1. Texas Culture and Diversity
Chapter 1
Texas Culture and Diversity

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Learning Objectives
LO 1.1 Analyze the relationships among Texas political culture, its politics, and its public policies. LO 1.2 Differentiate among the various types of state political cultures and the attributes that describe the major Texas regions. LO 1.3 Analyze Texans’ political struggles over equal rights and evaluate their success in Texas politics today and in their impact on the state’s political future. LO 1.4 Apply what you have learned about Texas political culture.
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3. Political Culture, Public Opinion, and Public Policy
Ideology
Conservative
Texas liberals
Partisanship
A political culture reflects the dominant political values and beliefs of a people. It explains how people feel about their government—their expectations of what powers it should have over their lives, the services it should provide and their ability to influence its actions.
Texas’s political culture is conservative. Many Texans share a belief in a limited role for government in taxation, economic regulation, and providing social services; conservatives support traditional values and lifestyles, and are cautious in response to social change.
“The best government is the government that governs least” describes the current political philosophy of most Texans.
A distinct minority in Texas are liberals. Liberals believe in positive government action to improve the welfare of individuals, government regulation of the economy, support for civil rights, and tolerance for social change.
Describe the policy differences between Texas conservative and liberal ideologies.
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4. Political Culture, Public Opinion, and Public Policy
Inequity is Inevitable
Personal Responsibility is Key to Quality of Life
Political Climate
Business Friendly
Right to Work State
State with Low Taxes
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5. Political Culture, Public Opinion, and Public Policy
Social Conservatives
Support government activity to enforce what they view as moral behavior and traditional cultural values.
Support law enforcement, drug control, and immigration enforcement.
Support the use of state power to restrict pornography, abortion, and same-sex relationships.
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6. Texans’ Ideology and Partisanship
Figure 1.1 Public opinion polling confirms the majority of Texans identify themselves as conservative and that the Republican Party has a 6-point advantage in party identification.
Source: University of Texas/Texas Tribune, Texas Statewide Survey , Survey of 1,200 adults conducted February 7–17, 2014, with a margin of error (MOE) +/–2.83 percent, published at .
Explain the difference between conservative and liberal ideologies. Why is it difficult for Democrats to win statewide office even with the support of independents?
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7. Political Culture, Public Opinion, and Public Policy
Texans hold conservative views regarding state taxes and social policies.
Majority of Texans oppose spending cuts to state programs
More favor the death penalty than a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens
Explain how Texans’ support for spending and opposition to taxes complicate policy making.
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8. Political Culture, Public Opinion, and Public Policy
Fifty-three percent of Texans believe we spend too little on elementary and secondary education
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9. Political Culture, Public Opinion, and Public Policy
Conservative opinions regarding policy
Low taxes
Few financial resources committed to public services
Traditional values
Taxes in Texas are very low, and, despite the public’s ambiguous attitudes about spending, the state has committed far fewer financial resources to public services than most other states.
Texas has not been reluctant to use the power of the state to enforce traditional values, to restrict abortions, to prohibit same-sex marriages, and to impose relatively severe penalties on lawbreakers.
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10. Political Culture, Public Opinion, and Public Policy
Texas is first in the nation for the number of uninsured citizens.
Texas ranks in the top 10 for percentage of children in poverty and levels of inequality between rich and poor.
Taxes in Texas are very low, and, despite the public’s ambiguous attitudes about spending, the state has committed far fewer financial resources to public services than most other states.
Texas has not been reluctant to use the power of the state to enforce traditional values, to restrict abortions, to prohibit same-sex marriages, and to impose relatively severe penalties on lawbreakers.
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11. Political Culture, Public Opinion, and Public Policy
The Liberal Perspective
Generally support for the idea of a government that attempts to balance power in society and support the disadvantaged.
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12. Types of Political Cultures and Texas’s Political Regions
State Political Cultures
Daniel Elazar’s subcultures
Moralistic
Individualistic
Texas’s comparatively low levels of funding to social programs illustrates this type of political subculture
Moralistic culture: A political subculture that views government as a positive force; one that values the individual but functions for the benefit of the general public.
