POLS 207 1st Edition Final Exam Study Guide Lectures 18 22 Lecture 18 Legislating Policy and Representing the People Legislative Branch Make statutory laws Amend State Constitutions Constituent Services Bring government funding to districts Representation Geographic o Heterogeneous districts o Homogenous districts Non Geographic Entrepreneurial Random Selection Legislative Apportionment Equal Population Reynolds v Sims legislators represent people not trees or acres Equal number of people in the district Base Population Range 1 Redistricting State legislatures create districts for themselves and U S House Race and ethnicity play a part o Voting Rights Act 1965 o Fracturing o Packing or concentrating Racial gerrymandering Partisan gerrymandering o Changing district lines to gain more votes for your party One Person One Vote Not everyone is eligible to vote You must be a registered voter Over the age of 18 Be a citizen of the US residents cannot vote Felons cannot vote Districting Requirements Contiguity Population Equality Voting Rights Act Impact Shape Partisan Gerrymandering How a bill becomes a law that affects us Bill Drafted Bill Introduced First Reading Lecture 22 Major vs Minor Bills 56 are major bills Meaning they have a huge impact on the Bill on Calendar 44 Minor The time limit for creating bills is 140 Second Reading the legislative session in Texas Debated Processing Major Bills Introduced earlier More companion bills More even across committees More amendments More likely to die Later final action Committee Reports Bill Assignment to Committee Committee Pigeon holes Holds Hearings and Marks up Bill public days the length of If Amended Third Reading Vote on Bill Sent to Governor for Signature If passed Signed Into Law by Governor Conference Committee to Make Identical Bureaucracy Administers to Legislature s Satisfaction Judicial Review of Constitutionality We are Affected by the Law Agenda of Active Bills in Texas Legislature Bills can only be introduced in the first 60 days of the legislative session in Texas o Unless it is an emergency bill Secrets of the Texas Legislative Process Not all bills are intended to pass o Some are to show that certain members have controversial issue preferences o They know the bill will fail but it shows the issue stance of candidates Bills are not independent of each other Bills do not receive equal consideration Texas Legislative Workload Only the governor can special session legislature A Model of Legislative Professionalization All of these factors make the legislature more professional Relationships Bill Introduction Population Moderate Positive Bill Introduction Percent Metropolitan Moderate Positive Length of session and bill introductions Strong Positive Percent full time legislators and legislative compensation strong positive Texas Legislators are part time They have other jobs and are normally independently wealthy Models of Responsiveness Representational o Representative has the power to vote for you Congruence o You only want your legislator to vote the way you do State Legislators call a of the 7800 legislators EDUCATION 75 have some college EMPLOYMENT Legislators more prestige professionals managers proprietors not established wealth but upwardly mobile middle class flexible work schedule public contact Attorneys Agriculture Education overrepresented Labor and Government underrepresented SEX Male 80 to 90 MOBILITY Over 75 born in district PSYCHOLOGICAL more self confident self sufficient extroverted dominant tolerant less authoritarian more favorably disposed toward minorities African American Most Equal VT FL OR WY NE Least Equal LA Hispanics Most Equal NM Least Equal TX CO NV Attorneys Most Equal CA Least Equal TX Lecture 20 Executing the Laws and Representing the People The executive is historically unpopular They are expected to follow and execute the laws as well as enforce them They do this through the various agencies the states have Any public institution is a state agency Texas A M is one Texas has a fragmented decentralized executive Recruitment of Governors Prior experience o Statewide office o State legislature Gubernatorial Elections Partisan Contested Incumbent Advantage Population Gubernatorial Campaign Costs Strong correlation o R 82 Governor s Career Can end up as o President o Federal Cabinet Member o U S Senate o Federal Judges Governor s Duties Administrator 28 Legislator 17 Party 7 Ceremonial 14 Negotiator 14 Public Opinion 9 Institutional Power from the Constitution Appointment o Includes power to remove Tenure o States without term limits allow the governor to be stronger Managerial Fiscal o In Texas the legislature creates the budget but they have to consult the governor due to his line item veto power Legislative o Power to make laws o Input to legislature o Can create his own laws executive orders Institutional power and personal power do not matter so much because the Governor has very little control essentially Gubernatorial Compensation o Institutional power No correlation o Metropolitan population Positively related R 47 o Legislative compensation This is what the Governor s pay is based on Positively related Texas Executive Department Governor o Power lies with him and lt governor Lt Governor o Elected independently of Governor in some states they are on the same ticket o Presiding officer of the Senate So committee appointments heads etc Comptroller o Treasurer essentially o The person in charge of the finances o Estimates projects the revenue for the state So determines the amount we can spend because of the balanced budget o Historically conservative so they invest with the US Government Get less interest but it is stable Land Commissioner o In charge of leasing out land Attorney General o Chief lawyer for the State o Interprets the Constitution and the law The Executive and the Bureaucracy Bureaucracy is a type of organization associated with red tape specialization and hierarchy Because implementing the law is formally the responsibility of the executive branch the bureaucracy is nominally headed by the chief executive However the bureaucracy permeates all branches of government and its interests and powers crisscross the entire governmental structure Public administration refers not only to the activities necessary to carry out public policy but also to the various bodies and those who work in them that are responsible for these activities Administrative Theory Responsible to