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8.5: Conclusion

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    The fragmented executive branch of Texas government means that Texas has a plural executive and the governor must share executive power with a number of other elected officials and appointees who are relatively independent and autonomous. Elected executive branch officials, in addition to the governor, are the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, the comptroller of public accounts, the commissioner of the General Land Office, and the commissioner of agriculture.

    Although the office of Texas governor is constitutionally weak, the governor performs a number of important functions for the state: chief executive, commander in chief, chief legislator, chief of state, chief intergovernmental diplomat, and chief administrator. In addition, the governor's office has effective control over regional planning and federal grant applications, a line-item veto over appropriations and a general veto over legislation, command over the militia and law enforcement agencies, a variety of leadership opportunities, and some control over the presiding officers of appointed boards and commissions.

    Two measures are used to harness the Texas state bureaucracy: Sunshine Laws (freedom of information) and sunset legislation. Traditional controls such as the legislative audit and the legislature's power to investigate agency activities also help promote bureaucratic accountability. Suggested reforms for improving the state bureaucracy include reducing state employment levels and curbing future growth, implementing a uniform state payroll system, and creating a cabinet- style executive branch government by consolidating hundreds of state agencies into a smaller number of executive departments that would report directly to the governor.

    Key terms and Concepts

    appointment powers – the power of the chief executive, whether the president of the United States or the governor of the state, to appoint persons to office.

    attorney general – an elected state official that serves as the state's chief civil lawyer

    clemency – acts regarded as merciful that typically involve leniency or moderation in the severity of punishment due

    comptroller – an elected state official who directs the collection of taxes and other revenues, and estimates revenues for the budgeting process.

    impeachment – a process of formally accusing an official improper behavior in office, followed by a trial, and if the official is convicted, removal from office.
    land commissioner: an elected state official that acts as the manager of the most publicly-owned lands.

    incumbent – the person who is currently holding office; this is usually used in times of reelection.

    lieutenant governor – the second-highest elected official in the state and president of the state senate

    line-item veto – the power that enables the governor to strike out parts (or lines) of an appropriations bill rather than the whole of the bill..

    martial law – the power to suspend civil government temporarily and replace it with government by the state militia and/or law enforcement agencies.

    message power – a formal means of the governor expressing policy preferences in the "State of the State" message, a biennial budget message, and often "emergency" messages that attract the attention of the media and set the agenda for state government.

    patronage – the practice or rewarding political supporters often through appointments to office plural executive – executive power divided among several other officials whereby a group of officers or major officials make decisions or give orders typically the responsibility of an individual executive officer or official. In Texas, the power of the governor is limited and distributed amongst other government officials.

    secretary of state – the state official, appointed by the governor, whose primary responsibility is administering elections

    senatorial courtesy – the Senate’s tradition of honoring the objection of a senator from the same district as the nominee.

    session power – the governor’s ability to call the legislature into special session by the governor once the regularly scheduled 140-day session has concluded; special sessions are limited to no more than thirty days, but a governor may call an unlimited number of such sessions.

    State Board of Education – an elected body responsible for setting the goals, adopting the policies, and establishing the standards for educational programs in the Texas public school system.

    sunset review – the process by which the sunset advisory commission reviews the state agencies if the legislature does not pass a law for the agency’s continuance, it is abolished

    sunshine laws (Texas Open Records Act) – laws that require the public, including the media, to have access to a wide variety of official records and to most public meetingsof state an dlocal agencies.

    Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) – the TRC oversees the supply of oil and gas from Texas, which has an enormous impact on state revenues and national energy, making it one of the most powerful regulatory agencies in the state.

    veto power – the governor's power to turn down legislation; can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate.

    References

    *updated and adapted from Kenneth Dautrich, David A. Yalof, David F. Prindle, Charldean Newell, and Mark Shomaker, American Government: Historical, Popular, and Global Perspectives: Texas Edition (Belmont: Wadsworth, 2009).

    This page titled 8.5: Conclusion is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Andrew Teas, Kevin Jefferies, Mark W. Shomaker, Penny L. Watson, and Terry Gilmour (panOpen) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.