Texas Politics Today 2015-2016 Edition: Final Flashcards

According to your text, which statement best describes the Texas legislatures?

Once a special session of the legislature has been called, the agenda is determined by the

What taxes are the major source of revenue for virtually all local government, cities, counties, and special districts?

The salary of the governor is determined by the

Which is not an example of a civil suit?

Texas officially uses which method to select state judges?

The governor may be removed from office only by impeachment with conviction by the

____ refers to a situation in which the prosecutor and defense attorney negotiate an agreement whereby the accused pleads guilty to a less serious crime than originally charged or in return for a reduction in the sentence to be served.

What percentage of the 4.6 million Texans living in poverty receive welfare benefits?

____ are divisions of standing committees.

The most costly service in Texas is

What is the most important constitutional duty for the comptroller of public accounts?

Which two individuals are the presiding officers of the state legislature

Which veto gives the governor the opportunity to shape legislature?

Which statement about Texas's executive branch is incorrect?

Legislative power is concentrated in the offices of which two state officials?

Currently there are ____ district courts, all of which function as a single-judge courts.

Which of the following is not a formal qualification to become a member of the Texas house of representatives?

The line of succession places which official next in line, should the governor vacate office?

The Texas governor lacks ____ power that is available to man other chief executives, including the president of the U.S.

Which of the following is not a criticism of the Texas method of selecting judges?

Which of the following income groups in Texas paid the highest percentage in effective taxes?

Which of the following is not true about recent state budgets?

An item veto allows the governor to do which of the following?

The general sales tax yielded what percentage of the state's revenue?

Which term best describes the executive branch?

Appellate proceedings are based on

All of the following items have a hidden tax included in their price except

The Texas court of criminal appeals has one presiding judge and ___ other judges.

In 1931, Texas adopted a tax on

The burden of proof standard used in civil cases is

Articles of impeachment in the Texas Senate against a governor require a vote of

One of the most important distinctions between civil and criminal cases involves the issue of

Municipal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over the following except

Most states use the ___ system to select their judges

Property taxes are the major source of revenue for virtually all of the following except

Texas has how many county courts?

Which of the following is incorrect?

The justice of the peace is elected for a ____ term.

The supreme court consists of one chief justice and ___ associate justices.

In the history of Texas, the only other female other than Miriam Ferguson, was

To prove a defendant guilty, in a criminal case, the state must provide

A criminal case does not involve

Which profession is most frequently represented in the U.S legislature?

Which of the following statements best describes a Texas governor's term in office?

How many courts of appeals does Texas have?

Which of the following statements about court of appeals judges is incorrect?

Constitutionally, a state-of-the-state message must be given by the governor

Which of the following is not true about civil cases?

____ refers to the power of an appellate court to review the decisions of a lower court.

An excise or "sin" tax is levied on the sale, manufacture, or use of all of the following except

As of January 2014, the state of Texas had executed ____ people since 1982.

The most influential bargaining tools for the governor are

What percentage of Americans pays no income taxes at all?

____ is the power to try a case being heard for the first time.

At the beginning of each legislative session, the ____ reports to the legislature the total amount of revenues expected from current taxes and other sources.

The Texas constitution requires the speaker of the house to be selected by

The vast majority of cases heard by municipal courts involve

Which group is underrepresented in the legislature relative to their percentages in the general population?

Which of the following does not provide an opportunity for the governor to have greater influence on both the legislative and administrative policy?

If the legislature is in session and the governor refuses to sign a bill,

Advocates of expanding Medicaid argue that failing to expand the program will harm

While Justice Roberts did not agree that the federal government had a right to impose an individual mandate, the mandate remained intact because the penalty was seen as part of the federal government's right to

Subcommittees are divisions of

The Texas governor has never been allowed to use the

HB 2 requires that all abortion clinic doctors must possess

In a civil case, the individual filing the case is referred to as

The kind of ballot that results from the election of a large number of independent executive and judicial officers is a

Which of the following is not true of the Texas legislature?

Which statement is correct regarding term limitations of legislatures in the Texas state constitution?

Texas has a plural executive, which means that

District court jurisdiction extends to all of the following except

Which is another name for the merit selection of judges?

The constitution stipulates that state judges are to be selected by which method?

Texas's largest single individual revenue source is

Selective sales taxes in Texas are

Public confidence in justice of the peace courts is

The justice of the peace courts is authorized by the

What is Texas's general sales tax on retail purchases?

Broad-based taxes collected on the retail price of most items are called

Texas has a ____ system of courts as a last resort

A system that allows the chief executive to appoint and remove top-level administrators, thereby giving the chief executive more power over the administration is called

Which statement about the legislature's power to override bills vetoed by the governor is incorrect?

The legislature has the constitutional power to override the governor's veto

Final passage of a bill requires a vote of

During the 2014-15 fiscal year, what percentage of estimated Texas revenues came from the federal government?

The merit plan for selecting judges is sometimes referred to as

Tax rates that place more of a burden on low and middle-income taxpayers than on wealthier ones are called

The governor's ability to influence the making and executing of government policy depends on all the following except his or her

An informal power of the governor not mentioned in the constitution or the law is the

If the office of the governor is vacated, who assumes the office?

Which court has exclusive jurisdiction over automatic appeals in death penalty cases?

Which of the following is not a provision of the federal Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act (Health Care Reform)?

Controversy surrounding the Affordable Care Act is an example of the friction inherent in

One of the most persuasive tools the governor has is the

Which court has exclusive jurisdiction to try violations of city ordinances?

The Texas constitution requires that the county judge be elected by voters for a four-year term and be

Compared to those of other states, the governor of Texas has

Texas is first in the nation for

Controversy surrounding the Affordable Care Act is an example of the friction inherent in