To properly assess the Texas legislature in action, which question should be asked?
a. Did the legislature deal with major issues facing the state or mainly with trivial issues?
b. Did the appropriations bill reflect genuine statewide concerns or only the interests of the large lobbies?
c. Was the effect of current legislation on future social, economic, and physical resources considered, or did the legislature live for today?
d. Were basic tests of democracy, representation, transparency, and fairness met?
e. All of these questions should be asked.
Q. 2A proposal has been made to increase Texas's legislative salary to make it closer to the averages of states that pay their legislators the most, which is about _____ per year.
a. 18,000
b. 38,000
c. 58,000
d. 78,000
e. 98,000
Q. 3Which of these would likely be a problem if the number of legislators in the Texas House were reduced?
a. Texas's physical size would require that legislators represent larger geographic areas.
b. As the population and geographic size of districts continued to grow, citizens would increasingly lose contact with their representatives.
c. People would protest such a change, as it would go against years of Texas tradition.
d. Citizens would object, as they prefer to represented by someone from a small enough geographic and population area to understand the needs of the people of the district.
e. All of these would likely be problems.
Q. 4If the Texas legislature were to have annual legislative sessions, which of these would not be likely to occur?
a. Legislators would have more time to familiarize themselves with legislation.
b. The need for special sessions, particularly when a crisis arises between regular sessions, would be eliminated.
c. Legislators would have more opportunity for legislative oversight of the state bureaucracy.
d. Legislators would be better able to engage in long-range planning of public policy.
e. There would be less need for career politicians and more opportunity for part-time legislators to take office.
Q. 5Which of these is not an indirect power the Texas governor enjoys?
a. The governor can appoint many of his supporters into various state boards and commissions.
b. The governor can present messages to the state legislature and give recommendations on legislation.
c. The governor can serve as a liaison between Texas and other states as well as between Texas and the federal government.
d. The governor can cast tie-breaking votes in the event of a tie in either the state House or the state Senate.
e. None of these answers are correct, as the governor enjoys all of these indirect powers.
Q. 6Historically, the Texas legislature has been dominated by which of these?
a. rural, conservative Democrats
b. urban, liberal Democrats
c. rural, conservative Republicans
d. urban, liberal Republicans
e. none of these; there has been no obvious dominance
Q. 7Appropriations bills passed by the Texas legislature always take effect _____.
a. immediately
b. thirty days after the legislative session ends
c. ninety days after the legislative session ends
d. on January 1
e. on September 1
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