GOVT 2305 exam questions with answers docs 2020 new solution

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GOVT 2305 exam questions with answers docs 2020 new solution 1 The acquisition of adjacent unincorporated settlements by a city is called Select one: a. annexation. b. zoning. c. redistrictin... g. d. reapportionment. e. gerrymandering. 2 The basic organizing legal document for a home-rule city is called the Select one: a. city constitution. b. city ordinance. c. articles of incorporation. d. city charter. e. city statute. 3 To obtain or look up a marriage license, to look up a deed for a piece of property, or to find a death certificate, what public official would you go see? Select one: a. district clerk b. justice of the peace c. county auditor d. county judge e. county clerk 4 The administrative body for county government is called the Select one: a. office of the county auditor. b. county court-at-law. c. constitutional county court. d. county commissioners court. e. county council. 5In this hypothetical situation, Bill and his college girlfriend Melinda are visiting Las Vegas on a field trip from their university math club back in Texas (they both are statistics majors). Bill and Melinda were high school sweethearts, are both 21 and about to graduate from Big Tex University. After winning a million dollars in the casinos based on the mathematical formulas they developed on the computer software Bill developed, they decide to get married in Las Vegas. Nevada's laws allow for quick marriages and divorces. After getting married before a Nevada justice-of-the-peace dressed as Elvis in the "HunkaHunkaBurnin' Love Chapel," they return home to Texas, husband and wife. Their parents, who'd wanted them to marry in a big church wedding, question the legality of their marriage. Are Melinda and Bill, who were legally married in the State of Nevada, now also married in the State of Texas? Select one: a. No, because the Texas Constitution of 1876 requires that for a marriage to be considered legal and binding in the State of Texas, it must be conducted by a minister of a recognized religion or a state, county, or municipal judge in the State of Texas. b. No, under the judicial law or equity provision of the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. c. Yes, thanks to the doctrine of sovereign immunity. d. No, because Texas law requires that anyone under the age of 35 in Texas must have the signed, written consent of parents or a parent of both the man and the woman, and medical documentation that the couple is comprised of a man and a woman. e. Yes, thanks to the full faith and credit clause of Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. 6 Which one of the following municipal government structures allows a city greater flexibility and autonomy in managing and running itself? Select one: a. home-rule status b. general law status c. council of government organizational scheme d. reserved power status e. plural executive structure 7 Which of the following officials are elected in a justice-of-the-peace precinct and usually assist that precinct's justice-of-the-peace by serving subpoenas and warrants? Select one: a. county clerks b. county attorneys c. sheriffs d. district judges e. constables 8 The favored form of big city government in the United States found in most of the nation's large cities such as New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta (although it is NOT the favorite form of government for cities in Texas, even though Houston has this form) is known as the Select one: a. council-manager form. b. mayor council form (strong mayor variation). c. suburban managment form. d. commission form. e. mayor council form (weak mayor variation). 9County governments in Texas Select one: a. are single-purpose governments. b. are all incorporated with home-rule status giving each county the authority to make oridinances for their individual county. c. elect their officers in non-partisan elections. d. are fully sovereign governments completely independent of state government. e. all operate under the general laws of the state of Texas for the operation of county government. 10 Under current Texas state law, COUNTIES in Texas are Select one: a. NOT empowered to incorporate themselves as home-rule counties and thus may not create local county ordinances as they see fit. b. allowed to incorporate as home rule counties ONLY if all the municipalities within the county are incorporated as home-rule cities. c. empowered to incorporate themselves as home-rule counties and thus may create local county ordinances as they see fit. d. controlled by a panel comprises of all the mayors of the cities in the county. e. empowered to act as sovereign government independent of control by the legislature or the Texas Constitution. 11 A minor judicial official, elected in a precinct within a county, who is not necessarily a lawyer, who has the authority to deal with petty civil and criminal cases, perform marriages, and who operates, essentially, a small claims court is known as a Select one: a. district judge. b. justice of the peace. c. municipal judge. d. county judge. e. constable. 