Editing Texas (section)

==Government and politics{{anchor|Political history}}==
The current [[Texas Constitution]] was adopted in 1876. Like many [[State constitution (United States)|states]], it explicitly provides for a separation of powers. The state's Bill of Rights is much larger than its [[United States Bill of Rights|federal counterpart]], and has provisions unique to Texas.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bill of Rights (Article 1) |website=Texas Politics |publisher=University of Texas |url=https://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/7_4_2.html |access-date=October 13, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206142915/http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/7_4_2.html |archive-date=February 6, 2009}}</ref>

===State government===
{{main|Government of Texas}}
{{further|Law of Texas}}
{{see also|List of Texas state agencies}}
[[File:Texas State Capitol Night.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[Texas State Capitol]] at night]]
Texas has a plural [[executive branch]] system limiting the power of the governor, which is a weak executive compared to some other states. Except for the [[Secretary of State of Texas|secretary of state]], voters elect executive officers independently; candidates are directly answerable to the public, not the governor.<ref name="pluralexec">{{cite web |year=2005 |title=The Plural Executive |website=Texas Politics |publisher=University of Texas |url=https://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/1_9_0.html |access-date=May 7, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928082847/http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/1_9_0.html |archive-date=September 28, 2008}}</ref> This election system has led to some executive branches split between parties and reduced the ability of the governor to carry out a program. When [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] president [[George W. Bush]] served as Texas's governor, the state had a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] lieutenant governor, [[Bob Bullock]]. The executive branch positions consist of the [[List of Governors of Texas|governor]], [[Lieutenant Governor of Texas|lieutenant governor]], comptroller of public accounts, land commissioner, [[Texas Attorney General|attorney general]], agriculture commissioner, the three-member [[Texas Railroad Commission]], the State Board of Education, and the secretary of state.<ref name="pluralexec" />

The [[Bicameralism|bicameral]] [[Texas Legislature]] consists of the [[Texas House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], with 150 members, and a [[Texas Senate|Senate]], with 31 members. The [[Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] leads the House, and the lieutenant governor, the Senate.<ref>{{cite web|year=2005 |title=Membership |website=Texas Politics |publisher=University of Texas |url=https://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/2_2_4.html |access-date=June 17, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302003227/http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/2_2_4.html |archive-date=March 2, 2009 }}</ref> The Legislature meets in regular session biennially for just over a hundred days, but the governor can call for special sessions as often as desired (notably, the Legislature cannot call itself into session).<ref>{{cite web|year=2005 |title=Special Sessions |website=Texas Politics |publisher=University of Texas |url=https://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/2_2_2.html |access-date=June 17, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302003217/http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/2_2_2.html |archive-date=March 2, 2009 }}</ref> The state's [[fiscal year]] begins September{{nbsp}}1.<ref>{{Cite web|title=FY 2021 State Budget Status|url=https://www.ncsl.org/research/fiscal-policy/fy-2021-state-budget-status.aspx#:~:text=Forty-six%20states%20began%20fiscal,1.|access-date=December 28, 2020|website=ncsl.org|archive-date=January 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107135525/https://www.ncsl.org/research/fiscal-policy/fy-2021-state-budget-status.aspx#:~:text=Forty-six%20states%20began%20fiscal,1.|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[judiciary of Texas]] is among the most complex in the United States, with many layers and overlapping jurisdictions. Texas has two courts of last resort: the [[Texas Supreme Court]], for civil cases, and the [[Texas Court of Criminal Appeals]]. Except for some municipal benches, partisan elections select judges at all levels of the judiciary; the governor fills vacancies by appointment.<ref>{{cite Handbook of Texas|id=jzj01|title=Judiciary|first=Paul |last=Womack|date=June 15, 2010}}</ref> Texas is notable for [[Capital punishment in Texas|its use of capital punishment]], having led the country in executions since capital punishment was reinstated in the ''[[Gregg v. Georgia]]'' case.<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 15, 2018|title=Texas again leads U.S. in executions in 2018, and Dallas was top county, with 4|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2018/12/15/texas-again-leads-u-s-in-executions-in-2018-and-dallas-was-top-county-with-4/|access-date=December 28, 2020|website=Dallas News}}</ref>

