The Texas Executive Branch
I. The Governor – the most noticeable figure of the executive branch in
Texas
1.) The office is relatively weak in its array of institutional powers
provided for in the Texas Constitution
2.) Four-year term but without limits on the number of terms s/he can
serve
3.) Several requirements to run for Governor of Texas
a.) must be at least 30 years of age
b.) must be a U.S. citizen
c.) must be a resident of Texas for at least 5 years
4.) Does not appoint the cabinet members of the executive branch, with
the sole exception being the secretary of state
a.) appoints the members of boards and commissions, but
i.) has to wait until the terms of current members, whom
he did not appoint, expire to replace them with his/her
members
b.) can replace board and commission members s/he appointed, but
i.) only with Senate approval
5.) Relies on other tools to complement the weak powers of the office
a.) the public appeal of his/her personality
b.) powers of persuasion
c.) political savvy
d.) ability to informally frame and set the public policy agenda
II. Roles of the Governor of Texas
1.) Chief of State
2.) Commander in Chief of the State Militia
3.) Chief Executive Officer
4.) Chief Budget Officer
5.) Chief Law Enforcement and Judicial Officer
6.) Chief Legislator
7.) Leader of his/her Political Party
III. Formal powers of the Texas Governor
1.) Legislative powers
a.) Veto legislation
b.) Sign bills into state law
c.) Call special sessions of the Texas legislature and determine
their purpose
d.) Deliver governor’s addresses wherein policy and budget
priorities are set and may then enter the legislative agenda
2.) Budget powers are very limited, mostly symbolic
a.) the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) is the entity mainly
responsible for preparing the state’s budget and revenue proposals
3.) Appointive powers
a.) appoint members (pending 2/3rds Texas Senate approval) to 6year terms on more than 200 state boards and commissions, but
i.) cannot remove members s/he did not appoint
ii.) can remove member s/he appointed with Senate approval
4.) Judicial powers
a.) can grant pardons, reprieves, and commutations
b.) appoints persons to fill vacant judicial posts until next election
5.) Military powers
a.) commander-in-chief of the state’s National Guard
IV. Informal powers of the Texas Governor
1.) Key symbolic figure in Texas politics
a.) establishes cooperative relationships with political actors. . .
in the state (e.g. Texas House and Senate presiding officers
and committee chairs, officials in the plural executive),
in the national government (e.g. President, congressional
leaders),
in the states (e.g. governors), and
in other countries (e.g. Mexican Presidents and governors)
2.) Going public
a.) uses the media to get his/her appeals out to the public
b.) potentially influences public opinion
3.) Staff personnel
4.) Other political actors
a.) to garner public support and marshal policy proposals through
the policymaking process, the governor may establish political
alliances or relationships with:
i.) important interest groups
ii.) the local/state officials of the party to which s/he belongs
iii.) local government officials
V. Boards and Commissions
Besides the boards and commissions whose members are appointed by
the governor, there are boards and commissions whose members are
elected.
1.) State Board of Education
2.) Texas Railroad Commission
VI. Members of the Plural Executive
1.) Plural Executive – political power in the Executive Branch is divided
among independently elected officials
a.) skepticism toward over-concentration of government power
b.) remnants of Jacksonian democracy
2.) Lieutenant Governor – ranked second highest office in Texas and is a
more powerful position than the Governor because of the office’s
legislative role
3.) Attorney General – chief legal officer of the state
4.) Comptroller of Public Accounts – main accountant and tax
administrator of the state
5.) Commissioner of Agriculture – executor of regulations and various
programs affecting the agricultural sector
6.) Commissioner of the General Land Office – manages the around 22
million acres of public lands
7.) Secretary of State – only appointive position, chief administrator of
state election laws
VII. State Bureaucracy
1.) Extensive bureaucracy
a.) like most bureaucracies, the Texas bureaucracy has a bad
reputation
b.) has steadily grown over the years
c.) fragmented collection of almost 250 public agencies and
universities
d.) employs around 350,000 persons
e.) bureaucrats in state and local government execute/implement
the programs and laws passed and financed by the legislature
f.) most bureaucrats employed in:
i.) education
ii.) public safety and corrections
iii.) public welfare and health care and other social services
2.) Asymmetrical power relationship with lawmakers
a.) since Texas has a part-time legislature that meets in regular,
biennial legislative sessions while the bureaucracy is full time and
more professional, the bureaucracy has a comparative advantage in
policy expertise, information, and implementation
b.) career, veteran bureaucrat administrators have found ways to
make themselves and their bureaus relevant and necessary for
appointive and elected board, commission, and agency executives
to understand and manage the daily affairs of their particular
bureaucracy
3.) Bureaucracies affect public policy
a.) if the devil is in the detail, then the bureaucracy is the hell
where the details of policymaking get fleshed out
i) inevitably in implementing policy, the specifics of
legislation are spelled out
b.) the self-interest of bureaucrats and bureaucracies at some point
affects how they execute policies
c.) become politically astute to exact pressure to press their goals
of greater autonomy, resources, status, rewards, and
professionalism
4.) Please play that violin and give the bureaucrats a break
a.) public can be ignorant of the usefulness and good deeds of the
bureaucracy and instead continue bad-mouthing it
b.) not easy to give shape to shapeless, under-funded, contradictory
legislation or policies passed by short-sighted politicians
c.) some programs simply fail to do what they were supposed to do
or prevent, regardless of bureaucrat and lawmaker intentions and
competence
d.) unexpected events and the structure of government are
exogenous factors that may matter more to what happens to a
policy, regardless of what bureaucrats (and the agency in which
they work) do
5.) Why has the bureaucracy gotten so big?
a.) the size of the bureaucracy has consistently increased, as
measured in personnel employed and appropriated expenditures
b.) but the governments of other states have also grown, so
compared to other states, Texas is a laggard
c.) the federal government provides funding so that states will
carry out various activities
d.) the political influence of bureaucrats may matter, at least
towards preventing a reduction in government size
e.) the public, especially a liberal one, seems to want more
government services and goods, but they do not always want to
give up the money to pay for it
f.) demographic changes, including increasing numbers of elderly
persons; low-income, minorities; and the young, may entail the
need to provide for and deliver more public services and goods for
those who need it
g.) relatively poor economic conditions seem to necessitate
government action