TX Lecture 3
Summary
TLDRThis lecture delves into the Texas Constitution, focusing on its history, the 1875 constitutional convention, and the 1876 Constitution's key provisions. It outlines the structure and functions of Texas' three branches of government, highlighting similarities with the U.S. Constitution, such as popular sovereignty, separation of powers, and checks and balances. The lecture also discusses the unique features of the Texas Constitution, including its plural executive system, dual Supreme Court system, and the amendment process, emphasizing the importance of civic participation in constitutional amendments.
Takeaways
- 📜 The Texas Constitution is a document that outlines the structure, powers, and limitations of the Texas government, similar to the U.S. Constitution.
- 🏛️ The Constitution of 1876 is the current and effective constitution of Texas, established after the Reconstruction era and reflecting principles of limited government and agrarian interests.
- 🌿 Texas, like the U.S., embodies the principles of popular sovereignty, separation of powers, and checks and balances within its constitutional framework.
- 📊 The Texas Constitution started with 17 articles and has since expanded to include over 500 amendments, reflecting changes and adaptations over time.
- 🏫 The Bill of Rights in Texas is contained within Article 1 of the Texas Constitution, mirroring the first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
- 🏛️📚 The structure of the Texas government is bicameral, with a House of Representatives and a Senate, differing in terms and qualifications for members.
- 👥 The executive branch in Texas is characterized by a plural executive, with powers distributed among various offices such as the governor, lieutenant governor, and other state officials.
- 👩⚖️ Texas has a unique dual Supreme Court system, with one court handling civil cases and another criminal cases, a feature it shares with Oklahoma.
- 💼 The legislative power to tax in Texas is subject to voter approval, especially regarding income tax, which must be used for education and tax relief if implemented.
- ⚖️ Impeachment and removal processes in Texas are similar to those at the federal level, with the House responsible for impeachment and the Senate for removal, but with some procedural differences.
- 📝 Amending the Texas Constitution is a four-step process involving proposal by the legislature, passage by two-thirds majority, publication, and ratification by a majority of voters.
Q & A
What is the primary purpose of a constitution?
-A constitution is the document that contains the legal structure of government, establishing the structure, powers, and authority of the government, and imposing limits on the powers of the government.
How does the United States Constitution define the structure of government?
-The United States Constitution defines the structure of government as consisting of three separate branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.
What are the key principles reflected in both the United States Constitution and the Texas Constitution?
-Both constitutions reflect the principles of popular sovereignty, separation of powers, and checks and balances.
How many constitutions did Texas have before the current one in 1876?
-Before the current constitution of 1876, Texas had experimented with six different constitutions.
What is unique about the Texas Constitution's Bill of Rights compared to the United States Constitution?
-The Bill of Rights in the Texas Constitution is contained within Article 1, and it overlaps significantly with the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution.
What is the structure of the Texas Legislature?
-The Texas Legislature is bicameral, consisting of the Texas House of Representatives with 150 members and the Senate with 31 members.
How often does Texas hold regular legislative sessions?
-Texas holds regular legislative sessions biennially, in odd-numbered years.
What is the term of office for members of the Texas House of Representatives?
-Members of the Texas House of Representatives serve two-year terms.
What is the term of office for members of the Texas Senate?
-Members of the Texas Senate serve four-year staggered terms.
How does the Texas Constitution address the issue of income tax?
-The Texas Constitution does not allow for an income tax unless approved by registered voters through an amendment, and any revenue generated from an income tax must be allocated to education and tax relief.
What is the process for amending the Texas Constitution?
-The process for amending the Texas Constitution involves proposing the amendment by the state legislature, passing it by a two-thirds majority in both chambers, publishing the proposal, and then having a majority of voters ratify it in an election.