The [[Texas Ranger Division]] of the [[Texas Department of Public Safety]] is a [[police|law enforcement agency]] with statewide [[jurisdiction]]. Over the years, the Texas Rangers have investigated crimes ranging from [[Murder in Texas law|murder]] to political corruption. They have acted as [[riot police]] and as detectives, protected the Texas governor, tracked down fugitives, and functioned as a paramilitary force. The Texas Rangers were unofficially created by [[Stephen F. Austin]] in 1823 and formally constituted in 1835. The Rangers were integral to several important events of Texas history and some of the best-known criminal cases in the history of the [[American Old West|Old West]].<ref>{{cite Handbook of Texas|id=met04|title=Texas Rangers|first=Ben H. |last=Procter|orig-year=June 15, 2010 |date=February 8, 2018}}</ref>

The Texas constitution defines the responsibilities of county governments, which serve as agents of the state. Commissioners court and court judges are elected to serve as the administrative arm. Most cities in the state, those over 5,000 in population, have [[home-rule]] governments. The vast majority of these have charters for [[council-manager]] forms of government, by which voters elect council members, who hire a professional city manager as an operating officer.<ref>{{cite web|title=Council-manager government|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Council-manager_government|access-date=December 28, 2020|website=Ballotpedia}}</ref>

===Politics===
{{main|Politics of Texas}}
{{further|Political party strength in Texas}}
{{see also|Republican Party of Texas|Texas Democratic Party}}
[[File:37 Lyndon Johnson 3x4.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] of Texas, 36th president of the United States]]
[[File:George-W-Bush.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[George W. Bush]] of Texas, 43rd president of the United States]]
The Democratic Party dominated [[Politics of Texas|Texas politics]] from the turn of the 20th century, imposing racial segregation and white supremacy. It held power until after passage in the mid-1960s of national civil rights legislation enforcing constitutional rights of all citizens.<ref>{{cite web|title= Democratic Party|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/democratic-party|access-date=December 28, 2020|publisher=TSHA |work=Handbook of Texas |first1= Nancy |last1=Young |date=1976 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Dixie's Long Journey From Democratic Stronghold To Republican Redoubt|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/25/417154906/dixies-long-journey-from-democratic-stronghold-to-republican-redoubt|access-date=December 28, 2020|newspaper=[[NPR]]|date=June 25, 2015|last1=Elving|first1=Ron}}</ref>

The state's conservative White voters began to support Republican presidential candidates by the mid-20th century. After this period, they supported Republicans for local and state offices as well, and most Whites became Republican Party members.<ref>{{cite news |last=Risen |first=Clay |date=March 5, 2006 |title=How the South was won |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/03/05/how_the_south_was_won/ |access-date=April 29, 2008}}</ref> The party also attracted some minorities, but many have continued to vote for Democratic candidates. The shift to the Republican Party is much-attributed to the fact the Democratic Party became increasingly [[Liberalism in the United States|liberal]] during the 20th century, and thus increasingly out-of-touch with the average Texas voter.<ref name="HistoryTXvoters">{{cite web |title=History of Texas Voters |url=http://www.newschannel10.com/story/33661247/history-of-texas-voters |date=November 8, 2016 |website=NewsChannel10 |publisher=[[KFDA-TV]] |access-date=December 16, 2016}}</ref> As Texas was always a [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] state, voters switched to the Republicans, which now more closely reflected their beliefs.<ref name="HistoryTXvoters" /><ref name="PBSredstate">{{cite web |title=How Texas Became a "Red" State |website=Frontline |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/architect/texas/realignment.html |date=April 12, 2005 |publisher=[[PBS]] |access-date=December 16, 2016}}</ref> Commentators have also attributed the shift to Republican political consultant [[Karl Rove]], who managed numerous political campaigns in Texas in the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="PBSredstate" /> Other stated reasons included court-ordered redistricting and the growing Sun Belt cities' conservatism unlike the liberal tradition of their northeastern counterparts as well as the popularity of Republican party in the suburbs.<ref name="Calvert-2017" />

