Comprehensive Exam Flashcards
(58 cards)
How many votes must a candidate receive to win a Texas primary election?
50% + 1
A filibuster can be used…
ONLY IN THE SENATE to delay and maybe kill a legislative measure
A grand jury commission can…
Select Texas grand jurors
What is included as part of a protected homestead?
- a home and 200 acres of land (rural areas)
- a home and 10 acres of land (in the city)
- cemetery lots (both)
What countries utilize a system of government that is divided and shared between a national or central government and state or regional governments?
America, Canada, and Mexico
A writ of habeas corpus is…
A court order requiring that The prisoner be presented in person and legal cause shown for imprisonment
Because Texas is a __________, Alimony…
Alimony Must be paid after 5 years of marriage b/c Texas is a community property state
Although Texas law protects the property rights of owners, …
An owner may not misuse it
An item veto…
Allows the governor to remove funds for specific items or projects without killing the entire bill
Article 3 of the Texas constitution…
Assigns power to a bicameral legislature consisting of the 31 members of the Senate and the 150 members of the House of Representatives
Article 4, section 1 of the U.S. Constitution requires…
States to recognize the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state, the Full Faith and Credit Clause, and it contributes to the federalism question because it mandates that Texas recognizes the official documents and court rulings from other states
At-large city elections occur…
In many cities where some or all of the city council members are elected by voters of the entire municipality rather than form neighborhood districts
By the time a legislative session begins, a lobbyist must have successfully…
- memorized the faces of the members
- their non-legislative occupation
- the countries they represent
- established rapport through contact with the members of the legislature
- know the legislative issues- including the arguments of opponents
Citizens generally obey law because either it is…
- the law
- they fear punishment
- it reflects their values
What in the states is based in large part on centuries-old English common law?
Civil law in the states
Concurrent powers are…
Those powers delegated to both the national and state governments
Demands for state services have…
Increased over time making it a struggle to balance the state budget from time to time
Dual federalism is the concept that…
The federal government and state governments are both sovereign within their sphere of influence
Ex parte Rodriguez was the U.S. Supreme Court case that…
Voided the Texas’ governor’s election of 1873
What percent of Texans believe we spend too little on elementary and secondary education?
53%
Some Elements of the constitution of the Republic of Texas, which had been provisions of Spanish-Mexican Law included:
Homestead protections, protection for a wife’s property rights and the concept of community property
In what did James Madison criticize political parties
Federalist Paper #10
In spite of the 10th amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court in McCulloch v. Maryland…
Permitted federal action through implied powers
In the 1989 case Edgewood v. Kirby, the Texas Supreme Court…
Unanimously declared that the huge disparities between rich and poor school districts was unacceptable and ordered changes in the financing of Texas’s public schools
