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Definition
| broadly shared values, beliefs, and attitudes about how the government should function. |
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| Moralistic political culture |
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Definition
| The belief that government should be active in promoting the public good and that citizens should participate in politics and civic activities. |
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| Individualistic political culture |
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Definition
| The belief that government should limit its role to providing order in society, so citizens can pursue their economic self interests. |
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| traditionalistic political culture |
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Definition
| The belief that government should be dominated by political elites and guided by tradition. |
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| small group of people that dominates the political process |
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| a narrow, limited, and self-interested view of the world often associated with rural values and notions of limited government. |
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Term
| Four distinct physical regions of Texas |
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Definition
Gulf Coastal Plains
Interior Lowlands
Great Plains
Basin and Range Province |
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Term
| North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) |
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Definition
| Trade treaty among the United States, Canada, and Mexico to lower and eliminate tariffs among the three countries. |
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Definition
| An individual who promotes, organizes, or helps to finance a particular endeavor. |
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| A state-imposed tax on voters as a prerequisite for voting; rendered unconstitutional by 24th amendment |
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| The process by which people move from rural areas to cities |
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| the legal structure of a government, which establishes its power and authority as well as the limits on that power. |
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Definition
| the division of governmental power among several institutions that must cooperate in decision making. |
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Definition
| the constitutional idea that overlapping power is given to different branches of government to limit the concentration of power in any one branch. |
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Definition
| according to James Madison, the concentration of power in any one branch of government. |
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Definition
| A separation of powers between the federal and state governments |
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Term
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Definition
| Article VI (6) of the U.S Constitution, states that the Constitution and laws passed by the national (fed) government and all treaties are the supreme law of the land and superior to all laws adopted by any state or any subdivision. |
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Term
| necessary and proper clause |
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Definition
Article 1 Section 8, U.S. Constitution.
It provides Congress with the authority to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out its power. |
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Definition
| comprising one body or house, as in a one-house legislature. |
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Definition
| Having a legislature assembly composed of two chambers or houses. |
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Definition
| The Confederate States of America, the southern states that seceded from the United States in late 1860. argued power of states was more important than power of federal government. |
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Definition
| a bloc of Republicans in the U.S. Congress who pushed through the adoption of black suffrage as well as an extended period of military occupation of the South following the Civil War. |
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Definition
| A government whose powers are defined and limited by a constitution. |
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Definition
| An executive branch in which power is fragmented because the election of statewide officeholders is independent of the election of the governor. |
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Definition
| under Texas Constitution, the formal charge by the House of Representatives that leads to trial in the Senate and possible removal of a state official. |
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Definition
| possessing supreme political authority within a geographic area. |
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Definition
| The period after the Civil War when much of the south was under military occupation. |
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| The system of government that prevailed in the United States from 1789 to 1937, in which most fundamental governmental powers were strictly separated between the federal and state governments. |
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Definition
| Way of describing the system of dual federalism in which there is a division of responsibilities between the state and the federal government. |
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Definition
| Way of describing federalism where the boundaries between the national government and state government have become blurred. |
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Definition
| Type of federalism existing since the New Deal era in which grants-in-aid have been used to encourage states and localities to pursue nationally defined goals. |
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Term
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Definition
| Congressionally appropriated grants to states and localities on the condition that expenditures be limited to a problem or group specified by law. |
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Term
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Definition
| The attempts by Presidents Nixon and Reagan to return power to the states through block grants. |
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Term
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Definition
| federal grants that allow states considerable discretion on how funds are spent. |
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Definition
| federal policies that force states to change their policies to achieve national goals. |
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Term
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Definition
| federal requirements that states or local governments pay the costs of federal policies. |
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Term
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Definition
| where the national government imposes its priorities and prevents the state from acting in a particular field. |
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Term
| 10th Amendment to the U.S Constitution |
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Definition
| The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. |
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Term
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Definition
| rights in the Bill of Rights that the Court believes are fundamental and are held to apply to the states as well as the national government because they are part of the "liberty" protected from state action in the Fourteenth Amendment. |
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Definition
| An interpretation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that held that states could segregate races as long as equal facilities were provided. Overturned in 1954. |
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Term
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Definition
| Most rigorous equal protection standard. It require that the government show a compelling state interest in order to successfully defend a law that makes certain classifications such as racial classifications. |
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Term
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Definition
| presumes that the legal classification made by the government is constitutional; all the government must show is some rational justification for the law. |
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Term
| intermediate standard of review |
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Definition
| primarily used for classifications in the law based on sex; for the law to be constitutional the government must show important governmental objectives and the law must be substantially related to achievement of those goals. |
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Term
| independent state grounds |
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Definition
| allow states, usually under the state constitution, to expand rights beyond those provided by the U.S Constitution. |
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Term
| county commissioners' court |
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Definition
| The main governing body of each county, has the authority to set the county tax rate and budget. |
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Term
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Definition
| The person in each of Texas's 254 counties who presides over the constitutional county court and county commissioners' court, some also carry out judicial responsibilities. |
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Term
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Definition
| government official (four per county) on the county commissioners' court whose main duty is the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges. |
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Term
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Definition
| county official involved with serving legal papers and, in some counties, enforcing the law. |
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Term
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Definition
| county official who prosecutes lesser criminal cases in the county court. |
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Term
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Definition
| public official who prosecutes the more serious criminal cases in the district court. |
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Term
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Definition
| public official who is the main record-keeper of the county. |
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Term
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Definition