Outlines
📜 Introduction to the Texas Constitution
This paragraph introduces the topic of the Texas Constitution, setting the stage for a lecture that aims to familiarize students with its history and structure. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the constitutional tradition in Texas and outlines the learning objectives for the lecture, which include describing the history of the constitution, explaining the origin of the 1875 state constitutional convention, and detailing the major provisions in the current Texas Constitution of 1876. The paragraph also provides a general definition of a constitution, highlighting its role in establishing government structure, powers, and limitations, using the United States Constitution as an example.
🏛 Historical Context of Texas Constitutions
This paragraph delves into the historical development of the Texas Constitution, noting that Texas has had multiple constitutions since its time as part of Mexico. It mentions that students are not responsible for knowing the details of the six previous constitutions before the current one adopted in 1876. The paragraph provides a brief overview of the constitutions of 1827, 1836, 1845, 1861, and 1866, highlighting their main features and the context in which they were adopted. It also discusses the 1875 constitutional convention and the subsequent adoption of the 1876 Constitution, which remains in effect today with over 500 amendments.
📝 Major Features of the Texas Constitution
The paragraph focuses on the major features of the Texas Constitution, starting with its 17 original articles and the more than 500 amendments that have been added over time. It explains the process by which amendments are proposed, published, and ratified by the people of Texas. The lecture encourages students to understand the content of each article, especially since they may be tested on their knowledge of the articles and their correspondence to specific constitutional aspects. The paragraph also emphasizes the importance of the Bill of Rights in the Texas Constitution, which is contained in Article 1, and its similarities to the U.S. Bill of Rights.
🏦 Structure and Function of Government Branches
This paragraph discusses the structure and functions of the three branches of government as outlined in the Texas Constitution. It provides an overview of the legislative branch, including the bicameral structure of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives and the Senate. It details the qualifications for members of the legislature, their terms, and the concept of staggered terms for Senators. The paragraph also touches on the types of legislative sessions in Texas, including regular and special sessions, and the powers of the governor to call special sessions and set their agendas.
👥 Plural Executive and Judicial System in Texas
The paragraph explores the concept of a plural executive in Texas, contrasting it with the unitary executive of the United States. It lists the various offices that share executive powers in Texas, such as the governor, lieutenant governor, and other key positions. The paragraph then describes the judiciary system in Texas, highlighting its unique dual Supreme Court system for civil and criminal cases, and the structure of lower courts, including courts of appeal, district courts, county courts, and justice of the peace courts. It also explains the process for electing or appointing judges to these courts.
🗳️ Impeachment and Amendment Processes
This paragraph covers the impeachment process in Texas, explaining the roles of the House of Representatives and the Senate in charging and removing officials from office. It contrasts the impeachment process in Texas with that at the federal level, noting differences in suspension and removal. The paragraph also outlines the process for amending the Texas Constitution, which involves proposal by the state legislature, passage by a two-thirds majority in both chambers, publication of the proposal, and ratification by a majority of voters. The lecture concludes by emphasizing the importance of civic participation in elections and the upcoming amendment election in November 2021.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Texas Constitution
💡Constitutional Tradition
💡Separation of Powers
💡Bill of Rights
💡State Constitutional Convention of 1875
💡Agrarian Interest
💡Legislative Branch
💡Executive Branch
💡Judiciary
💡Impeachment and Removal
💡Amending Process
Highlights
The lecture discusses the history and structure of the Texas Constitution.
Students are expected to understand the constitutional tradition in Texas and its major provisions.
The Texas Constitution embodies principles such as the structure of government, powers and authority, and limits on government powers.
The United States Constitution and the Texas Constitution share similar principles like popular sovereignty and separation of powers.
Texas has had multiple constitutions since its time as part of Mexico, with the current Constitution adopted in 1876.
The Constitution of 1876 was drafted by a convention dominated by Democrats and influenced by the agrarian movement.
The Texas Constitution originally had seventeen articles, which have been expanded by over five hundred amendments.
The legislative process in Texas includes regular sessions every two years and special sessions called by the governor.
Texas has a plural executive system, unlike the unitary executive system of the United States.
The Texas judiciary system is more elaborate than the federal judiciary, with two Supreme Courts and multiple levels of courts.
