Deck 10: Local Government

Question 1

What is a key problem with counties in Texas?

A) Many of them are too small and underpopulated to function well.
B) County laws were made in the twentieth century, making them too old-fashioned.
C) The lack of diversity when it comes to counties.
D) Too often the county seats cannot be reached in a day's drive.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

All of the following are functions of county government EXCEPT

A) law enforcement.
B) bridge and road construction.
C) flood control.
D) record keeping.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What is the most important expenditure of most county commissioners' courts?

A) roads and bridges
B) building and maintaining county jails
C) water
D) law enforcement

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What is the composition of the county commissioner's court?

A) five county commissioners, with one member appointed county judge
B) a three-judge panel and four county commissioners
C) a district clerk and four county commissioners
D) a county judge and four county commissioners

Question 5

Why are Texas counties important?

A) They create and regulate cities.
B) They act as legislative bodies, making most of the local laws.
C) They provide the main form of government in rural areas.
D) They have very broad governmental powers.

Question 6

The job of serving legal papers at the precinct level of a county goes to the

A) constable.
B) sheriff.
C) assistant district attorney.
D) district judge.

Question 7

Which of the following is a source of often unanticipated costs faced by county governments?

A) the expense of city police salaries
B) the financial burden of capital murder trials
C) the spiraling costs of public education
D) the growing number of constables being employed at the county level

Question 8

In Texas,what is the name of the officer who presides over the county commissioners' court?

A) county judge
B) executive commissioner
C) justice of the peace
D) sheriff

Question 9

County commissioners are often called

A) little legislatures.
B) road commissioners.
C) little council.
D) special district.

Question 10

Who is responsible for overseeing the collection and disbursement of county funds?

A) county tax assessor
B) county clerk
C) county treasurer
D) county auditor

Question 11

One of the most important social services provided by counties is

A) indigent health care.
B) indigent defense.
C) animal control.
D) sanitation.

Question 12

In the case Avery v.Midland County,the U.S.Supreme Court held that

A) special districts had to be approved by voters.
B) educational spending levels had to be roughly the same throughout the state.
C) the principle of "one person, one vote" applied to county commissioners' courts.
D) the practice of hanging was in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Question 13

The chief law-enforcement officer in county governments is the

A) sheriff.
B) constable.
C) justice of the peace.
D) city police chief.

Question 14

In smaller counties,state law allows the sheriff to act as

A) the justice of the peace.
B) the tax assessor/collector.
C) the constable and court officer.
D) the medical examiner.

Question 15

Texas counties have their origins

A) in the Texas Constitution.
B) in municipalities.
C) in the federal government.
D) with the United States Supreme Court.

Question 16

The law enforcement budget at the county level is approved by the

A) constable.
B) sheriff.
C) county judge.
D) county commissioners' court.

Question 17

For a county to have a fire code,state law requires the county to

A) have a population of more than 250,000.
B) have a population of more than 1 million.
C) have a full-time fire department.
D) have a special district called emergency services.

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT a function of county government in Texas?

A) supervising road and bridge maintenance
B) administering water districts
C) setting a county's tax rates
D) maintaining the county jail

Question 19

Which of the following statements about counties in Texas is INCORRECT?

A) Counties are an administrative arm of the state government.
B) There are over 250 counties in Texas.
C) Each county has four county commissioners.
D) All counties have approximately the same number of people.

Question 20

Who collects the taxes owed to the county?

A) county tax assessor-collector
B) county clerk
C) county treasurer
D) county auditor

Question 21

What is an at-large election?

A) an election for offices that receive no official salary
B) an election in which voters elect officials from the entire geographical area rather than from a smaller district within the area
C) an election held under the commission system of city government
D) an election in which one or more candidates are under criminal indictment

Question 22

Across the United States,which form of government for cities with over 10,000 residents has been the most popular?

A) commissioner
B) county judge-mayor
C) council mayor
D) council manager

Question 23

The mayor-council form of government is most common in

A) smaller general-law cities.
B) large metropolitan cities.
C) newer, high-growth "exurbs."
D) northern Texas cities.

Question 24

The commissioner form of city government was developed as a response to the

A) end of Reconstruction in 1876.
B) hurricane at Galveston in 1900.
C) Great Depression of 1929.
D) discovery of oil in 1901.

Question 25

There are now ________ home-rule cities in Texas.

A) 121
B) 209
C) 335
D) 277

Question 26

As of the 2010 Census,there were ________ municipalities in Texas.

