Constitutionalism

1. Constitutionalism Chapter 2

2. Purposes of a Constitution • Provide legitimacy for a government • Consent of the people • Tacit consent • Establish and organize government • Liberal Constitution • Statutory Constitution

3. Purposes of a Constitution • Give government the powers to operate • Taxation • Police power • Limit government • Bill of Rights

4. Texas’s Constitutions: 1836 • Liberal constitution • Bicameral Congress consisting of House and Senate • President and vice president • Four levels of judiciary: justice, county, district, supreme • Short terms of office: 1-4 years • Typical American features: preamble, separation of powers, checks and balances, bill of rights, adult male suffrage, slavery • Amending process difficult; none adopted

5. Texas’s Constitutions: 1845 • Liberal constitution • Bicameral legislature with biennial meetings • Governor, AG and SOS appointed by governor; comptroller and treasurer elected by legislature. • Judiciary consisted of supreme court and district courts; judges appointed by governor • Homestead protection and community property • Public school system • Only one amendment (1850) which made offices elective

6. Texas’s Constitutions: 1861 • Liberal constitution • 1845 constitution revised to reflect joining the confederacy • Defense of slavery and states’ rights • Emancipation of slaves prohibited

7. Texas’s Constitutions: 1866 • Liberal constitution • Re-enter union under presidential Reconstruction • Slavery abolished • Governor’s term extended, line-item veto, salary increased, other executive officers elected • Legislative salaries increased • Supreme Court increased in size and elected to long terms. District judges also elected. • Segregated public education

8. Texas’s Constitutions: 1869 • Result of Radical Reconstruction (Congress) • Granted suffrage to African Americans • Ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment • Liberal constitution • Centralized power in the executive – majoritarian democracy • Appointment of most political authorities – state and local levels

9. Texas’s Constitutions: 1876 • Statutory Constitution • Reasons for 1876 Constitution • Reaction to Reconstruction Era • Reaction to Governor E.J. Davis’s administration • Agrarian movement sweeping United States in the 1870s that called for more democratic participation and a more limited government.

10. Texas’s Constitutions: 1876 • Reasons for 1876 Constitution • Democratic Delegates ideologies • Rapid commercial and agricultural growth, but otherwise no governmental functions • Rapid economic growth and invest in human resources, such as schools • Government role limited to what private enterprise would not or could not do • Less government generally, regardless of purpose

11. Texas’s Constitutions: 1876 • Seventeen Articles • Article 1: Bill of Rights • Article 2: Separation of Powers • Article 3: Legislature • Article 4: Executive • Article 5: Judiciary • Article 17: Amendment Process

12. Amending the Constitution • Proposal: House and Senate by a 2/3 vote of each chamber • Secretary of State prepares statement describing the amendment • Approved by attorney general • Published in newspapers twice • Ratification by popular vote in general election or special election

13. Criticisms: 1876 Constitution • Long • Disorganized • Substantive powers lacking for legislature and executive • Judicial organization and selection of judges • Local government section archaic and disorganized

14. Amendments to the Texas Constitution

15. Constitutional Change: Piecemeal • First amendment proposed in 1877. • Many piecemeal changes from efforts to achieve comprehensive change. • Governor Connally’s attempts in the 1960s resulted in an amendment to reduce the Constitution’s deadwood. • Representative Mowry introduced amendments between 1997 and 2001.

16. Politics Now: The Texas Marriage Amendment • Texas Defense of Marriage Act, 2003 • Amendment defined marriage as “only the union of one man and one woman” • Proponents claimed the amendment was necessary to protect against activist judges • Opponents argued that the amendment was unnecessary and would bind future Texans • Amendment passed with 76 percent of the vote

17. Constitutional Change: Comprehensive • Early efforts to call a constitutional convention were unsuccessful. • 1971, the legislature proposed an amendment calling for a Constitutional Convention in 1974. Amendment was adopted in 1972 by a 2-1 margin.

18. Constitutional Revision: 1971-74 • Legislature elected in 1972 was constitutional convention in 1974. • Elected Chair of the Convention and established committees. • Bill of Rights could not be revised. • Each provision adopted by majority vote. • Rules required two-thirds vote for adoption of proposed constitution which failed.

19. Constitutional Convention Failure • Legislators as convention members • Two-thirds requirement • Right-to-work provision • Lack of leadership • “Revisionists” and “Cockroaches”

20. Constitutional Amendments 1975 • Eight Amendments presented to voters • Voters rejected amendments • Reasons • Concern about government’s power • Lack of governor’s support • Cynicism by voters

21. Constitutional Revision in 1999 • Proposal by Junell and Ratliff • Legislature • House terms increased, increased size of Senate, veto sessions, and term limits • Executive • Governor headed cabinet of nine members • Lieutenant governor, comptroller, and attorney general independently elected

22. Constitutional Revision in 1999 • Judiciary • Simplified into fewer courts • Supreme Court with 15 members (14 associates and a chief justice) • Merit system for selecting judges to district courts, courts of appeals, and supreme court • Other Changes • Salary commission to recommend salaries • Statewide property tax to fund public education • Legislature could call a constitutional convention, subject to voter approval

23. Join the Debate: Initiative Process • Currently, 24 states employ some form of the initiative process. • The process involves: • Direct initiative—proposed policies placed on a ballot for popular approval • Indirect initiative—proposed policies must first be submitted to the state legislature during a regular session

24. Join the Debate: Initiative Process • Proponents • Increases citizen involvement in government • Reduces power of special interests • Makes government more responsive • Opponents • Increases the power of special interests • Subjects the minority to a tyranny of the majority • Reduces legislature’s authority, which means less deliberation and compromise