The Texas Constitution

The “Texas constitution is one the of longest and oldest still in effect. The Alabama Constitution, although ratified 25 years after Texas' had been deemed the longest and most chaotic having been amended almost 800 times” (Ballotpedia, 2016). The Texas Constitution allows for some interesting differences in comparison to the United States Constitution. The one that will be focused on is the difference in the Executive Branch. The Executive Branch of the United States is controlled by the President. He (or she) is the head of the country and many other aspects of government. The President retains a lot of power. However, they have the Cabinet, which is the appointed heads of many different departments. They are also advisors to the President, …show more content…
“Article IV carefully outlines seven offices of the executive branch. All but one are to be filled through popular elections….Most portions of this article (sections 4-16) focus on the governor’s powers and duties. Many of the remaining sections cover the other six executive offices. By making six of these senior executive authorities separately elected (the secretary of state is appointed by the governor rather than elected), the framers divided and dispersed this branch’s authority and ability to govern actively. Thus, it created six possible obstruction points and checks to activities, programs, or plans of each of the executive department officials. Today there are just five, as the office of the treasurer was abolished in 1996” (The Texas Politics Project, …show more content…
Norton & Company, Inc. (2013), “Texas governors do not have much power, but historically they have had larger-than-life personalities. The Texas governor is probably the most visible state official and is among the highest-paid governors in the nation. The governor, however, is ranked next to last when it comes to executive powers…Elections are partisan, and each member of the plural executive may choose to operate independently of the others. At times, members of the plural executive may be in competition with each other, often due to conflicting personal ambitions…The plural executive limits the power of executive officials and makes these officers more accountable to the public, but it can be inefficient at times…Compared with that of the president, the power of the Texas governor is seriously circumscribed by the plural executive…The state’s dispersal of power allows interest groups more opportunities to influence government and public policy.” It seems to contend that the governor in the state of Texas is more of a figurehead than a real in-charge position. They are the ones waving at parties or taking pictures with the people. However, the division of power basically makes that part of their only job. As stated before, one would assume a division of power in the Executive Branch would reduce issues. The one problem with that idea is that everyone comes in with a different personality and set of ideals. This creates a possibly negative environment