texas Constitution was designed to prevent future governors from consolidating power like Governor Edmund Davis did under the Constitution of 1869?
the plural executive
State constitutions are designed to perform which of the following functions?
to define the limits of power, delegate power to different institutions and individuals, and set up local governments
Which of the following requires state governments to spend their own money to meet standards imposed on them by the federal government?
unfunded mandates
Since 1850 there has been a marked shift of the population in Texas from rural to urban areas. This process is known as
urbanization.
The domination of Texas politics by Republicans after the Civil War ended
with the election of governor Richard Coke in 1873, who was a Democrat.