We have a weak governor Constitutionally, although Perry has exerted more power than past Governors. Most of our statewide officials are elected separately, not as a single slate. We also have 2 Supreme Courts (civil and criminal), lol.
We like the division of power.
I live here and I wish the U.S. government was the same. Legislators here meat two months every two years. They can’t do a lot of damage in that short time.
The AG doesn’t have much power here either. He’s not like the AG in other states. He can’t go out and arrest people.
“Texas is not a “weak governor” state. A common misconception. It used to be true, but during his historic governorship, Perry has reinvented the office as a power center. This may be his greatest accomplishment.
Yes, our state constitution, written the year before Reconstruction ended, created a weak governor’s office (as did most constitutions of the states of the former Confederacy). We had two-year terms (the Legislature changed it to four-year terms beginning with the 1974 election) and a fragmented executive department with power divided among the governor, the lieutenant governor, the comptroller, the land and agriculture commissioners, the attorney general, and the railroad commission.
But Perry has used his appointment power to install political allies in every state agency, effectively establishing a Cabinet form of government and making him vastly more powerful than any of his predecessors. “
http://www.texasmonthly.com/2011-08-01/btl.php
Texas has a weak governor constitutionally but never forget the appointive powers the governor has combined with lenght of service makes him one of the more powerful governors. It wasn’t this way in the past with two year terms and term limits but those days are gone.