Article 1 of the Texas Constitution contains the Bill of Rights, similar to the U.S. Constitution.
The process for amending the Texas Constitution involves proposal by the legislature, passage by two-thirds vote, publication, and voter approval.
The Texas Constitution does not provide a clear definition of impeachable offenses, leaving it to the House of Representatives to decide.
Impeachment in Texas requires a majority vote in the House, but removal requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate.
Impeached Texas governors are suspended from office until after their trial in the Senate.
The lecture emphasizes the importance of voter participation in elections, including those for constitutional amendments.
Transcripts
hello everybody in this lecture we're going to discuss the Texas Constitution
so by the end of this lecture and after of course read in Chapter three
you are expected to be able to describe the history of constitutional of the
constitutional tradition in Texas you're also expected to explain the origin of
the state constitutional convention of 1875 and describe the major
constitutional provision in the current Texas Constitution the Constitution of
1876 that is including the structure the functions and limits of the three
branches of government now before we start before we delve into
you know the main topic which is a Texas Constitution let's first define what a
constitution is a constitution is usually defined as the document that
contains the legal structure government it establishes the structure of the
government the powers and authority of the government and also imposes limits
on the powers of the government so any Constitution usually embodies these
principles right it defines the structure of the government it
determines the powers of authority of the government and it also imposes
limits or constraints on the powers of the government let's take the example of
the United States Constitution all right when you look at the United States
Constitution you'll see that it clearly established the structure of government
that consists of three separate branches so we have the legislative branch you
have the executive branch and the judicial branch okay so that defines the
structure of the United States government the Constitution of the
United States also defines the powers that the government of the United States
can exercise and most of these powers you can find them in the
articles for example if you go to article 1 section 8 it clearly you know
provides us with or you know defines the powers that the United States government
specifically Congress can exercise but when you go to the United States
Constitution you will find in so many you know locations in the Constitution
in so many places you could find constraints and limitations on the
powers of the government a good example will be the Bill of Rights
today the Bill of Rights by definition you know provides us with individual
protections against improper government action now when it comes to the state of
Texas the state of Texas several constitutions you know the state
historically the state of Texas did have a constitution or had had a constitution
since the time the state or the region was part of Mexico so before the current
constitution was adopted in 1876 the state of Texas did actually experiment
with six different constitutions and the several constitutions of the state of
Texas so much to the American constitutional experience which means
that the state of Texas shares with the United States so many links or ideals
for example both constitutions both the United States Constitution and the Texas
Constitution they are will reflect the principle of popular sovereignty which
means the people are the fountain or source of power okay both the US
Constitution and the Texas Constitution are predicated on this principle also
both constitutions reflect the principle of separation of political powers both
the US Constitution and the Texas Constitution established governments
that are divided or a government that embodies the principle of separation of
powers and that consists of three separate
branches something that goes along the separation of powers is the principle of
checks and balances so both constitutions you know the
United Texas Constitution pretty much is similar to the United States
Constitution when it comes to the different mechanisms embodied in both
constitutions whereby the three branches of governments they do have certain ways
certain mechanisms that where they can check the powers of the other branches
the Bill of Rights is another idea that links the Texas Constitution with the
American constitutional experiment so Bodeen our state's constitution and
Texas Constitution they you know they have Bill of Rights the first ten
amendments that were added to the United States Constitution are known as the
Bill of Rights altogether and the Bill of Rights in the Uniting the Texas
Constitution actually consists of that article in the state of Texas article 1
of the Constitution of Texas is actually contained Bill of Rights
in the state of Texas now as I mentioned just a few minutes ago the state of
Texas had had a constitution since the time it was part of Mexico okay and as
far as the exam is concerned you're not going to be responsible for the previous
six constitutions okay I included several slides here with some detail
just for your own information just so that you know the history of Texas so we
