Texas Is Not An Individualistic State

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

The constitution was created in the “era of cowboys and cattle drives” (Collier et al 66). This is not Texas currently. Texas is mostly urban now, and the population has been growing ever since, and that includes the population of Hispanic and African Americans. It has come to the point that Hispanics are almost surpassing the number of Whites in Texas. Texas has changed into a diverse state with the millions of persons.

Individualism is the belief of self-reliance. Texas is also known for being on its own. Which leads to its famous saying, “you’ve got nobody to blame but yourself.” They are all about being the self-made man. An individualist prefers privacy, is suspicious of public institutions, and is an independent contractor. This attitude ties into our low active government. Government is sought out to be at low cost and out of the way of its voters. Texas government is very limited, and has a legislature that meets biennially. Due to our isolation, public education is under funded and is at its high in many court battles and legislative conflicts. The heart of individualism would be laissez-faire. In Britannica, laissez-faire is the policy of minimum governmental interference in the economic affairs of individuals and society. Laissez-faire is basically telling government to “leave them alone.” The whole concept is to keep minimum government interference in business.

There is tremendous evidence, to suggest that individualism is a strong part of Texas culture such as, the use of biennial sessions of the legislature, the partisan election of judges, and limited powers of the governor. The people of Texas with individualism as their root belief do not want government to control their lives. They want the legislature meeting every other year because Texans fear too much time in session might lead to change. This is also the reason they have restricted the powers of governor. Although Texans generally do not want a strong government, this does not stop them from complaining and seeking answers when outcomes in government do not go their way.

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.

There are many different opinions on how much power the governor of Texas should have than other states. Some people debate on whether Texas government should have a singular executive instead of plural executive. There are pros and cons of having a plural executive model and at times they believe that it can be more democratic than the single executive model. The governor’s power is debated about whether or not they have not enough or too much power with governing the state of Texas.

All three branches of the government contain a crucial role in creating laws step by step. The checks and balances make sure that each branch does not overpower the other branches. For example, the governor is allowed to call special sessions if some important items still need to be discussed for the legislative after the regular sessions. The governor also has the authority to veto a law, but it could be overridden by the legislature with a two-thirds vote. The judicial branch makes sure that the other two branches fulfill their duties properly. Also the judges can be impeached by the legislature as well as the governor from the Senate. These three branches of the Texas government are responsible for running the government with laws: the legislative, executive, and the judiciary.

From March 2, 1836 to February 19, 1846, Texas as its own independent country in North America. Those who resided in this independent country were referred to as Texians. Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 during the Texas revolution which ended on April 21 of that same exact year. However, Mexico did not want to give the Republic of Texas its independence which resulted in conflicts between that of Texas and Mexico that went on into the 1840s. As a result, The United States of America recognized the Republic of Texas as an independent country in 1837 but failed to append their land. Later receiving its independence, Texas elected a Congress of fourteen senators and twenty-nine representatives in the month of September and year of 1836. However, within the Republic, citizenship was not a privileged for everybody living in Texas. Not everybody had legal rights to reside within the limits of the Republic without Congress permission. The Constitution of the Republic of Texas created differences for each and every ethnicity for each individual person. Meaning, whoever was there on the day the Republic of Texas won their independence had to be classified as a citizen of the Republic including Africans, those with African descent, and Native Americans. For Caucasian immigrants to become citizens they would have to had lived in the Republic for six months or less and take an oath. Those who were brought to Texas as a slave had to stay a

The most common Governmental figure in Texas is the Governor. This power is nothing more than that of a celebrity status. Although the Governor has the power to appoint independent boards and commissions, the senate has to confirm these appointments. This is called senatorial courtesy What is meant when this job is more like a celebrity is because of the Governor‘s ceremonial roles as acting as Chief of State. This increases the Governor‘s popularity and prestige, and broadens the image of the office. One important power or role that the Governor is responsible for is coordinating relations between Texas and other states. This can definitely be an important factor. For example, the need of federal aid during the time of an emergency can require the help of other states. The Governor also acts as the Chief Budget officer of the state. Even though the presiding officer presides over this office, the Governor does have some control. This is a very effective example of a good trustworthy system.

In my analysis of the Texas Constitution I will assess the three branches of our State Government, the Legislative Branch, Executive Branch and finally the Judicial Branch. Our State Government resembles our National Government in various ways but also in very different ways which we will review in this essay. I will identify a handful of criticisms and problems associated with the provisions in each of these branches of our State Government and identify suggested reforms that many feel are needed.

Throughout Texas history, especially in the 1920s, the state had many impediments barring a normal life from anyone who was not anglo-american. From politics to churches to even bars, life was purposely made hard for anyone who was different from this standard of purity or whiteness. However, despite the overwhelming culture of white supremacy in Texas that impeded any opposing cultural differences, there remained pockets of differing ideological backgrounds and attitudes. Consequently, clusters of progressive communities became normal in Texan society, exemplifying the deepening trends of discrimination into Texas history and the lack of control anglos held on the southern portion of Texas.

Texas is currently dominated by the Republican culture with a popular belief in conservatism that has lasted for many years. Democratic and Liberal groups are also present in the Texas but play as the minorities. Although demographics through the years show that a change in the dominant party could very well be eminent, Texas remains a red state for the time being. Currently the population is estimated at 24.5 million and is dominantly Anglo with minorities including African American, and Hispanic. In the coming years though, it is estimated to change where as the Hispanic population will surpass become the new majority.

The most common Governmental figure in Texas is the Governor. This power is nothing more than that of a celebrity status. Although the Governor has the power to appoint independent boards and commissions, the senate has to confirm these appointments. This is called senatorial courtesy What is meant when this job is more like a celebrity is because of the Governor‘s ceremonial roles as acting as Chief of State. This increases the Governor‘s popularity and prestige, and broadens the image of the office. One important power or role that the Governor is responsible for is coordinating relations between Texas and other states. This can definitely be an important factor. For example, the need of federal aid during the time of an emergency can require the help of other states. The Governor also acts as the Chief Budget officer of the state. Even though the presiding officer presides over this office, the Governor does have some control.

Texas has a unique culture, independent of the United States. In fact, Texas spent ten years as a sovereign nation and elected five presidents. It’s also the only state to have seceded twice (once from Mexico and the US). Couple this with a recent poll showing 33% of Texans support secession (with only 46% opposing it), a Christian majority in an increasingly secular nation, and you have the beginning of cultural secession.

The power of the executive branch is amalgamated from the office of the governor (Bowman & Kearney, 2011, p. 68). Historically, the executive branch held increasingly more power and stature resulting from constitutional amendments allowing for governors to be elected by popular vote. (Bowman & Kearney, 2011, p. 59). Such unbalance in power eventually led to the people giving governors higher authority to veto legislative bills and granted longer terms. This trend continued through the early 1800s, 1830s and 1840s however, somewhat ended during the Jacksonian Era due to “the Jacksonian principle of popular elections to fill most government offices resulted in a fragmented state executive branch.” (Bowman & Kearney, 2011, p. 59). Within the Texas Constitution the executive branch powers can be found in Article IV, “The Executive Department” (The University of Texas School of Law: Tarlton Law Library: Jamail Center for Legal Research, 2013). The Executive Department must contain “a governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of State, comptroller of public accounts, treasurer, commissioner of the land of