The governor is the head of state, but the powers and roles of this position have changed over time. With other states increasing the powers that this position has, the state of Texas has not been effective in changing these roles. This has ended up making the position of the Texas governor the least powerful. In making their campaign proposals reality, the governor of Texas needs to make use of both formal and informal powers at their disposal. The paper will look at the application of these powers in making and influencing policies.
How the Promised Campaign Issues got the me Elected as the Governor of Texas
One of the issues that I promised during the campaign was the controlling of immigration of people from Mexico. Texas is a state that boarders Mexico and therefore, it is the first place that immigrants from Mexico come to. The increase number of immigrants affects the socio-economic and the security of the people of Texas. By controlling immigration, people will start feeling safe.
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The second campaign issue was the improvement of the highways. The highways are among the essential elements of infrastructure that aid in economic development. Improving them will be an elevation on the economic activities of the people, and that is why the citizens of Texas voted me as the Governor of Texas.
More to this was the issue on the death penalty. Texas is among the states that still practice this penalty. With the penalty being viewed as not respecting human rights and its lack of reversibility, many of the people always wanted the death penalty to be retained but be fairly applied, that is, to be used for only those who deserve it. As the governor, therefore, conformed to the quest for justice just like other people, and the citizens saw me as a person who will reinstate the just application of the penalty.
The last campaign promise was on the improvement of K-12 education. The reason behind many people electing me as the governor is because most of the voters are parents who are seeking to make the world a better place for their children. One way of making the future better is by offering the children quality education. Through electing a person that will improve the education systems, the parents (voters) will have played their part in promoting quality education for their loved ones.
Formal Powers to get the Policies Passed in the Legislature
Despite the weak powers that the governors of Texas have in making policy formulation, the use of formal skills is effective in getting some of his policies passed by the legislature.
One of the formal powers is the unlimited four-year tenure. The governor can run for as many four-year terms as he can. The use of this power can be effective in ensuring that the highways are upgraded in each term he or she is in office. The upgrading of highways is not an easy task and takes time. With making improvements in the first tenure, the people will want him to be around for another term so that the projects can be completed.
Supervising powers is another formal power given to this office. This power is very effective in ensuring that the issue of immigrants has been solved. This is because this state power allows the governor to supervise state agencies including police and immigration which are the agencies dealing with immigration management.
The powers to set the legislative agenda is another formal power for the governor. This power can be used to set a legislative discussion regarding how fairly the death penalty should be applied in the justice system.
The governor has the powers to appoint and remove from office some of the heads of state agencies. This formal power should be used to nominate the best heads of schools and even managers in the department of education to increase the quality of K-12 education. In the case the appointees are not meeting the bar of performance; they can get sacked and other people appointed.
Informal Powers to get the Policies Passed in the Legislature
Aside from the formal powers, there are informal powers that can be used to enforce the promised policies. One of the informal powers is the power of having many staff. The governor has about 200 staff compared to the 7 that a legislative member has. By this, therefore, the governor can be better prepared in making their agenda for the discussion of issues related to the death penalty in the legislature.
Another informal power is the power of popularity. A governor elected by many people and who has maintained his popularity has the powers of the people which are also sought out for by the members of the legislature. With such power, the governor can have all his agendas regarding the improvement of the highways passed because the members of the legislature all want to be in the good eyes of the people.
Party power is another form of formal power that the governor has. The governor is viewed as the party leader. In the case that majority seats belong to his party, it becomes possible for him to influence policy changes through his party member. This informal power should be used to request more funds to improve K-12education.
Lastly, the governor has the informal powers of representing the state at the national level. This power allows the governor to promote his agenda of controlling immigration at the national level where even the president and the Congress will show support. With such national support, the state support in the legislature will be easily attained.
Conclusion
All in all, it can be observed that the powers of the governor of Texas are not as limited as they are in writing. Through maximizing on the formal and informal powers, the leader can get his campaign policies approved.