had the constitution of 1827 okay and this slide right here in detail talks
about or discusses some of the main features of constitution of 1827 again
I'm not gonna go I'm not gonna talk too much about it here this is just for your
own information and you're not going to be responsible for these Constitution
as far as the exam is concerned when Texas became its own republic in 1836 it
did also adopt another constitution and this one here was very similar to the
United States Constitution you could see here some of the major features then
when taxes on the Union in 1845 it did adopt another constitution which is the
constitution of 1845 and again the slide discusses some major features of that
Constitution when Texas seceded in 1861 and joined the Confederacy there was
again constitution of 1861 the only difference here between the 1861 and
1845 constitution of Texas is that the competition pretty much remained
essentially the same except that any reference to the United States of
America was replaced with references to the CSA federate States of America 1866
Texas rejoins the Union and adopted the constitution of 1866 which complied with
Johnson's president since policy or reconstruction 1869 after Congress of
the United States passed the reconstruction acts of 1887 the state of
adopted a new constitution which met the requirements of the reconstruction acts
of 1867 and then after the Democrats regained control of state politics state
of Texas organized a constitutional convention in 1875 to draft and ratify a
new constitution the constitution of 1876 which hill which is still effective
today so as far as the exam is concerned you are expected to be very familiar
with the current constitution of Texas which is the Constitution of 1876 so
they can cut the convention a drafted that constitution consisted of
was dominated pretty much by Democrats you know the talking about certain
Democrats at that time so seventy-five delegates in that convention they were
Democrats and only 15% were Republicans there was also a strong presence by this
you know agrarian movement known as The Grange movement okay
the Constitution of 1876 pardon me reflected certain principles mainly
limited state government power economy in government strong popular control of
state government as well as the promotion of agrarian interest because
remember at that time in the 1870s Texas was still the economy of Texas was
predominantly based on agriculture so the Constitution when he came out it
only had seventeen articles and as it stands today in addition to the
seventeen articles they were right now as we speak we have more than five
hundred amendments that were added throughout the years to the constitution
of Texas okay so currently when we talk about the
constitution of Texas we are referring to the seventeen articles plus more than
the five hundred amendments that were added later okay so every two years by
the way the legislature in the state of Texas proposed amendments and proposes
amendments and then those amendments are put on the ballot for Texas voters to
either approve or not okay the next amendment election is going to take
place after the legislative session in 2021 okay so let's unpack now the major
features of these articles okay so the Constitution starts with an introduction
known as the preamble does the first paragraph and then we have the seventy
articles we're not going to talk about the 500 amendments here in this course
okay we're just gonna be busy talking about the 17 articles as far as the exam
is concerned again make sure you know the content of each of the articles not
in detail but the things I talked about here in the lecture so you may encounter
some questions in the exam would ask you that will ask you about matching the
articles with their content you may for example encounter a question that goes
something like this article 2 of the Texas Constitution deals with the Bill
of Rights true or false that could be a possible question so you're expected to
know the answer to that question so article 1 of the Texas Constitution
contains a Bill of Rights okay and if you go and go ahead and read article 1
you will notice that the Bill of Rights in the state of Texas overlaps
tremendously with the Bill of Rights you know enshrined in the United States
Constitution article 2 discusses the powers of the government generally
speaking ok article 3 is about the legislative branch in Texas anything you
want to know about the legislative branch in the state of Texas you will
find in article 3 of the Texas Constitution ok it talks about the
structure of the legislative branch and among other things the qualifications
for members of the legislature we will discuss these in detail when we get to
the legislative branch in Texas in week 3 ok but for now this you know the
structure of the Texas Legislature is bicameral so we have a Texas House of
Representatives which consists of 150 members these members they have to meet
certain age requirements they have to be 21 years old they do run two-year terms
okay they serve for two-year terms and there are no
term limits which means they could run as many times as they want to the Senate
in the state of Texas has or consists of 31 members and these members they have
to be at least 26 years old to run and they serve four years staggered terms
okay and there are no term limits either by staggered terms we mean that every
