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102 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
The commonly used conceptual model to describe the mutual support and understanding that exists between the legislative committees, bureaucratic agencies, and special interest groups.
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Iron Triangle
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The conceptual model for the relationship between legislative committees, bureaucratic agencies, and special interest groups that also adds the Governor and legislative leadership as influential powers.
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Iron Texas Star
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What are the roles of the Governor?
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Chief of State, CEO, Chief Budget Officer, Commander in Chief (State)
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What is the role of the office of the Lt. Governor?
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2nd Highest Ranking Executive Official, Four Year Term, Senate President, Primarily Legislative Role.
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Who is the elected official that also serves as the state's tax collector?
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Comptroller of Public Accounts
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Which commission is the full-time, three-member panel elected to regulate oil and gas and some transportation entities?
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Railroad Commission
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Who governs public education in Texas?
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TEA, State Board of Education, Governor appointed commissioner of education
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Who is the state's chief counsel or legal officer?
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Attorney General
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Who is responsible for providing the revenue estimate for the state of Texas' biennial budget?
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Comptroller of Public Accounts
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How long are the terms of the Governor and Lt. Governor?
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4 Years
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Which agencies are run by full-time paid commission?
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Public Utilities Commission, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Texas Workforce Commission, Board of Pardons and Parolees, Railroad Commission.
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Who is the current Governor?
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Rick Perry
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Who is the current Lt. Governor?
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David Dewhurst
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Who is the current Comptroller of Public Accounts?
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Susan Combs
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Who is the current Attorney General?
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Greg Abbott
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Who is the current Land Commissioner?
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Jerry Patterson
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Who are the 2 US Senators from Texas?
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John Cornyn and Ted Cruz
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Party in the ? refers to voters that affiliate with that party.
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Electorate
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What is the main link between people and government?
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Political Parties
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What are the three distinct characteristics of American political parties?
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Decentralization, Pragmatism, Two-Partyism
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What was the dominant political party in Texas from 1873-1978?
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Democrats
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How many members are in the TX House of Representatives?
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150
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How many members are in the TX Senate?
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31
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Who calls special sessions and how long can they last?
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Governor; can last up to 30 days
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How long and how often do general sessions occur?
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Biennially (every 2 years) and last 140 days
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Where must any bill increasing taxes or raising money for use by the state start?
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TX House of Representatives
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An engrossed bill that originated in the House of Representatives is sent where?
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Senate
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An enrolled bill that originated in the House of Representatives is sent where?
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Governor's Office
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When a bill first comes up for consideration by the entire house or senate, it receives which reading?
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Second
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The presiding officer assigns the bill to a committee after which reading?
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First
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Any member may offer an amendment that must be approved by a majority on the bill after which reading?
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Second
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Amendments require a two-thirds majority on which reading of a bill?
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Third
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Who is the current Speaker of the House, and how are they chosen?
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Joe Straus; Speaker's Race
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Who is the current President of the Senate and how are they chosen?
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David Dewhurst; elected
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The President of the Senate officially appoints the total membership of all committees and chair and vice chair, but an informal seniority system allows Senators to choose the committee of their choice until how many committee positions are filled?
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1/3
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What is the legislative procedure whereby a pigeonholed bill can be rescued from committee?
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Discharge Petition
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Senate rules allow a senator to stop consideration of a bill by requiring that the chair of the committee considering the bill give 48 hour advance notice as to when the committee will hold its hearing on the bill, thereby delaying the hearing for 48 hours is called what?
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Tagging
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What are the institutional tools/powers of the presiding officers, Senate President and House Speaker?
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Appoint members and serve as chair and vice-chair positions on the Legislative Budget Board, and Legislative Council and appoint members and serve on Sunset Advisory Commission.
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What is the first bill placed on the Senate calendar that serves the purpose of suspending the regular order of business?
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Bottleneck/Blocking Bill
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The senate calendar listing bills on which the author or sponsor has given notice of intent to move to suspend the regular order of business so that the Senate may consider them is known as what?
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Intent Calendar
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What are the requirements to become a member of the Texas Senate?
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26 years of age, US Citizen, Resident of Texas for 5 years
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What are the requirements to become a member of the Texas House of Representatives?
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21 years of age, US Citizen, Resident of Texas for 2 years
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What are the Republican versus Democrat statistics of the 81st, 82nd, and 83rd legislatures?
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House of Representatives: (81) R:75 D:73 (82) R:101 D:49 (83)R:102 D:48
Senate: (81)R:20D:11 (82)R:19D:12 (83)R:19D:12 |
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Quorum
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Amount of Legislature that must be present (2/3)
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Political Participation
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Any attempt to support or influence politics and government
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Political Trust
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An individual's belief/trust in public officials to make decisions best for the public/represent public accurately
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Internal Political Efficacy
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An individual's belief of their political effectiveness (their vote does/doesn't matter)
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What kind of primary does Texas have?
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Legally: Closed
Functionally: Open |
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What are the two legal restrictions of primaries?
