Based on your watching of the documentary, please respond to the following questions. Do you believe that electoral districts in Texas should continue to be made by the Texas legislature? Why or why not? If you do believe this should change, whom do you believe should be responsible for doing so?
1.Structure of the Legislature – just like the legislature for the federal government, the Texas House and Senate represent the interests of their constituents. However, there are some important differences between the legislature of the United States, and the legislature of the state of Texas.
a.Bicameralism – just like the U.S. Congress, Texas has a bicameral legislature, meaning two chambers, the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate.
i.Size – Importantly the size of the two chambers is much smaller than for the national government. The Texas House has 150 members and the Senate has 31 members.
1.Note: The numbers were chosen for a very important reason. Compared to the United States Congress, the even and odd numbers are reversed (US HoR 435, Senate 100). This is because in the event of a tie in the U.S. Senate, the deciding vote is cast by the Vice President of the United States, of the Executive Branch. Because limiting executive power in Texas was a feature of the 1876 Constitution, the numbers were reversed, not allowing the Lieutenant Governor to have such a power in the Texas Senate.
ii.Terms
1.State Representatives serve two-year terms
2.Senators serve four-year terms