Question

Who is the current Texas governor and what political party does the governor represent? Discuss the governor’s informal powers. What are informal powers? How do the informal powers help the governor?

Answer 1

• The current Texas governor is Greg Abbott.He represents the Republican party.A member of the Republican Party, Abbott was the second Republican to serve as Attorney General of Texas since Reconstruction.
• Informal powers are simply the personality of the governor and are therefore not as easy to specify, categorize, or compare. Duties associated with informal powers include being persuasive and convincing, being a strong leader, being organized and negotiating with other governments.
• Due to the rise of media and technology in the last decade, a governor’s ability to serve as a public relations representative for their state is now more important than ever.
• Informal powers are all of the little things that a governor can do up until the decision is made, such as focusing the public and media’s attention on a particular tax program or holding a press conference to explain to the people how the increased taxes would greatly benefit their state.
• This could also involve working with the legislature to push the issue and force them to take a stance on the controversial subject. All of these things require a governor to be persistent, intelligent, resourceful, compromising and a solid leader at the end of the day.
• Informal powers also include,guiding all state agencies,issuing proclamations,working with the General Assembly to get laws passed,representing the state in meetings with officials from other states, the federal government, or other countries etc.
• Informal powers differ substantially from one governor to another, rather than from one state to the next. Some informal powers have to do with the person who holds the office. Each man or woman who becomes governor has certain knowledge, skills, and personality traits that will help in the performance of the job.
• The Texas governor has less formal powers than most other governors. A Texas governor must use the power of persuasion, personality and media in order to effectively govern the state.