Name:______________________________ Date: ________
Government
Unit #6
The Judicial Branch
Comparing Texas and the United States
DIRECTION: Use the information provided to complete the four venn diagrams below.
Texas Constitution
U.S. Constitution
Texas Governor
U.S. President
Texas Legislature
Texas Supreme Court
U.S. Congress
U.S. Supreme Court
Comparing the Structures of the Texas and United States Government
Texas
United States
Constitution has over 80,000 words; over 450 amendments
Constitution has 17 articles
Constitution has around 7,000 words; 27 amendments
Constitution has 7 articles
Constitutional amendments are proposed by 2/3 vote of the
House and Senate or by a national convention requested by
2/3 of the states and are approved by 3/4 of the states,
either by state legislatures or state conventions.
Based on popular sovereignty
Bill of Rights added as the first ten amendments after the
document was written
Establishes three branches: legislative, executive and
judicial with checks and balances
Has a bicameral legislature that has annual sessions with
no limit on the number of days; members get automatic cost
of living pay raises (2009 = $174,000)
Constitutional amendments are proposed by 2/3 vote of the
state House and Senate and must be approved by a
majority vote of the people
Based on popular sovereignty
Has a Bill of Rights as Article 1 of the constitution
Establishes three branches: legislative, executive and
judicial with checks and balances
Has a bicameral legislature that meets every other year for
140 days; a majority of Texas voters must approve a pay
raise (now $7,200 per year)
House of Representatives has 150 members, each serving
one district. Must be at least 21 years old, a U.S. citizen,
live in the state 2 years and in the district 1 year to be
elected. The term of office is 2 years with no term limits.
Has a Speaker of the House chosen by the members to
preside – has considerable power over legislation, choosing
committees and chairmen and assigns bills to committees
for hearings.
Senate has 31 members, each serving one district. Must be
at least 26 years old, a U.S. citizen, live in the state 5 years
and in the district 1 year. The term of office is 4 years with
no term limits. Presiding officer is the Lt. Governor, chosen
by the voters. He has considerable power over legislation,
choosing committees and chairmen and assigning bills to
committees for hearings. He may vote only in case of a tie.
The Constitution requires the state to pass a balanced
budget.
Executive branch consists of a Governor, Lieutenant
Governor, and numerous other independently elected
officials (e.g., Attorney General, Land Commissioner,
Comptroller, Railroad Commissioners, Agriculture
Commissioner) who are chosen by the people and answer
to the people not the Governor.
Must be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen and live in the
state for 5 years immediately before the election. The term
of office is 4 years and there is no limit on the number of
terms. The Governor is elected directly by the people.
Governor has the line-item veto to veto only certain items
from the state budget bill. The Governor does not have the
pocket veto; any bill he receives in the last 10 days of a
session will become law even if he does not sign them.
Has judicial branch whose judges are elected by the people
to specified terms.
The state has two courts of last resort – a state Supreme
Court to hear civil appeals, and a Court of Criminal Appeals
to hear criminal appeals.
House of Representatives has 435 members, each serving
one district. Must be at least 25 years, a U.S. citizen at least
7 years, and live somewhere in the state to be elected. The
term of office is 2 years with no term limits. Has a Speaker
of the House chosen by the members to preside
– has considerable power over legislation
– is head of the majority party in the House.
Senate has 100 members, 2 per state. Must be at least 30
years old, a U.S. citizen at least 9 years, and live in the
state he/she serves. The term of office is 6 years with no
terms limits. The presiding officer is the Vice President of
the U.S., but rarely goes to the Senate to preside. The
Senate chooses a president pro tempore who designates
someone to preside in the VP’s absence. He has only the
power of personal persuasion over legislation. He may vote
only in case of a tie.
No constitutional provisions exist for Congress to pass a
balanced budget.
Executive branch consists of a President, Vice President,
and the Cabinet, whose members are chosen by the
President with the approval of the Senate and who serve at
the pleasure of the President, be at least 35 years old, a
native-born U.S. citizen, and live in the country at least 14
years. The President may be elected twice. He is chosen
indirectly by the people through presidential electors.
President must either veto the entire bill or sign the entire
bill. The President has the pocket veto – he may set aside
any bills he receives in the last 10 days of a
session and automatically veto these bills
by taking no action.
Has a judicial branch whose judges are appointed by the
President with the approval of the Senate for life terms
The court of last resort is the U.S. Supreme Court for both
civil and criminal cases.