Texas Civics: How Your State Government Works

by bam

A practical, non-partisan guide to how the state of Texas governs itself, and how you take part where you live. You'll learn Texas's long, much-amended 1876 constitution; its distinctive PLURAL EXECUTIVE (a deliberately limited governor sharing power with a separately-elected Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, Land Commissioner, and Agriculture Commissioner); a part-time legislature that meets only every OTHER year (a 150-member House and a 31-member Senate); Texas's unusual TWO highest courts (a Supreme Court for civil cases and a Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal cases) with partisan-elected judges; how a bill becomes a Texas law, including the two-thirds veto override; local government across Texas's 254 counties (the most of any state) run by a commissioners court, with NO townships and home-rule cities; and Texas's elections rules: strict photo voter ID, no same-day registration (a ~30-day deadline), and no statewide citizen initiative. It closes on how to get involved where you live. Cited to Texas's own official sources (capitol.texas.gov, tlc.texas.gov, txcourts.gov, sos.state.tx.us / votetexas.gov). Because state facts vary and change, the course flags time-sensitive items (like the running count of constitutional amendments and the voter-ID and registration rules) and points you to Texas's own sources to confirm the current rule.