Final answer:
The Texas Constitution of 1876 introduced a plural executive system where executive power is divided among various state officials. This system ensures checks and balances within the state government, preventing any one official from dominating the executive branch and ensuring accountability to the electorate.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Texas Constitution of 1876 established a governmental structure that emphasizes the division of state power among various elected officials. This is known as a plural executive system. In this system, executive power is distributed amongst several statewide elected officials, not just vested in the governor alone. This aims to create a set of checks and balances within the state government, similar to the separation of powers between branches at the federal level, which promotes accountability and limits the concentration of power.
The plural executive structure reduces the possibility of a single executive authority gaining dominance, by sharing the powers among various offices such as the lieutenant governor, attorney general, and others, who are also elected directly by Texas voters. Consequently, Texas features a decentralized executive branch with officials who are individually accountable to the electorate, unlike at the national level where the president appoints major executive branch officials, such as the members of the cabinet.
Intricately, the states' power structure, as outlined in their constitutions, has evolved to provide checks upon the potential overreach of any one branch, and Texas is an example of a state that has taken a clear stance on preventing the centralization of executive power.