| public official who is the main record-keeper of district court documents. |
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Term
| county tax assessor-collector |
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Definition
| public official who maintains the county tax records and collects the taxes owed to the county. |
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Term
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Definition
| public official, appointed by the district judges, who receives and disburses county funds, also prepares the county budget in large counties. |
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Term
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Definition
| the rules under which a city operates; local governments have considerable independent governing power under these charters. |
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Term
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Definition
| population of less than 5,000. May act or organize themselves only as explicitly permitted by statutory law passed by the state legislature. |
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Term
| mayor-council form of government |
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Definition
| form of city government in which the mayor is the chief executive and the city council is the legislative body. |
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Term
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Definition
| An election in which officials are selected by voters of the entire geographical area, rather than from smaller districts within that area. |
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Term
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Definition
| An electorate that elects only one representative for each district. |
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Term
| commissioner form of government |
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Definition
| A form of city government in which the city is run by a small group of elected commissioners who act in both legislative and executive capacities. |
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Term
| council-management form of government |
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Definition
| Form of city government in which public policies are developed by the city council and executive and administrative functions are assigned to a professional city manager. |
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Term
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Definition
| Unit of local government that performs a single service, such as education or sanitation, within a limited geographic area. |
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Term
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Definition
| specific type of special district that provides public education in a designated area. |
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Term
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Definition
| board of 5 to 9 members that oversee daily operation of the district. |
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Term
| non-school special district |
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Definition
| any special district other than a school district. |
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Term
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Definition
| a tax based on an assessment of the value of one's property, which is used to fund the services provided by local governments, such as education. |
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Term
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Definition
| a fee paid for public goods and services, such as water or sewage service. |
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Term
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Definition
| a term that refers to special districts of which many citizens are unaware. |
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Term
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Definition
| a regional planning board composed of local elected officials and some private citizens from the same area. |
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Term
| capital appreciation bond |
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Definition
| a long-term, high-interest paying bond that pays off both principal and interest in one lump sum when the bond reaches maturity. |
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Term
| deferred retirement option plan |
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Definition
| retirement plan in which local government employees who are eligible to retire have their retirement benefits deposited in an account in which the benefits draw interest until actual retirement. |
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Term
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Definition
| daily payment to a public official engaged in state business. |
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Term
| Number of members of Texas House |
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Definition
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Term
| Number of members in Texas Senate |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| 140 day period, occurring only in odd-numbered years, during which the Texas legislature meets to consider and pass bills. |
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Term
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Definition
| occurring every two years. |
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Term
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Definition
| a legislative session called by the governor that addresses an agenda set by him or her and that lasts no longer than 30 days. |
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Term
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Definition
| A proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of the legislature and submitted to the clerk of the House or Senate. |
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Term
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Definition
| a bill affecting, only units of local government, such as a city, county, or special district. |
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Term
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Definition
| a bill that gives an individual or corporation a special exemption from state law. |
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Term
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Definition
| a bill that applies to all people and/or property in the state. |
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Term
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Definition
| an expression of opinion on an issue by legislative body. |
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Term
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Definition
| a resolution of interest to both chambers of the legislature and which must pass both the House and Senate and generally be signed by the governor. |
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Term
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Definition
| a resolution, commonly a proposed amendment to the Texas Constitution or ratification of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, that must pass both House and Senate, but doesn't require the governor's signature. |
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Term
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Definition
| resolution that concerns only Texas House or Senate, such as the adoption of a rule or the appointment of an employee, and which does not require the governor's signature. |
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Term
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Definition
| a person living in the district from which an official is elected. |
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Term
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Definition
| the legislature's mandated role in counting returns in the elections for governor and lieutenant governor |
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Term
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Definition
| the power, exercised by the House, the Senate, or both chambers jointly to investigate problems facing the state. |
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Term
| directive and supervisory power |
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Definition
| The legislature's power over the executive branch. |
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Term
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Definition
| The power of the House to impeach and of the Senate to convict members of the executive and judicial branches of state government. |
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Term
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Definition
| The formal charge by the House of Representatives that leads to a trial in the Senate and possibly to the removal of a state official. |
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Term
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Definition
| A tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down. requires vote of three fifths of the Senate to end. |
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Term
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Definition
| The governor's power to turn down legislation; can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate. |
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Term
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Definition
| A veto of a bill that occurs after the legislature adjourns, thus preventing the legislature from overriding it. |
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Term
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Definition
| The power of the executive to veto specific provisions of an appropriations bill passed by the legislature. |
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Term
| Texas Senator Term length |
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Definition
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Term
| Texas House member term length |
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Definition
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Term
| Texas Legislature term begins when? |
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Definition
| The Legislature of the State of Texas, operating under the biennial system, convenes its regular sessions at noon on the second Tuesday in January of odd-numbered years. |
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Term
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Definition
| the power to control floor debate by recognizing who can speak before the House and Senate. |
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Definition
| A district in which one official is elected rather than multiple officials. |
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Term
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Definition
| The principle that all districts should have roughly equal populations. |
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