Introduction
Since its independence in 1836, Texas has had several constitutions all of which were formulated from time to time based on Texas political situation throughout its history (Maxwell et al., 2014). The Texas constitution is merely a document that provides a scope for good governance by separating and limiting the powers of each arm of the government. It does so by elaborating the function and structure of the Texan government. More importantly, the current constitution is the most notable one; first of all because it’s considered as one of the oldest constitutions in the U.S. Additionally, it’s also considered to be one of the longest documents as it has 17 articles (Coleman, 2018). However, its length is slightly lesser than that
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The convention was made up of democrats who had played a major role in regaining the Texas government in 1873. The state government was initially controlled by republicans who were perceived as radicals. The republican government was headed by governor; Edmund J. Davis and was often accused of abusing his powers an element that severely affected the Texan liberty (Coleman, 2018). So as to promote liberty and reduce government powers, a delegation of democrats embarked on regaining the government. Afterwards, they pushed for the adoption of a new constitution; an element which was made possible by the constitutional convention which was majorly based on southern agriculturists that were termed as the elite. They were commonly known as the ‘Grange’ and their primary objective was to regulate the powers of the Texan government. One notable element about this delegation is that it was not interested in establishing a constitution that would allow the government to be powerful or rather effective; this is because the former constitution created a chance for those in power to abuse basic rights thus interfering with …show more content…
This was the 456th time the constitution was amended since 1876. Most changes revolved around the legislature, judiciary, education and finance sectors. The judiciary has had numerous changes that some consider it completely rewritten. Some limitations included in the 1876 education article have been removed and public education system has been expanded. Due to changes in the 20th and 21st century economic dimensions, the state has been forced to mend its financial department. This has resulted in amendments to permit inclusion of latest expenditure programs and seek other ventures of income. Furthermore, the state has made amends in the executive branch since 1876. For instance, they have increased the length of elected officials in office. All these are instances when the 1876 constitution was amended because of its inadequacies in the 21st century. The 1876 constitution was appropriate for the rural based and minded people but cannot suffice for the changes and requirements of modern industrialized