Texas Government

by Andrew Teas, Kevin Jefferies, Mark W. Shomaker, Penny L. Watson, and Terry Gilmour

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This text examines Texas government and politics, including political culture, the Texas Constitution, Texas' role in the federal system; individuals' political values and participation, interest groups, parties, elections and campaigns, the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, and fiscal, social, and economic policies.

Description from LibreTexts.

Publisher
Houston Community College, Alvin Community College, and Midland College
Subjects
Social Sciences, Political Science and Civics
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, as LibreTexts states it. Non-commercial use only.
Who can read
Teens profiles and older, judged from its title and subjects

Contents

LibreTexts writes equations in TeX, and here they show as TeX; the PDF has them typeset.

  1. Front Matter
  2. TitlePage
  3. InfoPage
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Licensing
  6. 1: Political Culture and the People of Texas
  7. 1.1: Brief Political History of Texas
  8. 1.2: Political Culture of Texas
  9. 1.3: Geography of Texas
  10. 1.4: Industries That Shaped Texas Politics
  11. 1.5: The People of Texas
  12. 1.6: Conclusion
  13. 2: The American Federal System
  14. 2.1: Constitutional Roots of Federalism
  15. 2.2: What Is Federalism?
  16. 2.3: The Role of the States in the American Federal System
  17. 2.4: Expanded Federal Government- The Stages of Federalism
  18. 2.5: Recent Federalism Cases involving Texas
  19. 2.6: Conclusion
  20. 3: Texas Constitution
  21. 3.1: State Constitutions
  22. 3.2: The Constitutions of Texas 1812–1876
  23. 3.3: The Texas Constitution Today
  24. 3.4: Prospects for Revision
  25. 3.5: Conclusion
  26. 3.6: Key Terms and Concepts
  27. 4: Political Parties in Texas
  28. 4.1: What Is a Political Party?
  29. 4.2: A History of Political Parties in Texas
  30. 4.3: Welcome to the Party! Examining Party Organization
  31. 4.4: Conclusion
  32. 4.5: Key Terms and Concepts
  33. 5: Elections and Political Participation in Texas
  34. 5.1: The History of Voting in Texas
  35. 5.2: Voting in Texas Today
  36. 5.3: Voter Turnout and Political Participation- Are the Voting Winds Changing in Texas?
  37. 5.4: Barriers to Voting
  38. 5.5: Campaigns in Texas
  39. 5.6: Types of Elections
  40. 5.7: Conclusion
  41. 5.8: Critical Thinking Questions
  42. 6: Interest Groups and Lobbying in Texas
  43. 6.1: Scorned and Tolerated- The Role of Interest Groups in Democracy
  44. 6.2: Why Interest Groups Form in Texas
  45. 6.3: Types of Interest Groups
  46. 6.4: Texas Interests Groups- Tactics, Financing, and Influence
  47. 6.5: Regulation of Interest Groups in Texas
  48. 6.6: Conclusion
  49. 6.7: Critical Thinking Questions
  50. 7: The Texas Legislature
  51. 7.1: Structure of the Texas Legislature
  52. 7.2: Membership in the Texas Legislature
  53. 7.3: Role and Responsibilities of the Texas Legislature
  54. 7.4: Leadership and Organization of the Texas Legislature
  55. 7.5: How a Bill Becomes a Law in Texas
  56. 7.6: Other Players in the Legislative Process
  57. 7.7: Issues and Controversies - Redistricting and Representation
  58. 7.8: Conclusion
  59. 7.9: Critical Thinking Questions
  60. 8: The Executive Branch and the Governor in Texas
  61. 8.1: So, the Texas Governor Is Like the U.S. President, Right?
  62. 8.2: Choose Me! What Does It Take To Be Governor?
  63. 8.3: So, What Does the Governor Actually Do?
  64. 8.4: The Texas Bureaucracy
  65. 8.5: Conclusion
  66. 8.6: Critical Thinking Questions
  67. 9: The Evolution of the Law in Texas
  68. 9.1: Types of Law and Jurisdiction
  69. 9.2: The Structure of the Texas Court System
  70. 9.3: Texas Legal Process
  71. 9.4: Judicial Selection Processes
  72. 9.5: Conclusion
  73. 9.6: Critical Thinking Questions
  74. 10: Local Government
  75. 10.1: The Relationship Between Local, State, and National Government
  76. 10.2: Municipal (City) Government
  77. 10.3: County Governments
  78. 10.4: Special Purpose Districts
  79. 10.5: Conclusion
  80. 10.6: Critical Thinking Questions
  81. 11: Public Policy in Texas
  82. 11.1: What Is Public Policy?
  83. 11.2: The Public Policy Process
  84. 11.3: Federalism and Public Policy
  85. 11.4: Areas of Public Policy in Texas
  86. 11.5: The Relationship Between State and Local Policy in Texas
  87. 11.6: Why Public Policy? The Market and Market Failure
  88. 11.7: Conclusion
  89. 12: The Criminal Justice System in Texas
  90. 12.1: Sources and Hierarchy of Law
  91. 12.2: Criminal Law, Justice, and Offenses
  92. 12.3: Texas Criminal Justice Process
  93. 12.4: Crime and Criminal Defense
  94. 12.5: Civil Liberties- Protecting the Rights of the Criminally Accused
  95. 12.6: The Texas Correctional System
  96. 12.7: Recent Reforms of the Texas Criminal Justice System
  97. 12.8: Prospects for Future Criminal Justice Reform
  98. 12.9: Conclusion
  99. 12.10: Critical Thinking Questions
  100. 13: State Finance
  101. 13.1: What Is State Finance?
  102. 13.2: The Development of a Budgeting Process
  103. 13.3: The Texas Treasury
  104. 13.4: Revenue, Funds, and Expenditures
  105. 13.5: Conclusion
  106. Back Matter
  107. Index
  108. Detailed Licensing