12 In Texas, in a municipality which has the council-manager form of city government, the city manager is Select one: a. elected directly by the people of the city in an at-large election. b. appointed from the membership of the city council to serve as city manager in a role this is merely ceremonial. c. appointed by the city council for a trial period of six-months and then is placed before the voters to be elected to that position for a four year term of office in a non-partisan election. d. appointed by the Texas Legislature under the general laws of the State of Texas. e. hired by the city council to act as the chief executive officer of the city and serves, under contract, at the pleasure of the council. 13 Which of the follow is NOT a power of state government? Select one: a. taxing power b. eminent domain power c. proprietary power d. police power e. foreign relations power (in states bordering foreign nations such as Texas which borders Mexico) 14According to Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, whenever there is a direct conflict between a state law or state constitution and the federal government's laws or the U.S. Constitution, the national government's law prevails over the laws enacted by state legislatures or the state constitution. This constitutional power, found in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, is referred to as Select one: a. the necessary and proper clause. b. the national supremacy clause. c. the adverbial clause. d. the full faith and credit clause. e. the priviledges and immunities clause. 15 of municipal government in Texas for larger cities is Select one: a. the strong mayor-council form. b. the county commissioners court form. c. the weak mayor-council form. d. the city commission form. e. the council-manager form. 16All county governments in Texas are essentially structured the same because Select one: a. most counties in Texas have home rule authority and having local ordinance power, can tailor its governmental needs to its particular needs. b. the Texas Supreme Court ruled in Avery v. Midland County that all Texas counties must be structured in the same manner. c. the U.S. Constitution in Art. III requires county governments be structured the same throughout the country. d. they are all organized and operate under the general laws of the state of Texas which deal with county governments in Texas. e. there is only one county in Texas and 254 cities. 17 Which of the following county officials has the most influence on road and bridge repair and construction work in the rural areas of the county? Select one: a. the county sheriff b. the county judge c. the four county commissioners d. the county clerk e. the county auditor 18The "delegated powers" are the national governing powers given to Congress in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. To carry out these powers--which include the power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, borrow and coin money, declare war, level and collect taxes (among other powers)--the Founding Fathers, in the last paragraph of Article I, Section 8, gave Congress the additional power to make laws it deemed to be needed and appropriate to carry out these foregoing delegated powers. Congress has used this clause of the Constitution to greatly broaden the national governing power over the past 200 plus years. That clause allowing Congress to create these IMPLIED powers is called Select one: a. the full faith and credit clause. b. the reserved powers clause. c. the necessary and proper clause. d. the priviledges and immunities clause. e. the supremacy clause. 19 As of the end of 2014, the current Texas Constitution Select one: a. has 100 amendments. b. has 27 amendments. c. has 483 amendments. d. has 254 amendments. e. has no amendments thanks to the "necessary and proper clause" of Article I of the Texas Constitution which allows the legislature to modify the constitution without the necessity of the formal amendment process (this according to a ruling of the Texas Supreme Court in 2011). 20 A certificate of indebtedness issued by a borrower to a lender, creating a legal obligation to repay the principal of the loan plus accrued interest (and in the case of a municipalities, can be redeemed from a city's general revenue fund or from the property or activity financed by the indebtedness) is called Select one: a. a bond. b. a homestead exemption. c. sales tax certificate. d. an ordinance. e. a stock option. f. a tax abatement. 21 What is/are the primary function(s) of M.U.D.s? Select one: a. Providing planning resources for local governments b. Clearing mud and other refuse from urban districts c. Delivering state services such as city council elections d. Providing utility services, such as water and sewage systems, to developments outside city limits e. Providing municipal urban services to rural areas of the counties 22Municipal governments (i.e., cities) in Texas are Select one: a. all expressly created directly named by the Texas Constitution. b. forms of "special district government." c. created explicitly and directly by the Texas legislature with the approval of the United States Supreme Court. d. all all governed by the county governmental in which they, the cities, individually sit. e. forms of government authorized under state law and are all multiple purpose governments. 23 An important function of the county sheriff in an urban county in Texas is to Select one: a. provide primary law enforcement services for all the citizens of the county both in rural and cities (superceding city police departments in even large urban cities). b. patrol the streets of all of the incorporated cities within the county enforcing their individual city ordinances. c. prosecute both felony and misdemeanor crimes in the county. d. supervise the operations of the county jail. e. enforce both federal and state laws within the county (even superceding the FBI in federal crimes). 