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Can't vote in more than one primary & Cannot participate in another party's runoff or election
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Lobbying
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Activity used to persuade policymakers therefore influencing public policy
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Interest Groups
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Private structures that seek to influence public policy
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Political Action Committee (PAC)
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Fundraising
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PIG-PIE-PO
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Party in Government
Party in Electorate Party Organization |
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Conventional Political Participation
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Use of routine and legitimate institutions provided by government
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Unconventional Political Participation
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Activities outside the usual and acceptable routes for affecting government, and that challenge and oppose policy (can possibly be in illegal forms)
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What are all the possible election dates in Texas?
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1st Saturday in February or May
2nd Saturday in September 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November |
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Closed Primary
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Must state party affiliation
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Open Primary
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Do not have to state party affiliation
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What is the purpose of special elections?
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Fill vacancies, vote on proposed amendments or local elections
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Straight Ticket Voting
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Voting for one party on everything
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Split Ticket Voting
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Voting for different parties on different things
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What are the three things voting choice focuses on?
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Voter ID, Candidate Characteristics, Issues
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Who was the 1961 US Senator elected from TX?
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John Tower
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Who was the 1978 TX Governor?
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William Clements
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Who was elected as US Senator (in TX) in 1992?
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Kay Bailey Hutchinson
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What is significant about the year 1998?
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Republicans won every statewide election
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What is significant about the year 1996?
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Republicans won control of Senate
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What is significant about the year 2002?
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Republicans won control of the House of Representatives
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Realignment
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Leaving one party and joining another
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Dealignment
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Leave party and joining no party
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Electioneering
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The process of getting someone elected
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Explain the Seven types of committees.
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Standing: Biennium; Substantive: Legislature is primary duty; Procedural: deals with legislative rules and calendars; Special/Ad Hoc: deals with special issues; Interim: Between sessions; Joint: Members from both chambers present; Conference: Joint for specific bill
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List the four committee functions and powers.
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Division of labor, competency/expertise, bureaucratic oversight, killing bills
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List the four types of legislative actions.
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Bills, Joint Resolution, Simple Resolution, Concurrent Resolution
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List the four types of bills.
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General, Special, Local, Bracket
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Requirements to become Governor and term length.
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30 years of age, US Citizen, Texas Resident of 5 years
(4 Year terms) |
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List the Governor's legislative roles.
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Line-item veto, veto power, veto threat, bargaining and pre-session bargaining, special sessions, message power, Governor's message stating policy goals and budget authorizations
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List the Evaluation of Governor's powers.
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Appointments, removal powers, planning powers, chief of state, budget, law enforcement, military, clemency.
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Who am I? I am the state's Chief Legal Officer, I defend state laws, enforce antitrust and consumer protection laws, child support, civil lawyer, and negotiate settlements in federal and state courts.
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Attorney General
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Who am I? I succeed the Governor if office is vacated, I have a limited executive role, I am primarily legislative, elected independently of the Governor.
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Lieutenant Governor/ President of Senate
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Who am I? I am the primary tax administrator, accounting officer, and revenue estimator. I prepare revenue estimates and the projected revenue needed to prepare the 2 year budget. I have additional authority to conduct and manage audits of local school districts, and additional auditing oversight for state agencies.
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Comptroller of Public Accoutns
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Who am I? I manage public lands and am responsible for veteran loan programs.
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Land Commissioner
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Who am I? I promote and regulate agricultural interests. I provide support for research and education, consumer safety, and protection laws, standardization &implementation, weights and measures, packaging, labeling, marketing.
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Agricultural Commissioner
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Who am I? I am a part of a commission where we serve 6 year staggered terms, my commission regulates intrastate Railroad and Trucking, oversees regulation of oil and gas, rail safety, and mining.
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Railroad Commissioners
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Who am I? I am a board of 15 elected members from single member districts determined by legislature. We oversee education spending, textbook selection, day to day administration of education done by TEA, Commission of Education and Governor appointment.
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State Board of Education
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Redistricting
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Redrawing district lines, usually in response to something
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Gerrymandering
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Manipulation of district lines to benefit certain political parties or groups
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Malapportionment
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An inappropriate or unfair proportional distribution to a legislative body (ratio of voters to representatives is off)
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Plural Executive
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Agency heads are elected; Governor cannot appoint agency heads (reduces Governor's power)
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Rick Perry's numerous vetoes following the 2001 legislative session became known as what?
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Father's Day Massacre
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If the executive branch of TX were reorganized into a cabinet system, the Governor's office would be _____.
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Strengthened
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What is the role of bureaucracy?
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Implementation of legislative policy.
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What is the TX secretary of state responsible for?
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Keeper of state records (election data, state laws and regulation, public notifications and state charters)
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A government regulatory agency is said to be captured when it consistently makes decisions favorable to ___?
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The private interests it regulates
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Most state agencies are organized according to what type of system?
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Board and Commission System
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The concept of good government includes the idea that agencies should be more open to ____?
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The public
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A political party's official platform is adopted at what convention?
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State Convention
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The final results of each party's primary votes are certified at what convention?
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State Convention
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Who administers the funds by general elections?
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The State
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How has early voting effected voter turnout?
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It hasn't
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In which type of election is voter turnout the highest?
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Presidential Election
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The Texas Constitution grants who the veto power?
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The Governor
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