Individualistic culture: A political subculture that views government as a practical institution that should further private enterprise but intervene minimally in people’s lives.
Traditionalistic culture: A political subculture that views government as an institution to maintain the dominant social and religious values.
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13. Types of Political Cultures and Texas’s Political Regions
State Political Cultures
Daniel Elazar’s subcultures
Traditionalistic
Primarily in South and Border States
Believes in personal rather than public solutions to problems
Strongest in East Texas
Moralistic culture: A political subculture that views government as a positive force; one that values the individual but functions for the benefit of the general public.
Individualistic culture: A political subculture that views government as a practical institution that should further private enterprise but intervene minimally in people’s lives.
Traditionalistic culture: A political subculture that views government as an institution to maintain the dominant social and religious values.
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14. Types of Political Cultures and Texas’s Political Regions
Political Culture and Political Participation
Texas: mix of traditional and individualistic cultures
Culture varies by region
Low voter turnout
The traditional subculture overrides the individualistic in East Texas; the individualistic subculture supersedes the traditional throughout the rest of the state.
Voter turnout in Texas is consistently counted among the lowest of the 50 states.
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15. Types of Political Cultures and Texas’s Political Regions
Political Culture and Political Participation
Texas: mix of traditional and individualistic cultures
Culture varies by region
Low voter turnout
The traditional subculture overrides the individualistic in East Texas; the individualistic subculture supersedes the traditional throughout the rest of the state.
Voter turnout in Texas is consistently counted among the lowest of the 50 states.
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16. Texas Political Culture
Figure 1.2 Maxwell’s original figure is based on Elazar and Meinig concepts.
In which political cultural area do you reside? Is your area prosperous? What is the extent of poverty and inequality? Use census data and election returns from the secretary of state’s office to support your conclusions.
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17. Types of Political Cultures and Texas’s Political Regions
Texas Cultural Regions
East Texas
The Gulf Coast
Continuous growth for a century due to oil
A Boom Based in Houston
East Texas: is a social and cultural extension of the Old South. It is basically rural and biracial. East Texas counties and towns are often dominated by old families, whose wealth is usually based on real estate, banking, construction, and retail merchandising. Fundamentalist Protestantism dominates the region spiritually and permeates its political, social, and cultural activities.
The Gulf Coast: Since the discovery of oil, the Gulf Coast has experienced almost continuous growth. In addition to being an industrial and petrochemical center, the Gulf Coast is one of the most important shipping centers in the nation.
A Boom Based in Houston: Growth in the Gulf Coast area created a boomtown psychology and the Houston area especially flourished. Houston’s initial growth after World War II was fueled by a flood of job seekers from East Texas and other rural areas of the state. Houston’s social and economic elite were generally composed of second- and third-generation rich whose wealth came from oil, insurance, construction, land development, or banking. Houston, the worldwide oil and gas capital, boasts many corporate headquarters.
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18. Types of Political Cultures and Texas’s Political Regions
Texas Cultural Regions (cont.)
South Texas
Ranchero culture
Creoles
Mestizos
The first Texas cowboys were Native Americans and Mestizos.
The Valley (of the Rio Grande)
Ranchero culture: A quasi-feudal system whereby a property’s owner, or patrón, gives workers protection and employment in return for their loyalty and service. The rancher or ranchero and workers all live on the rancho, or ranch.
Creole: A descendant of European-Spanish (or in some regions, French) immigrants to the Americas.
Mestizo: A person of both Spanish and Native American lineage.
The Valley of the Rio Grande: An area along the Texas side of the Rio Grande River known for its production of citrus fruits.
NAFTA is an economic stimulus for the Texas border.
Spanish is the language of choice for commerce for many of the Anglo Americans there.
The Texas border region remains one of the poorest in the United States.
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19. Types of Political Cultures and Texas’s Political Regions
Texas Cultural Regions (cont.)
