TEXAS POLITICAL CULTURE Amb. UDO MOSES WILLIAMS, PhD. Professor of Political Science Lone Star College/Houston Community College

LEARNING OUTCOMES POLITICAL CULTURE What is Political Culture? What are the types of Political Culture? What type of Political Culture does Texas have? Why Texas has this type of Political Culture?

Definition Broadly shared set of values and beliefs about how government should function and limitations of government in relation to its citizens US Political Cultural values: freedom, equality, order – all states Bill of Rights and the first 10 Amendments

Types of Political Cultures Consensus in all Text Books on the relevance: Daniel Elazar (1934-1999): study of how states were founded: Conclusions: - Shaped by immigration patterns - Account for regional differences - Three types of political cultures:

Moralistic Culture Moralistic Culture: - The belief that government is designed to promote the public good: issues - welfare - Big government - It is the citizens civic responsibility to participate in politics - Found in New England and the Mid-West

Individualistic Culture - The belief that government should limit its role to establishing political order so that citizens can pursue their own economic interests - Political competition is partisan - Idea of individual liberty, individual capitalism - Found in the Mid-Atlantic States

Traditionalistic Culture - The belief that political power should be concentrated in the hands of a few elite citizens - Government should maintain the status quo - Low taxes and deference to business leaders - Non-participation of ordinary citizens in politics - Period before and immediately after the Civil War; - Found in the Southern States

What type of Political Culture does Texas have? Difficult to categorize Texas Political Culture into one type, as there was a combination of two types: Elazar categorized Texas Political Culture as individualistic-traditionalistic - Low taxes (individualistic culture): foster commerce - Low levels of social services (traditionalistic culture): maintain a small government role - Elites such as business leaders have a major voice in how the state is run (traditionalistic culture), business interests dominate the political culture of Texas  

Why does Texas have this type of Political Culture? Changing demographic – growing and diverse population: no labor unions; no state income taxes Domination by the elite and there is - the constant push for limited government

ENDURING AND RE-INFORCING CHARACTERISTICS Enduring characteristics of Texas: - One Party state i. Democratic for over a century ii. Since 2002, the Republicans - Provincialism i. Narrow view of the world and a defining pattern: the myths of Culture ii. Isolated and intolerant of diversity iii. Low spending on social services and education iv. Competitive two party system - changes v. Growing influence of women and minorities

ENDURING AND RE-INFORCING CHARACTERISTICS Business dominance - Labor Unions are mostly absent - Business maintains dominance through campaign contributions, lobbyists and low taxes - Consumer/environmental concerns: changing The Land - The large size of the land

ENDURING AND RE-INFORCING CHARACTERISTICS Economic Changes (from 1820) - Cotton - Cattle Ranching - Oil & Gas (1901, Spindletop) - Industrialism - High-Tech growth - NAFTA  

Video Clip-Future of Texas? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S92fTz_-kQE

QUESTIONS? QUESTIONS?

GROUP QUIZ!!!! GROUP QUIZ!!!!

GROUP QUIZ KEY Multiple Choice True/False 1. B 1. F 2. C 2. F 3. C 3. T 4. A 5. C 6. B 7. B