two years in the state of Texas we elect one half of the Senate that's the
meaning of staggered terms okay in the state of Texas we have two types of
sessions there is the regular legislative session okay which lasts 148
or 40 days it is a biennial session which means we have a session once every
two years in odd-numbered years so the next session is gonna be in 2021 and the
next one 2023 and some so forth that's as far as the regular session is
concerned then we also have a special session in the state of Texas special
sessions can only be called by the governor only the governor has the power
to call a special session and only the governor can decide on the agenda of a
special session you can decide what can be discussed in that special session
okay special sessions however cannot last more than 30 days but the governor
can call as many special sessions as he or she wants okay
article 4 of the Texas Constitution deals with the executive department and
when we get to the executive branch again in about the approximately the
week 3 we're gonna talk in detail I'm gonna have a lecture in detail about the
executive branch as of now all you need to know is that in the state of Texas we
have a plural executive ok which is the exact opposite of what we call a unitary
executive the United States Constitution created a unitary executive thereby all
executive power reside in one single office the
presidency in the state of Texas we have the opposite we have a plural executive
which means executive powers are shared among you nor spread among different
offices so you have the governor the Lieutenant Governor you have the
controller of Public Accounts you have the Attorney General
you have the Commissioner of Agriculture and you have the commissioner of general
land office all these offices they share executive powers that is known as the
plural executive ok when we get to the executive branch lecture we're going to
discuss the qualifications and the requirements of each of these offices
more specifically we're going to spend more time on the governor article 5 of
access Constitution deals with the judiciary again it establishes the
structure of the judicial system it talks about the jurisdictions the
election of judges and so on and so forth
briefly the judicial system in theory in the state of Texas is a little bit more
elaborate than the judiciary at the u.s. level in the state of Texas we have two
Supreme Court's not only one we have a sip court we have a chord that is known
as the Texas Supreme Court this is a chord that has final appellate
jurisdiction over civil cases and then we have another Supreme Court in the
state which is called the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals this is also a Supreme
Court that has final appeal over criminal cases so in the state of Texas
we have two supreme courts we have a dual Supreme Court system
Texas is only one of two states that use such a system the other one is Oklahoma
and then we have the second level of the judiciary we have courts of Appeal in
the state okay and then we have trial courts in the state known as the
strict courts and then we have county courts and we have justice of the peace
courts and we have municipal courts okay these are local courts okay courts
that have jurisdiction over matters within cities and towns and usually the
judges for municipal courts are appointed by councilmembers okay by the
City Council other courts Justice of the Peace courts County courts and all the
other state courts the judges are elected by default they are elected and
they serve different terms however whenever there is a vacancy in these
state courts in Texas the governor will appoint whenever there is a vacancy to
these courts okay so we elected judges by default but if a judge dies or judge
is impeached and removed the governor then gets to a point until the next
election so we're going to skip our article six and seven and we go straight
to article eight and article eight talks about taxation and revenue okay in the
state of Texas the legislature was given power to its individual and business
income however in the state of Texas as you will you well know we don't have a
income tax and a latest amendment that was fast put some more limitations on
that okay so registered voters must approve
the income tax okay and any revenue generated from an income tax must be
allocated to education and tax relief so pretty much to have an income tax in the
state of Texas you have to pass an amendment to the state constitution
articles 9 and 11 they deal with local governments they discuss the creation
the powers and the function of local governments and when we get to chapter
11 and the lecture in Chapter 11 we're going to talk about local governments in
detail okay skipping along to article 15
article 15 of the Texas Constitution talks about impeachment and
removal and the state of Texas as is the case at the u.s. level we can impeach
members of both the executive branch and the judicial branch and the impeachment
and removal procedure is very very similar to impeachment and removal
procedure at the federal level ok first of all let's define what
impeachment is or who gets to impeach in the state of Texas same thing the House
of Representatives is in charge of impeaching either a member of the
executive branch it could be the governor or a member of the judiciary a
judge a state judge both of these can be impeached at the u.s. level same thing
