POLS 207 TAMU ACTUAL STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Know what is usually contained in state constitutions - ✔✔Govern governments , Set
government structure and organization , Distribute powers among branches of the
government , Prescribe the rules by which decisions are made , Limit the powers of
government and protect the rights of citizens
✔✔What is constitutionalism? - ✔✔Constitutionalism means "limited government." All
50 state constitutions limit the power of the state government similar to the way the Bill
of Rights limits the national government. Constitutions serve as legal protection.
Constitutional government places personal liberties and freedoms beyond the power of
the government.
✔✔Why are state constitutions long? - ✔✔So many policy decisions put into constitution
; Amending the state constitution is easy
✔✔Know the functions of counties and cities - ✔✔County collects tax (i.e. property tax)
and turns it into the state Register vehicle
Registering to vote
"Administrative arm of the state"
✔✔How do most states amend their constitution? - ✔✔There are four methods for
constitutional change in the states: legislative proposal, popular initiative, constitutional
convention, and constitutional commission.
✔✔What do special districts do? - ✔✔A special district is a unit of local government that
performs a single service in a limited geographic area, services such as education or
sanitation
✔✔What are the different types of elections? - ✔✔At-large systems, single-member
district systems, combination election systems, federal court intervention
, ✔✔At-large systems - ✔✔pure, by position, from residency district
✔✔Single-member district systems - ✔✔Candidates are chosen by voters in separate
geographically defined districts
✔✔Combination election systems - ✔✔Some officials are elected at large; others from
single-member districts
✔✔Federal court intervention - ✔✔Getting harder for cities to defend exclusive reliance
on at-large elections
✔✔What are the different political cultures? - ✔✔Moralistic, Individualistic,
Traditionalistic
✔✔Moralistic - ✔✔government is seen as a "good" thing, there to help man search for a
"good" society
✔✔Individualistic - ✔✔government is more of a market place concept, supply and
demand concept, government supplies itself only when the people demand it
✔✔Traditionalistic - ✔✔stresses that politics is for the elite, do not stress mass
participation, politicians say "want everyone to participate" unless not voting for them,
based on who you know and not what you know, economic elite run everything
✔✔What is the political culture of Texas? - ✔✔A mix of individualistic and traditionalistic
(want to limit government)
✔✔What is the philosophy behind the current Texas Constitution? - ✔✔The Texas
Constitution lays out the basic outline for the Texas government. It divide power into
three branches, following after the national government and creating a system of checks
and balances. The Texas Constitution is organized as follows: preamble, bill of rights,
powers and organization of government, education-taxation-and revenue (one "section),
methods of amendment, and other more specific articles. The state Constitution is
described by some as overly long, poorly written, extremely detailed and confusing in
organization. It is the second longest state constitution.
The Texas constitution is set up to allow a strong control of government by the people,
government powers to be limited, no debt limits for local and state governments, and to
promote agriculture interests such as homesteads.
Limited govt and limited powers for the Governor
In response to the oppressive Davis Administration
The Texas Const. does not have the necessary and proper clause like the US Const.
and other state Const. that provide flexibility in policy making. This means the Texas
Const. must be amended each time the Texas State govt wants to do something new or
different.
AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Know what is usually contained in state constitutions - ✔✔Govern governments , Set
government structure and organization , Distribute powers among branches of the
government , Prescribe the rules by which decisions are made , Limit the powers of
government and protect the rights of citizens
✔✔What is constitutionalism? - ✔✔Constitutionalism means "limited government." All
50 state constitutions limit the power of the state government similar to the way the Bill
of Rights limits the national government. Constitutions serve as legal protection.
Constitutional government places personal liberties and freedoms beyond the power of
the government.
✔✔Why are state constitutions long? - ✔✔So many policy decisions put into constitution
; Amending the state constitution is easy
✔✔Know the functions of counties and cities - ✔✔County collects tax (i.e. property tax)
and turns it into the state Register vehicle
Registering to vote
"Administrative arm of the state"
✔✔How do most states amend their constitution? - ✔✔There are four methods for
constitutional change in the states: legislative proposal, popular initiative, constitutional
convention, and constitutional commission.
✔✔What do special districts do? - ✔✔A special district is a unit of local government that
performs a single service in a limited geographic area, services such as education or
sanitation
✔✔What are the different types of elections? - ✔✔At-large systems, single-member
district systems, combination election systems, federal court intervention
, ✔✔At-large systems - ✔✔pure, by position, from residency district
✔✔Single-member district systems - ✔✔Candidates are chosen by voters in separate
geographically defined districts
✔✔Combination election systems - ✔✔Some officials are elected at large; others from
single-member districts
✔✔Federal court intervention - ✔✔Getting harder for cities to defend exclusive reliance
on at-large elections
✔✔What are the different political cultures? - ✔✔Moralistic, Individualistic,
Traditionalistic
✔✔Moralistic - ✔✔government is seen as a "good" thing, there to help man search for a
"good" society
✔✔Individualistic - ✔✔government is more of a market place concept, supply and
demand concept, government supplies itself only when the people demand it
✔✔Traditionalistic - ✔✔stresses that politics is for the elite, do not stress mass
participation, politicians say "want everyone to participate" unless not voting for them,
based on who you know and not what you know, economic elite run everything
✔✔What is the political culture of Texas? - ✔✔A mix of individualistic and traditionalistic
(want to limit government)
✔✔What is the philosophy behind the current Texas Constitution? - ✔✔The Texas
Constitution lays out the basic outline for the Texas government. It divide power into
three branches, following after the national government and creating a system of checks
and balances. The Texas Constitution is organized as follows: preamble, bill of rights,
powers and organization of government, education-taxation-and revenue (one "section),
methods of amendment, and other more specific articles. The state Constitution is
described by some as overly long, poorly written, extremely detailed and confusing in
organization. It is the second longest state constitution.
The Texas constitution is set up to allow a strong control of government by the people,
government powers to be limited, no debt limits for local and state governments, and to
promote agriculture interests such as homesteads.
Limited govt and limited powers for the Governor
In response to the oppressive Davis Administration
The Texas Const. does not have the necessary and proper clause like the US Const.
and other state Const. that provide flexibility in policy making. This means the Texas
Const. must be amended each time the Texas State govt wants to do something new or
different.