Far West Texas
The Texas Border
Maquiladoras
NAFTA
Far West Texas: Known as the “Trans-Pecos region,” Far West Texas exhibits elements of two cultures - its large Mexican-American population often maintains strong ties with relatives and friends in Mexico. The Roman Catholic Church strongly influences social and cultural attitudes on both sides of the border. Far West Texas is a major commercial and social passageway between Mexico and the United States.
The Texas Border: South and Far West Texas comprise the area known as the “Texas Border.” The economy of the Texas Border benefits economically from maquiladoras.
Maquiladora: Mexican factories where U.S. corporations employ inexpensive Mexican labor for assembly and piecework.
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): A treaty among Canada, Mexico, and the United States which has helped remove trade barriers.
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20. Types of Political Cultures and Texas’s Political Regions
Texas Cultural Regions (cont.)
Immigration and National Security
German Hill Country
West Texas
The Texas Border is a major staging ground for the migration of both legal and illegal immigrants as well as human traffickers into the interior of Texas and the rest of the United States.
German Hill Country: The Hill Country north and west of San Antonio was settled primarily by immigrants from Germany but also by Czech, Polish, and Norwegian immigrants. Primarily a farming and ranching area, the Hill Country is socially and politically conservative and has long been a stronghold of the Texas Republican Party.
West Texas: The defeat of the Comanches in the 1870s opened West Texas to Anglo-American settlement. West Texas is socially and politically conservative, and its religion is Bible Belt fundamentalism. Southern West Texas is the major oil-producing area of Texas. Northern West Texas is primarily agricultural.
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21. Types of Political Cultures and Texas’s Political Regions
Texas Cultural Regions (cont.)
The Panhandle
North Texas
The Metroplex
Central Texas
The Panhandle: Although railroads advancing from Kansas City through the Panhandle brought Midwestern farmers into this region, the modern Texas Panhandle shares few cultural attributes with the American Midwest. Its religious, cultural, and social institutions function with little discernible difference to those of northern West Texas. The Panhandle economy is also supported by production of cotton and grains, and the area depends heavily on the Ogallala aquifer.
North Texas: Located between East and West Texas, North Texas today is dominated by the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area, often called the Metroplex. It is more economically diverse than most other Texas regions and relies heavily on banking, insurance, and the defense and aerospace industries.
Central Texas: Central Texas is often called the “core areas” of Texas, with its three corners being Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and San Antonio. The centerpiece of the region is the city of Austin which has become the “Silicon Valley” of high-tech industries in Texas.
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22. Politics and Cultural Diversity
Texans Struggle for Equal Rights
Female Texans
Were not able to vote
Were not able to serve on juries
Retained some property rights
Describe legal restrictions on women before the suffrage movement. What explains the opposition to women’s right to vote?
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23. Politics and Cultural Diversity
Texans Struggle for Equal Rights (cont.)
Women’s Suffrage Movement
Minnie Fisher Cunningham
The Nineteenth Amendment
The Marital Property Act
Texan Minnie Fisher Cunningham was a champion for women’s suffrage in the state. Source: Bettmann/Corbis
Texas was one of the first southern states to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. Passage of a series of laws titled The Marital Property Act amounted to major steps toward women’s equality. The Act granted married women equal rights in insurance, banking, real estate, contracts, divorce, child custody, and property rights. This was the first such comprehensive family law in the United States.
Roe v. Wade : resulted in new limits imposed on abortion clinics in TX
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24. Politics and Cultural Diversity
Texans Struggle for Equal Rights (cont.)
African Texans
White primary
Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
NAACP
Sweatt v. Painter
United States v. Texas
White primary: The practice of excluding African Americans from primary elections in the Texas Democratic Party.
Ku Klux Klan (KKK): A white supremacist organization. Along with local law officers and the Texas Rangers, the KKK actively participated in violence and intimidation of both Latinos and African Texans to keep them “in their segregated place.”