24 Which of the following county officials is NOT elected in a partisan election in the county? Select one: a. county tax assessor-collector b. county clerk c. county auditor d. county sheriff e. county judge 25 All elected offices in county government are all filled through Select one: a. nonpartisan elections. b. gubernatorial appointments (i.e., appointment by the Governor of Texas). c. partisan elections. d. single-member district elections. e. at-large elections. 26 No STATE in the United States may deprive its citizens of life, liberty, or property with due process of law. This protection is provided for by Select one: a. the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. b. the United Nations Charter. c. the Local Government Code of Texas. d. the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. e. the Declaration of Independence. 27 County government, essentially, is Select one: a. completely independent of the state government. b. a thing of the past and not significant anywhere in Texas any longer. c. designed to serve solely as an arm of the federal government in executing federal programs. d. a subunit of state government designed to help the state carry out its functions. e. an off-shoot of city government and completely dependent upon and contained within the territorial boundaries of the city. 28Which of the following is one of the two largest source of tax revenue for cities in Texas? Select one: a. property tax collections b. severance taxes on oil and gas extraction in the city c. municipal income taxes d. payroll taxes e. federal income taxes 29The LAST president of the Republic of Texas served in office when the Texas Congress accepted annexation by the United States (and when the Texas Congress wrote a new constitution, which was approved by the United States Congress in 1845). Who was the president of the Republic of Texas when Texas accepted annexation and adopted the Texas Constitution of 1845? Select one: a. Mirabeau B. Lamar b. Sam Houston c. Bill Clements d. Anson Jones e. E. J. Davis 30 There are NO home-rule cities in the State of Texas. Select one: True False 31 The current Texas Constitution Select one: a. is one of the shortest state constitutions in the country. b. has been significantly modified in both 1974 and 1999 to become more efficient and provide a more effective state government. c. is one of the longest state constitutions in the country. d. has fewer amendments than the US Constitution. e. was created as a result of Texans' reactions to the Revolutionary War. 32 The members of the Houston Community College Board of Trustees are elected to their offices. What kind of government oversees the operation of HCC? Select one: a. special district government b. municipal government c. federal government d. county government 33 In reaction to the the Radical Republican Congress's Reconstruction policies and the Reconstruction administration of Republican Government E.J. Davis, the Texas Constitution of 1876 Select one: a. created one of the most compact, shortest state constitutions in the nation, giving the state government broad powers and the ability to govern expansively such that the Texas Constitution of 1876 has added less that 20 amendment over its nearly 140 year history. b. dramatically expanded the powers of the state government to the extend that the Texas governorship became the most powerful governor's offices in the nation and the office remains the most powerful gubernatorial office in the nation today, with broad executive powers and extensive constitutional influence over the legislative function of government as well. c. drastically limited the powers of the office of governor such that even in this, the 21st Century, the Texas governor's office is considered one of the weakest gubernatorial offices in the nation. d. not only eliminated slavery but contain numerous civil rights measures which gave the newly freed slaves equal rights and protections of the laws and public education, a model which was used in the Civil Rights movement of the mid-20th Century. e. created a liberal state government with greatly enhanced powers to serve the needy and provide for social welfare programs for minorities and the poor, programs that exist still today making Texas a leader among the states in social welfare programs and open immigration policies. 34 The area immediately outside and surrounding a municipality's border which, by law, the city is allowed to annex is called its Select one: a. municipal utility district. b. municipal jurisdiction. c. extraterritorial jurisdiction. d. annexation beltway. e. at large precinct. 35 Which of the following is the main source of tax revenue for COUNTY government in Texas? Select one: a. income taxes b. payroll taxes c. property taxes d. sales taxes e. excise taxes 36 The U.S. Supreme Court case which held that counties had to abide by the one-person, one-vote rule which required that electoral districts be roughly of equal populations size is known as Select one: a. Gideon County v. Wainwright (1963). b. Brown v. Board of Education (1954). c. Avery v. Midland County (1968). d. Dallas v. Houston County (1999) e. Byrd v. Odessa County (1986). 