The [[2003 Texas redistricting]] of Congressional districts led by Republican [[Tom DeLay]], was called by ''The New York Times'' "an extreme case of partisan [[gerrymandering]]".<ref name="NYTGerry">{{cite news |title=The Texas Gerrymander |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 1, 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/opinion/01wed2.html}}</ref> A group of Democratic legislators, the "Texas Eleven", fled the state in a [[quorum]]-busting effort to prevent the legislature from acting, but was unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ridder |first=Knight |title=11 Texas Senate Democrats Take Cue from House, Bolt to Avoid Redistricting |work=Houston Chronicle |date=July 29, 2003 |url=https://www.allbusiness.com/government/elections-politics-politics-political-parties/10366221-1.html |access-date=January 7, 2009}}{{dead link|date=January 2011}}</ref> The state had already redistricted following the 2000 census. Despite these efforts, the legislature passed a map heavily in favor of Republicans, based on 2000 data and ignoring the estimated nearly one million new residents in the state since then. Career attorneys and analysts at the Department of Justice objected to the plan as diluting the votes of African American and Hispanic voters, but political appointees overrode them and approved it.<ref name="NYTGerry" /> Legal challenges to the redistricting reached the national [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in the case ''[[League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry]]'' (2006), but the court ruled in favor of the state (and Republicans).<ref>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/28/washington/28cnd-scotus.html |title=Justices Back Most G.O.P. Changes to Texas Districts |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 28, 2006}}</ref>

In the [[Texas elections, 2014|2014 Texas elections]], the [[Tea Party movement]] made large gains, with numerous Tea Party favorites being elected into office, including [[Dan Patrick (politician)|Dan Patrick]] as lieutenant governor,<ref name="Fernandez">{{cite news |last=Fernandez |first=Manny |title=Lieutenant Governor Loses Texas Runoff as Tea Party Holds Sway |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/us/politics/tea-party-favorite-beats-lieutenant-governor-in-texas.html |date=May 27, 2014 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Koppel |first1=Nathan |title=Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Moves Quickly to Advance Conservative Agenda |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-lt-gov-dan-patrick-moves-quickly-to-advance-conservative-agenda-1421883867 |date=January 21, 2015 | work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}</ref> [[Ken Paxton]] as attorney general,<ref name="Fernandez" /><ref name="Grissom">{{cite news | last1=Grissom | first1=Brandi |title=Tea Party Conservatives Win Top GOP Runoff Contests |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2014/05/28/tea-party-conservatives-win-top-gop-runoff-contest/ |date=May 28, 2014 |work=[[The Texas Tribune]]}}</ref> in addition to numerous other candidates<ref name="Grissom" /> including conservative Republican [[Greg Abbott]] as governor.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fernandez |first=Manny |title=Texas' New Governor Echoes the Plans of Perry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/21/us/politics/new-texas-governor-greg-abbott-expected-to-continue-on-perrys-path.html |date=January 20, 2015 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

Texas voters lean toward [[fiscal conservatism]], while enjoying the benefits of significant federal investment in the state in military and other facilities achieved by the power of the Solid South in the 20th century. They also tend to have [[social conservatism|socially conservative]] values.<ref name="TPoliticalCulture1">{{cite web|title=Texas Political Culture—Introduction |website=Texas Politics |publisher=University of Texas |url=https://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/10_1_0.html |access-date=May 29, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220092705/http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/10_1_0.html |archive-date=December 20, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Texas Political Culture—Low Taxes, Low Services Political Culture |website=Texas Politics |publisher=University of Texas |url=https://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/10_2_1.html |access-date=October 13, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130015106/http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/10_2_1.html |archive-date=January 30, 2009 }}</ref>

Since 1980, most Texas voters have supported Republican presidential candidates. Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso consistently lean Democratic in both local and statewide elections.<ref name="City Journal-2016" /> Residents of counties along the [[Rio Grande]] closer to the [[Mexico–United States border]], where there are many Latino residents, generally vote for Democratic Party candidates, while most other rural and suburban areas of Texas have shifted to voting for Republican Party candidates.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2000&fips=48&f=1&off=0&elect=0 |title=2000 Presidential General Election Results—Texas |website=US Election Atlas |access-date=July 22, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2004&fips=48&f=1&off=0&elect=0 |title=2004 Presidential General Election Results—Texas |website=uselectionatlas.org |access-date=July 22, 2007}}</ref>

