The State of Texas has many things going for itself from its growing economy to Chuck Norris but unfortunately its state constitution simply does not make the list. When it comes to Texas, political scientist John E. Paynter had one thing right in regards to its state constitution; it is a “perfect example of how not to write one”.
The current Texas constitution is commonly referred as the Constitution of 1876. Since 2015, the legislature has proposed a total of 673 amendments. Of the 673 only 179 have been defeated by Texas voters giving us a total of 491 times the constitution has been amended since its adoption in 1876 (LRL, 2015). That fact there leads us to one of the main things wrong with the Texas Constitutions; it’s an incredibly …show more content…
The attempt failed short by three votes. The attempt to clean up the ever-growing document failed and so to this day amendments are proposed and added every two years simply adding to the confusion of what the Texas state constitution is today. Unlike the U.S Constitution, the Texas Constitution requires the amendment to be passed by the state legislature and approved by voters. It makes for amendments to be easily added and extend the length of the document. The constitution takes the power from the elected and gives it to the electorate and while in theory this is an ideal practice in Texas it leads to low voter turnout and unnecessary voting in areas that are not of concern for all Texans. Voters must return to the polls every two years to either ratify or reject many issues that most don’t even consider issues and register minimum if any statewide attention. Turnout is very low and the 50% rule in Texas is nonexistent, the percentage is actually between 8-10percent often even lower. This is primarily due again because it has to be done every two years and the issues are not statewide issues. The truth is the majority if not all of say Dallas voters are simply not interested in whether El Paso County can tax itself to create a parks district …show more content…
The level of detail is incredible for such a poorly written document. The document covers literally just about everything from water boards, bond sales, parks administration, elections for sheriff and the sale of school lands. According the writers of the constitution the high level is nonexistent without confusing organization. Coverage of each individual subject is found in several parts of the document. The current Constitution contains gaps where entire sections have been repealed with sections having titles only but no text (Article XIII – Spanish and Mexican Land Titles repealed in 1969). Five of the seven original sections in Article XII covering "Private Corporations" have been repealed, as have seven of the eight sections in Article XIV on "Public Lands and the General Land Office." The result of all the work that has been done to the document makes it a patchwork of original provisions with added additions and deletions. Adding to the missing text and randomly inserted text the numbering is severely inconsistent. There are several subsections with the same number and some subsections without numbering at
The current Texas constitution is commonly referred as the Constitution of 1876. Since 2015, the legislature has proposed a total of 673 amendments. Of the 673 only 179 have been defeated by Texas voters giving us a total of 491 times the constitution has been amended since its adoption in 1876 (LRL, 2015). That fact there leads us to one of the main things wrong with the Texas Constitutions; it’s an incredibly …show more content…
The attempt failed short by three votes. The attempt to clean up the ever-growing document failed and so to this day amendments are proposed and added every two years simply adding to the confusion of what the Texas state constitution is today. Unlike the U.S Constitution, the Texas Constitution requires the amendment to be passed by the state legislature and approved by voters. It makes for amendments to be easily added and extend the length of the document. The constitution takes the power from the elected and gives it to the electorate and while in theory this is an ideal practice in Texas it leads to low voter turnout and unnecessary voting in areas that are not of concern for all Texans. Voters must return to the polls every two years to either ratify or reject many issues that most don’t even consider issues and register minimum if any statewide attention. Turnout is very low and the 50% rule in Texas is nonexistent, the percentage is actually between 8-10percent often even lower. This is primarily due again because it has to be done every two years and the issues are not statewide issues. The truth is the majority if not all of say Dallas voters are simply not interested in whether El Paso County can tax itself to create a parks district …show more content…
The level of detail is incredible for such a poorly written document. The document covers literally just about everything from water boards, bond sales, parks administration, elections for sheriff and the sale of school lands. According the writers of the constitution the high level is nonexistent without confusing organization. Coverage of each individual subject is found in several parts of the document. The current Constitution contains gaps where entire sections have been repealed with sections having titles only but no text (Article XIII – Spanish and Mexican Land Titles repealed in 1969). Five of the seven original sections in Article XII covering "Private Corporations" have been repealed, as have seven of the eight sections in Article XIV on "Public Lands and the General Land Office." The result of all the work that has been done to the document makes it a patchwork of original provisions with added additions and deletions. Adding to the missing text and randomly inserted text the numbering is severely inconsistent. There are several subsections with the same number and some subsections without numbering at