National and State governments are organized in similar ways. Both have powers derived from the people, three branches of government, checks and balances on political power, individual rights, and federalism. They may have many similarities, but they also have many differences which sets them apart from each other. The Texas Constitution was written to limit the expansion of governmental authority, while the U.S. Constitution was written to act effectively in the public welfare. Over the years, the National government has indeed expanded. Federalism is power divided by a constitution between a central and regional government. The U.S. Constitution gave Congress many enumerated rights, as well as implied rights which are mentioned in the necessary and proper clause …show more content…
The judicial system in the U.S. government allows for only a Supreme Court, and they can create any lower necessary courts. The Texas government has a Supreme Court to hear civil cases and one court for criminal appeals to hear criminal cases, along with courts of appeal, district courts, commissioner’s court, and justice of the peace courts. For the U.S. judicial branch, the president appoints the judges with approval by the Senate, while in the Texas judicial branch the judges are elected by the voters. All of the state judges are bound by the U.S. Constitution, which makes the Texas Constitution weaker than the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution includes the supremacy clause, which states that it is the law of the land. It says that if for some reason there is a conflict between the two constitutions, the U.S. Constitution will overrule Texas’. The most recent ruling on same sex marriage revealed this power. Some states had laws preventing same sex marriage, but once the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional, the laws were no longer valid and they must recognize same sex
Federalism is the division of power between national and state government. Federalism was supported by Doc A, an excerpt of The Federalist Papers; A series of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in support of the Constitution. The following quote is an excerpt from Federalist Paper #51, written in 1778 by James Madison. “In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and the portion allotted to each subdivided among districts and separate departments.” In the aforementioned quote, James Madison is referring to the national state governments. Due to federalism, power is split between local and federal governments, preventing all power being controlled by one group. As a result, the two governments each have their own powers, which prevents total rule from a national or state government. Additionally, the power in these branches are split into three more branches. This prevents any one branch of government from having total power, which guards against
In my analysis of the Texas Constitution I will assess the three branches of our State Government, the Legislative Branch, Executive Branch and finally the Judicial Branch. Our State Government resembles our National Government in various ways but also in very different ways which we will review in this essay. I will identify a handful of criticisms and problems associated with the provisions in each of these branches of our State Government and identify suggested reforms that many feel are needed.
Federalism is a dual (split in two) system of sovereignty, splitting power between a central government and various state governments. Both the federal and state governments can directly govern citizens through their own officials and laws. The resulting Constitution allowed powers for both federal and state governments. Each had some separate powers and some shared powers.
The U.S Constitution also contains articles the Texas Constitution doesn't. The U.S. constitution talks about what privileges the states have. The rules they have to abide by to make the nation one. In the Texas Constitution it goes more into depth about what the state wants the people to abide by. The U.S. Constitution also talks about how our
The U.S. constitution and the Texas constitution have similarities and differences. Both constitutions have a Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is a summary of the rights given to all people. These constitutions also talk about suffrage and taxes. Just like how both of these constitutions have similarities, they also have differences. The Texas constitution is longer than the U.S. constitution and discusses the rights first. It also deals with state and local issues not brought up in the U.S. constitution. Both constitutions have a Bill of Rights, but the Texas constitution discusses citizens’ rights at the beginning of article one. The Texas Bill of Rights has the same protections for citizens like the U.S. Bill of Rights does, but the Texas Bill of Rights extends beyond federal protections. The executive branch is the branch that the president is in charge of. The definition of the executive branch is “The branch of federal and state government that is broadly
The Texas constitution is very long and detailed. The Texas constitution is long and detailed because of provisions that specifically tells the government what they can or can’t do. Now with the Texas constitution the government does not have the option about interpreting it to their advantage or disadvantage. Instead any person with the power inside of the government, if they wish to act outside of laws stated in the Texas constitution must have to amend the constitution. Now for the United States constitution, it is very brief and broad which allows the government to interpret it any way they would like in a sense. By doing this they can claim their implied powers to meet any specific circumstances that must do with public policy. When it comes to civil liberties the United states constitution are listed as the bill of rights which are just amendments listed versus the Texas constitution which are also called bill of rights but are stated in the first
When Texas became a state in 1845, judges were appointed by the governor with state consent, but in but since 1876, judges at all levels of courts have been elected by the
This constitution of United Mexican States provided for a very weak national government and the powers of the government and its states are not defined which caused increasing tension between each state.
The government of the state of Texas is a difficult and complicated institution that is composed of many different levels. The question comes in to everyone's mind at one time or another whether or not to trust the government. It could be that people believe that the officials will take advantage of their power, or simply people don't like the idea of being controlled by someone who is not a family member or friend. To avoid this centralized power, the government is divided into stages and this is a reasonable ground for trusting the government. Government runs this state and it does deserve to be trusted.
The government of the state of Texas is a difficult and complicated institution that is composed of many different levels. The question comes in to everyone's mind at one time or another whether or not to trust the government. It could be that people believe that the officials will take advantage of their power, or simply people don't like the idea of being controlled by someone who is not a family member or friend. To avoid this centralized power, the government is divided into stages and this is a reasonable ground for trusting the government. Government runs this state and it does deserve to be trusted.
“The majority of the cases heard by this court are appeals from appellate rulings by the intermediate Courts of Appeals. The Supreme Court of Texas also has the authority to make legal determinations in instances in which no other court has jurisdiction-basically anything that does not fall under the jurisdiction and responsibilities of other courts becomes the responsibility of the Supreme Court. It can also issue order to enforce its jurisdiction as the highest civil court in the state.” (university of Texas at Austin , 2016) The court also has a lot of other duties. They make rules on trials and appeals. The Court of Criminal Appeal also do this but the difference is the type of cases they hear. They have more duties than the Criminal Court of Appeals. “These include establishing the rules of administration for the Texas judicial system, as well as the rules of operation of the state Office of Court Administration, the Commission on Judicial Conduct, the State Bar of Texas, and other state agencies in the judicial branch of government.” (university of Texas at Austin , 2016) This in my opinion, makes the Supreme Court of Texas the most powerful court in
When it comes to federalism, it is not the easiest to pinpoint the exact meaning. Federalism can be defined as the distribution of power in an organization between a central authority and a voting member of a community (Merriam, Webster). It can be described as one of two fundamental organizational principles of the U.S Constitution. The other basic organizational principle, such as separation of powers, involves the distribution of powers within the National Government. It is said that federalism is the single most important protection for our freedom ( Nagel, 181). There are many different types of federalism, including Dual, Cooperative, Regulated, and New federalism.
Federalism makes most policies lean more locally. States could tailor policy to fit their specific needs. For example, Texas has a very different social welfare system even under the supervision of the central federal system. As the state has populations, wealth, resources, etc.,
Despite, all of the revisions the Texas Constitution still has its strengths and weaknesses. The strengths it has a clear definition of restrictions on what government officials can and can’t do. It has the Bill of
Federalism is a system of government that divides power between a national government and a regional government with the use of a constitution. Throughout the United States history, federalism has played a significant role in the constitution and the system of government adopted by the United States of America. Federalism has also changed throughout the course of America's history to fit the constitution and the government.