A) 254
B) 1,221
C) 945
D) 2,122

Question 27

Home-rule charters provide for all of the following EXCEPT

A) forming government that operates in the city.
B) specifying the number of members serving on the city's governing body.
C) granting the governing body the power to annex land adjacent to the city.
D) requiring cities to have a population of less than 5,000.

Question 28

In large Texas counties,the ________ prepares the county budget.

A) sheriff
B) constable
C) auditor
D) clerk

Question 29

A ________ form of government is one in which public policies are developed by the city council and executive and administrative functions are assigned to a professional city manager.

A) commissioner
B) council manager
C) council mayor
D) mayor-city manager

Question 30

Commissioner forms of government were at the height of their popularity

A) in 1882, at the height of the Grange movement.
B) in 1918, during the Progressive era.
C) in 1936, during the New Deal.
D) in 1978, as a result of the economic recession.

Question 31

Which city governments have officials who act as both executives and legislators?

A) strong-mayor councils
B) mayor-councils
C) commissioners
D) weak-mayor councils

Question 32

San Antonio operates under which style of city government?

A) mayor-council
B) council-manager
C) commissioner
D) council-mayor

Question 33

As the number of urban areas grew in the state in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,the management of local affairs became such a growing burden on the state legislature that it passed the

A) general-law city charter.
B) city charter.
C) home-rule charter.
D) county charter.

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT a key difference between the mayor-council and the council-manager forms of local government?

A) The council-manager style was meant to reduce the possibility of corruption that the mayor-council system may bring.
B) The council-manager system is the most popular form of government throughout the United States for cities with over 10,000 residents.
C) In the council-manager system, the chief executive is a city manager, not a mayor.
D) In the council-manager system, local politics is viewed as a full-time job, unlike in the mayor-council system.

Question 35

Dallas operates under which style of city government?

A) mayor-council
B) council-manager
C) commissioner
D) council-mayor

Question 36

What was the effect of Dallas shifting from an at-large to a single-member district system in 1991?

A) The change was responsible for the election of a significant number of African American and Hispanic council members.
B) The city lost its status as a home-rule city for five years.
C) At-large districts benefited the local Democratic Party.
D) It was challenged in court but found to be constitutional by the Texas Supreme Court.

Question 37

What is the level of popularity of the commissioner system of city government in Texas today?

A) It is the most popular form of city government in Texas.
B) No city in Texas today has a pure commissioner system, but a handful claim a variation of the system.
C) While less popular than the mayor-council system, the commissioner system is used by more than 100 cities in Texas today.
D) Commissioner systems have never been used in Texas.

Question 38

In a weak-mayor form of government,power is

A) decentralized.
B) diversified.
C) centralized.
D) shared.

Question 39

What is the main difference between a home-rule city and a general-law city?

A) A general-law city does not have a mayor.
B) A general-law city is chartered for localities with a population of fewer than 5,000 persons.
C) A general-law city is the name for all cities incorporated after 1901.
D) A general-law city has no power to set the property tax.

Question 40

Which of the following is considered a restriction on the powers of the mayor in some strong-mayor council systems of government?

A) nonpartisan elections
B) appointive and removal powers
C) control of the legislative agenda of the city council
D) All of these are correct.

Question 41

The chief financial officer for a city is called the

A) city controller.
B) sheriff.
C) mayor.
D) city manager.

Question 42

Which of the following cities currently has a city government with a strong mayor-council form of government?

A) Dallas
B) San Antonio
C) Austin
D) Houston

Question 43

What is the function of the 24 councils of government in Texas today?

A) They are a board that establishes new special districts when needed.
B) They are a regional board meant to coordinate local planning and economic development.
C) They are a tax board meant to establish local property tax rates.
D) They are an administrative board that runs utility districts in rural areas.

Question 44

Texas is one of a handful of states with no statewide fire code.

Question 45

A school district is

A) a special district.
B) administered by the county commissioners' court.
C) ruled by the federal government in Washington, D.C.
D) established by each incorporated city.

Question 46

________ is a unit of government that performs a single service in a limited geographic area.

A) A special district
B) The county government
C) The local government
D) A single-member district

Question 47

What type of government is called hidden government because people often do NOT know it exists?

A) county government
B) special districts
C) city government
D) state government

Question 48

How are most special districts in Texas administered?

