The US Constitution V. Texas Constitution Essay Example

There are numerous similarities as well as differences between the constitution of the United States and that of Texas. The first similarity in both of the constitution is that both of them are fundamentally based on their history. Both the US and the Texan constitutions were adopted to manage the numerous issues each of the respective localities. However, the historical foundation of both constitutions prompted their developments, which slightly differs. Both of the constitutions were adopted at certain time intervals. The United States constitution was adopted in the year 1789; the constitution was supposed to do away with the Articles of Confederation, which was blamed for various weaknesses which hampered the progress of the government operations.

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On the other hand, the constitution of Texas was adopted in the year 1876. The constitution was supposed to replace the darkest chapter in Texas's historical quest in 1874. Before 1874, extremely oppressive laws existed in US citizens, thus the two constitutions were meant to stabilize the oppressive nature of the people.

The cultural background of the United States and Texas constitutions showed numerous differences. The United States Constitution was established to eradicate the weaknesses that were evident in the Articles of Confederation. Among the major weakness portrayed by the article involved the decentralization of the government hence limiting the powers of the government. The US constitution was adopted on the basis of various functions namely, developing the degree of the centralized government, hence increasing the powers of the government of the federal government. On the other hand, the Texas constitution moved on the opposite direction in that its main objective was to paralyze the efforts of the reigning government The Texas citizens faced constant oppressions before the modern constitution was adopted to boost the care hence preventing the refolding of suffering. Restraining the reigning government was given a limit of what they would do or do not do to the people; this would protect the interest of people from being oppressed or abused in any way. The Texas constitution emphasized more on the decentralization instead of the centralization.

Both the US and Texas Constitutions had three main branches of the government. Both of them had judicial, legislature and the executive branching. However, all the three branches of the government exhibited differences in terms of their functionality. In the case of the executive branch, the United State Constitution formed a unitary body that gave power to the reigning president. As for the Texas Constitutions, it had a plural executive. This, plural executive spread the powers of the executive across the variedly elected officials. The main objective of the Texas Constitution fragmented the executive branches of the government hence limiting the concentration of powers in one person.

The legislative branch in both of the constitution also exhibited some differences in one way or the other. The Texas Constitution focused on restricting the policies of taxation. The Texas spending policies sort of prevented the legislatures from writing into the law. A good case study is exhibited in the way the legislatures were forbidden from implementing taxes and debts on the personal incomes of the citizens. On the other hand, the United States' constitution had very little on the issue of legislative taxation and spending policies. The senatorial house and some specific representatives had the limitation on what they would write as the policies.

Nonetheless, on the judicial branch of both of the constitution, shows differences when critically analyzed. The United States constitution had established an order that guided the operations of the judiciary into three court levels. On the other hand, the Texas constitution formed six court levels which some of them had equal or overlapping jurisdictions (Cornyn 1164).

Additionally, both of the constitutions had similarities on the ideology of the federalism. The US and the Texas constitutions advocated for the two levels of federal government. The smaller levels of the government were to have a certain limited degree of powers and autonomy in different localities. The federalism was instigated in both of the constitutions as a way of boosting decentralization of the duties of the branches of the government.

In term of the amendment process both of the constitutions had certain similarities. However, there are varied amendments that either of the constitutions exhibited. The United State Constitutions have received general has experienced over 27 amendments while Texas constitution has experienced close to 500 amendments. The United State Constitution is extremely difficult to amend as much as its structures have experienced frequent amendments.

The scholars consider challenges of successful amendments in the US constitution; this becomes the major strength of this constitution. The US constitution has been aided the concealment of the frequent amendments that aids individuals at the expenses of the other people. The separation of powers is also believed to be the strength of the US constitution given that it limits the concentrations of powers which would make the ruling government exploitative. The federalism is considered one of the weaknesses of the US constitution; this is because it has provided the government with excess powers that surpass the usual powers of the state, hence beating the logic of the separations of powers within the US. Additionally, the congressional stagnation is also termed as another weakness of the US constitution. This is because the Congress lacks the term limits; something that has created the unlimited political uproars.

On the other hand, the Texas Constitution is has exhibited similar strength when compared to that of the US in its prospects of the high powers of the citizens rather than to the 'greedy' politicians at top positions. The plural executive within Texas also limited the chances of dictatorial government. The weaknesses of the Texas constitutions include the limited ability to amend it on ease; thus, preventing the politicians and political parties from changing the constitution to fit their interest in one way of the other. Scholars also believe that the various restrictions in the Texas constitution are ineffective in modern governance. The aspect of the Texas Constitution which can be used to better the federal government is the existing limited time of the Congress. This helps in eliminating political jeopardy, oppression, and embezzlement of public resources. Thus, the limited terms of the Congress create an opportunity to inject new blood into the governance. On the other hand, the aspect of the United States constitution that can improve the governance in the Texas Constitution is the difficulty of its amendments.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the US Constitutions exhibit certain differences as compared to the Texas Constitutions such as the ease to amend, the duration of adoption, the purpose of the adoption and many more differences as captured in the body of this paper. Additionally, the similarity between the Texas and US constitution included strengths and weaknesses, the process of the amendment process and many more similarity.

Work Cited

Cornyn, John. "The Roots of the Texas Constitution: Settlement to Statehood." Tex. Tech L. Rev. 26 (1995): 1089.