As of the [[2024 United States elections|midterm elections of 2022]], a large majority of the members of Texas's [[U.S. House of Representatives|U.S. House]] delegation are [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], along with both [[United States Senate|U.S. Senators]]. In the [[119th United States Congress]], of the 38 [[Texas Congressional Districts|Congressional districts in Texas]], 25 are held by Republicans and 13 by Democrats. Texas's Senators are [[John Cornyn]] and [[Ted Cruz]]. Since 1994, Texans have not elected a Democrat to a statewide office. The state's Democratic voters are made up primarily by liberal and [[minority groups]] in Austin, Beaumont, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio as well as minority voters in East and South Texas.<ref>{{cite news|title=Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics|url=https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/|access-date=December 28, 2020|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US|archive-date=January 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103045246/https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Mandi Cai |author2=Matthew Watkins |author3=Anna Novak |author4=Darla Cameron|date=November 6, 2020|title=In Texas, Biden's urban wins couldn't offset Trump's millions of votes in rural, red counties|url=https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/06/texas-trump-biden-counties-rural-suburban-city/|access-date=December 28, 2020|website=The Texas Tribune}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Ramsey|first=Ross|date=November 11, 2016|title=Analysis: The blue dots in Texas' red political sea|url=https://www.texastribune.org/2016/11/11/analysis-blue-dots-texas-red-political-sea/|access-date=December 28, 2020|website=The Texas Tribune}}</ref>
According to a study by the [[Cato Institute]], Texas ranks last in personal freedom among the states, by factors including incarceration rates, cannabis laws, civil asset forfeiture policies, educational freedom, gambling laws, marriage freedom, and travel freedom.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Solomon |first=Dan |date=2023-12-01 |title=Texas Ranks Last in Personal Freedoms, According to the Libertarian CATO Institute |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-personal-freedom-cato/ |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Texas Monthly |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-10 |title=Why Texas is dead last in 'personal freedom,' according to new study |url=https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/yall-itics/texas-rankings-last-dallas-personal-freedom-cato-institute/287-91807d11-1b84-4886-9482-e53096276558 |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=wfaa.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

Lesser parties that have ballot access are the [[Green Party of Texas|Green Party]] and the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thegreenpapers.com/G24/TX | title=Texas 2024 General Election }}</ref>

===Criminal law===
{{main|Crime in Texas}}
{{see also|List of law enforcement agencies in Texas}}
Texas has a reputation of very harsh criminal punishment for criminal offenses. It is one of the 32 states that practice [[capital punishment in Texas|capital punishment]], and since the [[US Supreme Court]] allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976, 40% of all U.S. executions have taken place in Texas.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23075873 |title=Texas executes 500th person since resuming death penalty |work=[[BBC News]]|date=June 27, 2013 |access-date=July 8, 2013}}</ref> In 2018, Texas had the [[List of U.S. states and territories by incarceration and correctional supervision rate|8th highest incarceration rate in the U.S.]]<ref>{{cite web |author=Laura M. Maruschak |author2=Todd D. Minton |title=Appendix Table 1 |work=Correctional Populations in the United States, 2017–2018 |publisher=[[Bureau of Justice Statistics]], United States Department of Justice |year=2020 |url=https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus1718.pdf |access-date=March 21, 2021}}</ref> Texas also has strong [[right of self-defense]] and [[Self-defense|self defense]] laws, allowing citizens to use lethal force to defend themselves, their families, or their property.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatutes/PE/2/9/D/9.42 |title=Tex Pe. Code Ann. §&nbsp;9.42: Texas Statutes—Section 9.42: Deadly Force to Protect Property |website=Codes.lp.findlaw.com |access-date=July 8, 2013}}</ref> Texas has one of the strictest [[abortion in Texas|abortion]] bans in the country.<ref>{{cite web |title=Texas |url=https://reproductiverights.org/maps/state/texas/ |website=Center for Reproductive Rights |access-date=22 June 2024}}</ref>