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41 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What should I have learned?
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Texas governors are weak, compared with other governors, and they must share political power with other executive leader (the plural executive), with the legislature, and with an array of state agency leaders who may not be appointed by or controlled by the governor.
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What are the roots of the executive branch in Texas?
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The powers held by Texas governors and other executive officials fluctuated considerably with changes of constitutions in the nineteenth century. This history has influence the array of elected and appointed executive officials, the terms of office for the governorship, and the governor’s salary.
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What are the constitutional roles of the governor?
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The constitution and the legislature have created gubernatorial roles, including chief of state, chief executive officer, commander in chief, chief budge officer, and more informal roles in law enforcement and in legislative policitcs. Some constitutional powers are significant, though most are weak.
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What powers does the Texas governor have?
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Texas governors have always been weaker than governors in other states. Governors may be able to amass and exercise more strength, though, in the political arena, where appearance, charisma, and bluff may count more than constitutional reality. Texas gubernatorial power, however, has increased over the past two decades. The governor appoints more agency heads today than ever before.
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How does the governor act as a policy maker and political leader?
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The political and policy leadership that a governor is able to proved flows from the governor’s skills, previous experience, and similarity in party, philosophy, and ideology with other decision makers. At the base of that leadership is electoral skill. Texas’s governors resort to public o-pinion leadership to increase their power with other office holders. Still, to be successful, a governor must succeed in pushing a program thorough the legislature in killing unwanted legislative measure. To do so, a governor must use a grab bag of tools and must develop good personal or working relationships with key legislators.
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What is the plural executive in Texas?
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Texas elects nine statewide officials – more than most states. These include governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and comptroller of public accounts, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner, and three railroad commissioners, as well as fifteen education board members elected from districts. There are frequent clashes between governor and other executive officials.
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How is the Texas bureaucracy organized and how does it operate?
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Texas executive agencies are organized in two basic patterns, agencies headed by one person and agencies run by a board or commission. The distribution of elected officials, appointed officials, and boards and commissions is not based on rational assumptions as much as it is on political power and personalities in power at the time the decisions are made.
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How do we make agencies accountable?
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Legislatures have a duty of legislative oversight of executive agencies and programs. Oversight tools include review of expenditures, review of rules and regulations, performance review, audits, sunset review, and review of staff sizes and functions.
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What initiatives are being considered to reform gubernatorial and executive power?
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Texas recently underwent a series of agency reorganizations and expansion of gubernatorial appointment powers. A current reform being debated in the legislature is a proposal to slow gubernatorial vetoes by creating legislative sessions to consider override of post session vetoes.
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Administrative Procedures Act
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a statute containing Texas’s rule making process.
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agriculture commissioner
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The elected state official in charge of regulating and promoting agriculture.
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attorney general
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The elected official who is the chief counsel for the state of Texas.
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captured agency
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A government regulatory agency that consistently makes decisions favorable to the private interests that it regulates.
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chief budget officer
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The governor, who is charged with preparing the state budget proposal preparing the state budget proposal for the legislature.
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chief executive officer
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The governor as the top official of the executive branch of Texas state government.
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chief of state
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The governor in his or her role as the official head representing the state of Texas in its relationships with the national government, other states, and foreign dignitaries.
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clemency
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The governor’s authority to reduce the length of a person’s prison sentence.
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commander in chief
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The governor in his or her role as head of the state militia.
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comptroller of public accounts
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The elected official who is the state’s tax collector.
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executive commissioner of health and human services
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The official appointed by the governor to oversee the state’s multiagency health and human service programs.
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full-time equivalent (FTE)
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A unit of measurement for number of employees.
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good government
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a term used for policies that open up agencies to public participation and scrutiny and that minimize conflicts of interest.
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governor’s message
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Message that the governor delivers to the legislature, pronouncing policy goals, budget priorities, and authorizations for the legislature to act.
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insurance commissioner
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The official appointed by the governor to direct the Department of Insurance and regulate the insurance industry.
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land commissioner
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The elected official responsible for managing and leasing the state’s property, including oil, gas, and mineral interests.
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overrepresentation and underrepresentation
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Higher and lower numbers, respectively, than would be expected from a group in comparison with the group’s numbers in the general population.
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plural executive
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An executive branch in which power and policy implementation are divided among several executive agencies rather than centralized under one person, the governor does not get to appoint most agency heads.
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public counsels
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Officials appointed by the governor to represent the public before regulatory agencies.
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Public Utility Commission
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A full time, three member paid commission appointed by the governor to regulate public utilities in Texas.
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quasi-judicial
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Partly judicial, authorized to conduct hearings and issue rulings.
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Railroad Commission
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A full-time, three member paid commission elected by the people to regulate oil and gas and some transportation entities.
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revolving door
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An exchange of personnel between private interests and public regulators.
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senatorial courtesy
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A process by which a governor, when selecting an appointee, defers to the state senator in whose district the nominee resides.
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staggered terms
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Terms of office for members of boards and commissions that begin and end at different times, so that a governor is not usually able to gain control of a majority of the body for a long time.
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State Board of Education
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The fifteen member elected body that sets some education policy for the state and has limited authority to oversee the Texas Education Agency and local school districts.
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succession
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The constitutional declaration that the lieutenant governor succeeds to the governorship if there is a vacancy.
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sunset law
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A law that sets a date for a program or regulation to expire unless reauthorized by the legislature.
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Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
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A full time, three member paid commission appointed by the governor to administer the state4’s environmental programs. Formerly the Texas Natural Resource Conversation Commission.)
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Texas Education Agency
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The state agency that oversees local Scholl districts and disburses state funds to districts.
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Texas secretary of state
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the state official appointed by the governor to be the keeper of the state’s records, such as state laws, election data and filings, public notifications, and corporate charters.
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veto
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The formal, constitutional authority of the chief executive to reject bills passed by both houses of the legislative body, thus preventing their becoming law without further legislative action.
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