When the King in Great Britain controlled a unitary government, the power was abused and its people suffered. During civil war, Abraham Lincoln abused his power against people’s wills in Texas. When Edmund J. Davis governed Texas, the administration was the most corrupted and he did not want to leave his office after he was defeated by force. History taught people the lesson that unchecked executive was detrimental to people’s freedoms. In the historical context, the government of Texas, same as the United States, was founded on the principle of the idea of separation of powers. It means that different powers of government should be housed in separate and distinct branches and each branch of government is responsible for a certain function. The government is divided into three branches: Legislative branch, the Executive branch and Judicial branch. Legislative Branch makes the laws, the Executive branch Executes the laws and the Judicial branch interprets the law.
Legislative branch is the most important branch of the three branches. It is the only part of the government that can make new laws or change existing laws. There is a House chamber and Senate chamber in Texas legislature. In order for a bill to become a law, it must go through the committee and floor action in both chambers and get supports from both chambers. In such a complex political system, to vote for or against a bill could face a lot of pressures from all dimensions.
The Texas Legislature represents the people and its government. While facing the bill of “restrict abortion to cases of rape and incest after a fetal heartbeat is detected”, the legislator could pick one representational role from the three roles: trustee role, delegate role and politico role. In trustee role, the legislator relies on his own experience and trusts his own judgement and does what he thinks is the best. In delegate role, the legislator listens to his constituents and does what his voters want. In politico role, the legislator balances the importance of the issue and decide either to do what he wants or to do what his constituents want.
For this specific bill, the constituents and the Governor support the bill because they believe the abortion is immoral. However, the author, as the senator, will take the trustee role and oppose the bill. She trusts her own conscience and believes that women have a right to make a choice and the bill will result in many babies being born to parents who are financially, emotional or mentally unable to take care of them. Fortunately, she has support from the speaker of the House, who opposes the bill as well.
Influence of Legislative Leaders
The formal powers of the speaker of the House and It. governor in Texas are very strong. They have the power to appoint the chairpersons of the committees, to assign the bills to certain committee; to recognize who will speak on the floor to control the flow of the debate; to determine the order in which the bill is heard; and to appoint members of Conference Committees to make a compromise from both chambers. Since the speaker of the House stands with the author opposing the bill, the bill could be put at the end of the list and the bill would never be heard. The speaker of the House could appoint the members who he thinks opposes the bill to speak up about the bill. The speaker of the House could assign the bill to the committee which stands with him on this bill. Since the It. governor agrees with the bill, he would do the opposite of what the speaker of the House does. In order to make a bill a law, it has to go through the floor of both chambers and get supports from both chambers. Let’s say the bill passes through the floors of both chambers, but with minor differences. The bill must go to a conference committee, where members from both chambers were appointed by the speaker of the House and the It. governor. It is obvious that what the leaders of both chambers do will determine the fate of the bill. A survived bill will eventually be sent to the governor of Texas. The Governor can either sign the bill into law or allow the bill to become law without his signature. Governor also has the right to veto the bill if he strongly opposes the restriction of abortion. In this case, the Governor agrees with the bill and he will sign the bill without hesitation.
Rank and Explain Influences of Institutional Factors
The constituents agree with the bill and they will try to influence the legislators. They would list the immorality of abortion and its negative impacts upon the society. As a legislator, the author will take this bill seriously because it is an important and very controversial issue. Taken the constituents’ influence under consideration, the author will also ask her trusted colleagues for opinions. She will also trust her own conscience and make her own judgement upon this bill. She is playing the trustee role in this case. This issue is very controversial and it is natural to have influences from all sides. Constituents will show their intentions of voting against the author in future if she opposes the bill. The Governor will announce that he agrees with the bill and will sign it to law. The It. governor and the speaker of the House play very important roles in determining the fate the bill. However, the author thinks the bill is about a moral issue and still trusts her own conscience and decides to oppose the bill. She would rank the factors which influence her opinions in the order of importance: her own ideology, the nature of the bill, trusted colleagues, party leaders and the Governor, constituents and the lobbyists.
Explain Your Vote
Women in US has been fighting for their rights from the time the country announced its independence till now. Women gained their rights for voting in the year of 1920, 146 years after the United States was established. Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the United States in 1973 in the U.S. Supreme Court. Safe, legal abortion remained a recognized federal constitutional right nationwide for nearly 50 years. Now, the bill of restriction of abortion is overturning women’s rights upon their freedoms upon making their own childbirth choices. The author, as a woman herself and a nurse, trusts her own ideology and takes the trustee role. She votes against the bill.
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