the United States House of Representatives can impeach for example
a sitting president okay the United States Constitution clearly
defines an impeachable offense as treason bribery or other high crimes and
misdemeanors in the state of Texas however the Texas Constitution does not
give us a clear definition of an impeachable offense which means that in
case of impeachment the House of ledges the House of Representatives in the
state of Texas will have to decide on an impeachable offense or what the
impeachable offense is okay however they only need a majority to impeach a
governor for example which is the same thing when it comes to the United States
House of Representatives if you want to impeach a president you only need a
majority of votes in the House a simple majority a 50% plus one vote okay but
once an official is impeached this doesn't mean that the official is
removed removal is a separate process okay impeachment is equivalent to
indictment when the House impeaches a governor for example in Texas when the
Texas House impeach is a governor the Texas House in essence they are indicted
in the governor they are charging the governor of a crime or a misdemeanor
that's what they're doing okay to remove the
governor you need to have a trial in the Senate so the Texas Senate is in charge
of removal the Texas House is in charge of impeachment charging the governor of
a crime or misdemeanor charging a judge of a crime or misdemeanor okay and you
just need a majority if all hundred and fifty members of the House are present
you only need 76 of them half plus one once a governor is impeached now you're
gonna have a trial in the Senate okay and in the Senate the Senate needs
two-thirds of the vote to convict the governor and remove that governor okay
so that's it's pretty similar to the u.s. process another difference however
is that in the state of Texas if a governor is impeached before the trial
in the Senate the governor is suspended from office and he has to be suspended
until after the trial if he or she is convicted by the Senate the governor
will be removed if he or she is found not guilty
the governor will not be suspended no more will resume the office at the US
level no suspension happens if a president is impeached the president is
still the acting president until after the trial in the Senate okay
the last article so we skip in article 16 the last article article 17 deals
with the amending process of the Texas Constitution to amend the Texas
Constitution pretty much we're gonna need four steps step one the amendment
needs to be proposed by the state legislature so you write down the
amendment and you propose the amendment when I say you write down the amendment
and you propose it I'm talking about the state legislate
okay once the amendment is proposed it needs to pass the House and the Senate
in Texas by two-thirds so the Texas House and the Texas Senate
they have to vote on that proposal they have to successfully pass the proposal
by 2/3 of the vote in each of the two chambers so you have to have 2/3 of the
votes in the house and 2/3 of the vote in the Texas Senate
once the a proposal is successfully passed by both chambers the third step
now is the publication of the proposal the proposal has to be published that it
will be available for the public in Texas to see to read okay so any
amendments passed by the legislature they need to be published okay you're
gonna see them you're gonna read them either for the easiest way to access
them by the way is the website of the Secretary of State if you want to know
about the amendments that are passed by the legislature just go to the Secretary
of State and you can read those amendments so you can familiarize
yourself with those amendments and hopefully go and vote for or against
those amendments when time comes for the election I encourage you I urge you to
participate in elections if you haven't registered yet go register to vote okay
the last step after the amendments are published the last step is the
amendments are put on the ballots okay and usually the election is the November
following the legislative session so the next legislative session is gonna take
place is going to start in January 2021 and usually it lasts until the end of
May sometimes early June last 440 days and during the legislative session they
will be proposing some amendments okay sometimes you have ten amendments less
more it depends okay and usually and in the November after the session so be on
the lookout for an election for the amendments in November 2021 and again I
urge you if you haven't registered yet go register so you can
participate in the next elections whether amendment elections or state
elections or Federal Elections okay voting is very very important so the
last step I said is that the amendments are put on the ballot and 50% plus one
voters have to vote for these amendments to become effective so you need pretty
much a simple majority of Texans to ratify these amendments so let me recap
quickly as far as the amendment process is concerned number one the amendments
must be proposed by the state legislature
number two the amendments have to pass the House and the Senate by 2/3 of the
votes in each chamber number 3 the amendments have to be published and
number 4 the majority of voters have to vote on these amendments to become
effective and this is the end of this lecture thank you very much
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