37 In the council-manager form of city government, executive authority and policy implementation are the responsibilities of which of the following officials? Select one: a. city commissioners b. county commissioners c. the council d. the city manager e. the mayor 38Almost all Texas public schools are run directly by Select one: a. municipalities. b. directly by the federal government (the Department of Homeland Security). c. special district governments known as municipal utility districts. d. special district governments known as independent school districts. e. counties. 39 Under the Texas Constitution of 1876, all county judges in Texas are given Select one: a. no judicial functions, only administrative. b. the authority to disband any city and city charter of a municipality within the county in which the county judge sits. c. veto power over all decisions rendered by the Texas legislature, the commissioners court, and the county court. d. both administrative and judicial functions. e. no administrative functions, only judicial. 40 Which of the following is NOT true regarding the commission form of city government? Select one: a. It is the most popular form of city government in Texas b. The city commissioners are elected c. Each elected city commissioner serves as a head of a city department d. It no longer exists in Texas in its PURE form e. It was started in Galveston 41Some municipal governments in Texas own and operate their own electric utility companies. The power to do this is not provided for under the general laws of the State of Texas for city governance. These cities that own their own power company have the legal flexiblity as a city government to do this because Select one: a. of the emergency powers granted these cities by the Texas Legislature during the Civil War to maintain electrical services to the cities during electric grid blackouts during the War Between the States. b. capitalism is the official economic system of of the state under Article I of the Texas Constitution and every city is required to own and run all the utilities such as electric service within the city limits, paying the profits to the mayor and city council members. c. of the commerce clause found in Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution which deals entirely with local government rules and regulations for the operations of local governments within the states. d. such authority is given all city and county governments under the Texas Local Government Code. e. they have incorporated themselves as home rule cities, and thus have the power to make local ordinances (laws) under their home-rule local governing authority and these cities have chosen to use this power to create this type of public utility. 42 The current constitution for the State of Texas Select one: a. is far shorter in length than the United States Constitution. b. was adopted in 1876 following the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1875. c. was adopted in 1975 following the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1974. d. was adopted in 1845 when Texas became an independent Republic. e. was adopted in 1999 as a result of reforms promoted by and adopted by the Texas Legislature that year. 43 What is the approximate population of the State of Texas? Select one: a. 117 million b. 16 million c. 38 million d. four million e. 26 million 44 Many years ago, the state eliminated the county tax-assessor collector's function of assessing the value of real property in the county for purposes of taxation. That function was taken over by the Select one: a. county sheriff. b. county auditor. c. county commissioners' court. d. Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. e. county tax appraisal district. 45An election where a political subdivision, such as a city, county or a state, is subdivided and one candidate is elected to a particular office from that sub-unit (referred to as a precinct or district) is called Select one: a. a general election. b. a non-partisan election. c. a single-member district election. d. an at-large election. e. a precinct election. 46Some county judges in rural, non-urban areas choose to exercise their constitutionally granted judicial power as judge of the constitutional county court as well as their constitutionally granted administrative power as head of the county commissioners court. Select one: True False 47Which of the following is not one of the four industries that greatly influenced Texas’s economic development? Select one: a. timber b. cotton c. oil and natural gas d. cattle e. automobile manufacturing 48 Texas has how many counties? Select one: a. 254 b. the number varies every two years following county reapportionment following the end of the biennial legislative session c. 200 d. 425 e. 275 49 A primary reason a Texas city such as Houston annexes territory from its extra-territorial jurisdiction is to Select one: a. enlarge its populate base so that it can gain increased representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. b. enlarge their tax bases. c. to assist rural citizens in receiving urban services. d. increase their population so as to increase their chances of recruiting an NFL team to move to their cities. e. take the burden off county governments of providing basic services such as water and sewage for the area to be annexed. 50 The city with the largest population in Texas is Select one: a. Fort Worth. b. Houston. c. Austin. d. Dallas. e. San Antonio. [Show More]

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