Texas Government, Assessment Example

The Governor has very little or weak formal powers due to he perceived potential for abuse of such powers if granted to the governor. The executive and appointive powers of the governor have been diluted and the executive duties and powers are shared with independently elected agency and department heads (Calvert, De Leon and Cantrell). This is to limit the possibility of abuse of office while ensuring accountability on the governor’s part as they have access to vast resources of the state.

The governor’s formal qualifications require that the governor be at least 30 years of age, a citizen of the United States and has been a resident of the state for the 5 years preceding the election (Calvert, De Leon and Cantrell). However, the informal qualifications are more important. The governor must have the power to influence other to accept their projects and/or programs. They also have to have at least served in or held a local elected office.

The removal of a governor from office involves the following steps;

1. Impeachment by the Texas House. This is where the motion to impeach the governor is raised and heard. It is put to a vote and decided by majority(Tieck).
2. This is then passed to the second and final stage where the case is taken to the senate. The senate appoints a committee to investigate and conduct a hearing for the accused governor(Tieck). The committee drafts a report and presents to the senate together with recommendations. The Senate hears the report and decides using a vote where a two-third majority would remove the governor from power.

The governor has the ability to employ informal resources to shape public policy. They include:

• Their staff
• Access to mass media
• Relationships with strategic interest groups

The last four Texas governors are;

• George W. Bush [January 17, 1995 to December 21, 2000]

During his tenure, Texas was ranked among the lowest when it came to environmental evaluations

• Ann Richards [January 15, 1991 to January 17, 1995]

She had a major issue with school finance and the introduction of an anti-gay law.

• Bill Clements [January 20, 1987 to January 15, 1991]
• Mark White [January 18, 1983 to January 20, 1987]

He faced an economic decline in Texas’ economy during his term.

He had attempted to use political money for his own private purposes and had been involved in a conspiracy to fraudulently gain money from a state case settlement with tobacco companies. This led to his trial and he pleaded guilty to 12 charges (Calvert, De Leon and Cantrell). He was sentenced and was sent to prison.

Works Cited

Calvert, Robert A, Arnoldo De Leon and Gregg Cantrell. The History of Texas. Hoboken: Wiley, 2013. Print.

Tieck, Sarah. Texas. Minneapolis: ABDO Pub. Co., 2013. Print.