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP): Organization committed to civil rights, the NAACP has been a viable instrument for African Texans to achieve justice.
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Sweatt v. Painter
Heman Sweatt successfully integrated Texas public law schools after the U.S. Supreme Court began to chip away at the “separate-but-equal” doctrine in the landmark case Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950).
Source: Joseph Scherschel/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Why did the Supreme Court hold that state laws requiring racial segregation violate the Fourteenth Amendment?
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26. Politics and Cultural Diversity
Texans Struggle for Equal Rights (cont.)
Latino Texans
Raymondville Peonage cases
Hector Garcia and the American GI Forum
Hernandez v. Texas
Like most African Texans, Latinos were relegated to the lowest-paid jobs as either service workers or farm workers. The Raymondville Peonage cases in 1929 tested for the first time the legality of forcing vagrants or debtors to repay farmers by requiring them to work off debts and fines as labor on private farms.
Dr. Hector Garcia organized the American GI Forum in a Corpus Christi elementary school classroom in March This organization spread throughout the United States and played a major role in giving Latino Americans full citizenship and civil respect.
Why is it unconstitutional to deny a person the right to serve on a jury because of ethnicity?
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27. Politics and Cultural Diversity
Texans Struggle for Equal Rights (cont.)
Gay, Lesbian, and Transgendered Texans
Lawrence v. Texas
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
A Harris County sheriff’s deputy discovered two men having intimate sexual conduct in a private residence and the men were arrested and convicted for violating a Texas anti-sodomy statute. The Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that the Texas law violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which does not protect sodomy but does protect personal relationships. The decision also invalidated sodomy laws in 13 other states, thereby protecting same-sex behavior in every state and territory in the United States.
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman and further stipulates that hostile states do not have to recognize same-gender marriage contracts from other states. Texans, by the overwhelming majority of 76 percent, added an amendment to the Texas Constitution in 2005 banning both gay and lesbian marriage and civil unions.
How has Texas’s Southern conservative political culture resisted social change? Why have ethnic and sexual minorities sought remedy for discrimination in the U.S. Supreme Court, an institution outside the control of state politics?
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Key U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Protecting Texans’ Rights to Equality and Privacy
Table 1.2 This table show the important U.S. constitutional decisions that have expanded minority rights in Texas and nationwide.
How has Texas’s Southern conservative political culture resisted social change? Why have ethnic and sexual minorities sought remedy for discrimination in the U.S. Supreme Court, an institution outside the control of state politics?
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29. Politics and Cultural Diversity
Cultural Diversity Today
Demographics
Texas one of the fastest-growing states
Texas becoming more culturally diverse
Demographics: Population characteristics, such as age, gender, ethnicity, employment, and income, that social scientists use to describe groups in society.
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30. Texas Ethnic Populations, Past, Present, and Future, 1990-2015
Figure 1.3 This figure shows the changing demographics of Texans.
Source: Adapted from “Projections of Texans and Counties in Texas by Age, Sex and Race/Ethnicity for 1990, 2000, 2011, and 2015,” Texas State Data Center, Office of the State Demographer; and Census Bureau, Census 2000 and 2010.
What implications does Texas’s changing ethnic makeup have for the state’s political future?
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31. Politics and Cultural Diversity
Cultural Diversity Today (cont.)
Increasing diversity in Texas could impact:
Politics
Culture
Voter participation
Income and poverty
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32. Ethnicity, Income, and Poverty in Texas
Figure 1.4 Today, inequality among ethnic groups is no longer so much reflected by overt official legal discrimination as by unequal wealth, income, and access to health care. Source: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, “State Health Facts Online,”
Why do ethnic minorities earn less than Anglo Texans? How does income inequality and increasing ethnic diversity challenge policy makers in Texas?
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33. Click on picture to view video
Golden State Exodus
Click on picture to view video
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video questions
1. What factors may contribute to lower unemployment rates in Texas?
2. Do you believe Texas’ diversity attracts more residents? Why or why not?
3. How does the political culture in Texas attract businesses and workers?
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