Overall, the Texas Constitution adheres to the principles of constitutions and is very similar to the U.S. Constitution.
Several different constitutions have governed the state of Texas since it became a state in 1845, but the current constitution, sometimes called the Constitution of 1876, is the most important. Since it was ratified, this constitution has been amended 474 times in seventy different ratification elections (Boatright). One reason the Texas Constitution has been amended so many times is because it is written in a way that makes it easy to amend. Another reason that Texas' Constitution has needed amendments so often is that it looks to highly limit the powers of state government (Boatright). This means that sometimes amendments must be made to actually expand the powers of the Texas government for various reasons. These factors that lead to many amendments of the Texas Constitution differ greatly from the United States Constitution. The founding fathers of the United States wanted to make it a difficult process to amend the federal Constitution, and they succeeded. The writers of the Texas constitution had no such goals (Boatright). The Texas Constitution just requires an amendment to be passed by the state Legislature and approved by voters in a referendum, making it exceedingly easy to amend. Another reason for the difference between the two constitutions lies in the different philosophical approaches the framers of the constitutions had about the role of government. The U.S. Constitution has a "necessary and proper" clause that justifies different types of governmental action not explicitly defined in the constitution (Maltz). There is no equivalent to that clause in the Texas Constitution. Instead, the powers granted the government only those specifically written in the state constitution. So, even small legislative changes can require the Texas Constitution to be amended.