Political Environment Of Texas

Texas would be the 14th largest economy in the world as a stand-alone country by Gross Domestic Product. The state is border line healthy but does have a growing GDP. The infrastructure is average definitely room for improvement. It is said that Texas is going to have 12.4 percent more revenue to spend in the next TWO budget years. I define Texas’s economy as borderline healthy even though everything is looking positive for Texas because just two years ago there were panics in certain areas of being in debt. They are now getting their state back to being healthy and as long as they keep making smart decisions and start working on the cities/towns little by little they will remain healthy.

A political culture is mainly referred to as the shared values and beliefs of the citizens on the topic of political and economic life that reflects the fundamental assumptions about how government should operate and function as a society. Although the people share the framework of values, beliefs, and habits of behavior related to government and politics, the reference as to how the judging is to be viewed is how the relationship is between the government and the people, obligations to the government, limits on government authority, and the rights and responsibility to the people. A political subculture can change over time given that Texas has a political context of big, and the diversity in Texas it is possible for Texas to be able to contain

The people of Texas are diverse and carry their “big can-do attitudes and accents” (Pearson); making Texas a bigger than life state. The political culture of Texas is impacted by two different subgroups of

In the United States, for the last four decades, from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan through the two Bush Presidencies, the Republican Party won the White House by amassing large margins among white voters (Lizza.) The state of Texas has been reliably Republican since the 1970s and there are various elements to Texas political culture that can be narrowed down to three essential ideological trends: economic liberalism, or faith in the free market economy, social conservatism, or favoring traditional values and moralism, and populism, or promoting the rights and worthiness of ordinary people (Texas Political Culture.) As a result, the dominant political mood in Texas favors low taxes, minimal government services, and policies that are

Texas is considered a very diverse and unique state in many different aspects. It is the second largest state with more than twenty-six million people residing. People all over the state live in a variety of environments, cities, suburbs, rural areas, you name it. Of course though, like in everything else, there are always both positive and negative things. However, despite the fact that Texas have very high poverty rates and it has the second highest income inequality, Texas is a very interesting state and it has a lot of things that are worth learning about. I learned some things about Texas politics that I thought were very interesting. These topics include the State Constitution and the legislature.

As the largest state by area in the continental U.S. as the second most populous, Texas has its significant share of public policy challenges with which to contend. And as the discussion hereafter will show, many of these challenges serve as a microcosm of the broader pubic policy issues facing the United States. The issues addressed here below help to provide a better understanding of the complexities of public policy maintenance in a large and diverse state.

Texas has a reputation throughout history of differing views from the federal government in laws and politics pertaining to social, fiscal, and educational issues. On the whole, Texas operates as a largely conservative state. Because of this, policy-making is often right wing. With the institution of a Democratic, liberal president, the State’s dissent from the Federal government has only increased over certain issues. One hot topic of the 2012 Presidential election was immigration. With the major increase in immigration, it is no surprise that the issue was so emphasized. Between 2000 and 2011 there was a 30 percent

Political culture is complex even in a place like Texas where there is a broad consensus about core values and ideals. Despite numerous constitutions and national flags, the changing fortunes of political parties, and the almost complete transformation of the economy, the state's political culture displays a remarkable continuity. The dominant political culture's particular combination of economic liberalism (faith in the "free market" economy), social conservatism (favoring traditional values and moralism), and populism (promoting the rights and worthiness of ordinary people) has proven quite resilient over many decades and even centuries. These ideological tendencies are expressed in a dominant political culture that tends to favor low taxes, low government services, and pro-business policies, while at the same time reserving a significant respect (at least in the abstract) for popular control of government.

Over the course of United States history, Texas has always been a peculiar state. It has had it's fair share of triumphs and downfalls, some of which were the Battle of The Alamo, the defeat of the Spanish army, and its acquisition by the United States. Although the history of Texas might seem to dominate the opinions of many, the governmental component is no different. In fact, some have debated if the very foundation of our government is a democracy or a republic. In response, and through thorough research, I have concluded that Texas is, in fact, a democracy, because there is a multitude of electoral systems, an array of elected positions that citizens can run for, and a myriad of court systems to which justice can be served.

It is widely believed that the strongest state level Republican Party is found in the state of Texas. The Republican Party of Texas has control of the senate, the state house of representatives and the state’s education board . Without a doubt, Texas is the strongest Republican state in the nation. Republicans now have majorities in 107 Texas counties that contain nearly two-thirds of the state’s population. Texas own George W. Bush was the 43rd President of the United States. Things haven’t always been so great for Texas Republicans. For over one hundred years, the Republican Party was not a viable force in Texas politics. We were the second party in a one-party state. During that time, the GOP failed to win a single

Texas is the second most populous state as well as the second largest state in the United States of America (Brown, Langenegger, Garcia, Lewis, & Biles, 2014). With a huge number of people currently calling Texas their home, it would make sense to draw the conclusion that the Texas government must make this state a great place to live by serving its citizens to the best of its abilities. However, it is best not to make assumptions and in order to ascertain whether the local government actually fulfills this role we must look at multiple aspects of the government.

Texas is a state that has always been recognized for its size and politics. Elections are a huge part of democratic societies that are intended for citizens to choose their public leaders and approve the policies set by candidates. Political parties and interest groups also play a key role in shaping opportunities for public participation. Most Texans and historians know that the Democratic Party’s historical dominance is important to state politics. It is less likely that people are not aware of the consequences of the one-party system for public participation and democracy in Texas. Like many of the rim South states, the white elitist belonged to the Democratic Party which stemmed from the end of Reconstruction until the late 20th

Political culture reflects the political ethics and convictions of people, not only around the United States of America but also all over the world. The people believe that the government is responsible for the type of services (like education, health care, community services, etc.) that they are entitled too; therefore, if the outcome is not good the political system has failed. There are three different political cultures: moral, traditional, and individualist. The State of Texas has a mix from all the cultures; however, traditional and individualist cultures seem to predominate.

Texas political culture is one that can be described as a combination of three main ideas: individualistic, traditionalism and moralism. Considering Texas and its overwhelming 254 counties we can see these main ideas undoubtedly. The 254 counties each have their own general set of ideas, attitudes and beliefs. The whole state of Texas is simply not just considered individualistic, traditionalism, or moralism, it is considered all three. Individualistic, traditionalism and moralism are all strong values that coexist in our society and they all affect how we as the people live our lives. A political culture shapes a region’s politics.

States’ rights, the fight for the unborn and their right to life, and resistance to gun legislation, tend to be some of the top issues for conservative Texas voters. The last time a Democrat carried the state of Texas was in 1976, when Jimmy Carter won the Presidential election. During the 2004 presidential election, then President and Republican candidate, George W. Bush, won with 61.09% against 38.30% votes for the Democratic candidate John Kerry. However, in the more recent Presidential elections that were held in 2008 and in 2012, the very popular Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, did not win the majority vote for Texas. Thus, looking at this information, it can be said that the state of Texas tends to lean more towards the Republican side.