A) County judges administer all special districts within their jurisdiction.
B) They are run by a board elected by residents within the district.
C) For each special district, the governor appoints members to a review board.
D) They are run by special district administrators who answer directly to the state
Legislature.

Question 49

What is the main difference between a special district and a county?

A) A special district provides only one specific service within a geographic region.
B) A county is formed in terms of population density, while a special district is created geographically.
C) Special districts are controlled by incorporated cities, unlike county government.
D) Special districts are created by municipalities, while counties are created by the state.

Question 50

The mayor and city council members are subject to recall if ________ percent of the qualified voters in a district sign a petition of recall and a recall election is successful.

A) 15
B) 20
C) 10
D) 5

Question 51

Texas believed that the local center of government,the county seat,should be accessible to interest groups.

Question 52

What are the main sources of revenue for special districts in Texas?

A) property taxes and user fees
B) income taxes and user fees
C) income taxes and sales taxes
D) sales taxes and property taxes

Question 53

Which problem was recently found in the system of special districts?

A) State investigations discovered numerous "phantom districts" that do not provide a service yet bill local counties for administrative costs.
B) Real estate developers moved a few people onto land rent-free, and these people then voted for huge bond measures that future residents would be obliged to pay.
C) The special districts for homeland security throughout Texas were uncoordinated and ill prepared for September 11, 2001.
D) There has been widespread corruption among board members receiving bribes from citizens to lower their user fees.

Question 54

Flood control is managed through special districts because

A) flooding is seldom contained in a single city or county.
B) the Texas Constitution forbids both cities and the state from spending money on flood prevention.
C) the Galveston hurricane of 1900 revealed the inefficiency and slowness of state government in responding to local disasters.
D) most cities do not have the infrastructure to handle large flooding.

Question 55

In Texas,________ create(s)special districts.

A) the Texas legislature
B) the governor
C) Texas voters in the areas that will be covered
D) the county commissioners' court, with local voter approval

Question 56

A school board can do all of the following EXCEPT

A) adopt a budget for the district.
B) draft standardized evaluation exams.
C) select textbooks for classroom use.
D) hire principals and faculty.

Question 57

County governments are most important for administering rural areas throughout Texas.

Question 58

A nonschool special district includes everything EXCEPT

A) utility districts.
B) economic development corporations.
C) school districts.
D) hospital districts.

Question 59

Special districts in Texas are

A) democratic in theory but often not in practice.
B) created and administered by county clerks.
C) the best example of participatory democracy in Texas because of the high voter participation.
D) a less common form of government than they were 50 years ago.

Question 60

Which of the following is the most common form of local government in Texas?

A) county government
B) municipal government
C) special districts
D) city government

Question 61

There is no single way to run a city in Texas.Compare and contrast the governments of Texas cities.

Question 62

Special districts are funded through sales taxes.

Question 63

Analyze the importance of county government in Texas.What are the main governmental tasks of counties? How are counties organized,and how is authority distributed?

Question 64

Different types of city government create different political opportunities and problems.Using the different city government types,describe the particular political environments of Texas's four largest cities.

Question 65

One of the most important social services provided by counties is indigent health care.

Question 66

Commissioner governments are designed to run school districts and other special districts throughout the state.

Question 67

District attorneys prosecute the less serious criminal cases in the district courts,whereas county attorneys prosecute the more serious criminal cases in the county courts.

Question 68

How do counties in Texas differ from cities in their powers,duties,and responsibilities,and which do you think has more advantages?

Question 69

All large cities in Texas have structures of government that give strong executive powers to the mayor.

Question 70

San Antonio and Dallas both have council-manager forms of government.

Question 71

One of the problems with Texas government is that there are no regional councils that promote coordinated planning across local governments.

Question 72

Each county in Texas is required by the state constitution to have approximately the same number of residents.

Question 73

Law enforcement is a responsibility of county government.

Question 74

One problem with special districts is that sometimes local government officials work in relative obscurity,avoiding media and public scrutiny.

Question 75

Community colleges in Texas are allotted their own special districts.

Question 76

As elected officials,constables are not subject to much oversight by other public officials and they tend to function as law enforcement fiefdoms in larger counties in Texas.

Question 77

General-law cities have more autonomy from the state than home-rule charter cities.

Question 78

In Texas,special districts are run by a board of trustees appointed by the governor.

Question 79

In home-rule cities the constitution sets a maximum property tax rate of $1.50 per $100 valuation.

Question 80

The chief executive officer of each county in Texas is the sheriff.