1. Political Parties
Chapter 4

2. Learning Objectives
4.1 Describe the structure of political parties in Texas, distinguishing between the temporary party structure and the permanent party structure. 4.2 Compare and contrast the different political ideologies found in the Lone Star State. 4.3 Trace the history of political parties in Texas. 4.4 Identify electoral trends in Texas, including the roles of dealigned voters, minor parties, and independent candidates.
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3. Party Structure Political party Two-party system
Democratic and Republican
Third party candidates have little chance
Organized as a stratarchy
political party
An organization influenced by political ideology whose primary interest is to gain control of government by winning elections.
stratarchy
A political system wherein power is diffused among and within levels of party organization.
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4. Party Structure Temporary Party Organization Primaries and conventions
Party platform adopted at state convention
Conveys party’s position on issues
Conventions elect state-level and senate district party officers and are scheduled at precinct, county, and state senatorial district and state levels. Each convention lasts a limited time, from less than an hour to one or two days.
temporary party organization
Primaries and conventions that function briefly to nominate candidates, pass resolutions, adopt a party platform, and select delegates to party conventions at higher levels.
platform
A document that sets forth a political party’s position on issues such as income tax, school vouchers, or public utility regulation.
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5. Party Structure Temporary Party Organization Precinct Conventions
Occur every even-numbered year on first Tuesday in March
Usually sparsely attended
Any citizen who voted in primary can attend
Democratic party did not do in 2012 and 2014
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6. Party Structure Temporary Party Organization
County and District Conventions
Occur third Saturday after primary elections
Main business is to elect delegates for the state convention
county convention
A party meeting of precinct delegates held on the second Saturday after precinct conventions; it elects delegates and alternates to the state convention.
district convention
Held on the second Saturday after the first primary in counties that have more than one state senatorial district. Participants elect delegates to the party’s state convention.
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7. Party Structure Temporary Party Organization State Conventions
Held in June of even-numbered years
Certify party members nominated in primaries
Draft and adopt party platform
Select party’s state executive committee
Elect delegates to national presidential nominating convention
Elect slate of potential presidential electors to cast state’s electoral votes (38)
state convention
Convenes every even-numbered year to make rules for a political party, adopt a party platform and resolutions, and select members of the state executive committee; in a presidential election year, it elects delegates to the national convention, names members to serve on the national committee, and elects potential electors to vote if the party’s presidential candidate receives the plurality of the popular vote in the general election.
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8. Texas Political Party Organization
Figure 4.1
Critical Thinking Question: In what ways does the structure of political parties in Texas encourage participation in partisan politics? In what ways does it discourage participation?
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9. Party Structure Selection of National Convention Delegates
Democratic selection
“Texas Two Step”
Superdelegate
Republican selection
Presidential preference primary
presidential preference primary
A primary in which the voters indicate their preference for a person seeking nomination as the party’s presidential candidate.
caucus
A meeting at which members of a political party assemble to select delegates and make other policy recommendations at the precinct, county or state senatorial district and state levels.
In recent years, Texas Democrats have combined the two delegate-selection plans into a primary-caucus described as the ‘‘Texas Two-Step.’’ In presidential election years, participants are asked to identify their presidential preferences at each convention. However, individuals may choose not to pledge their support to any candidate. Instead, they may indicate that they are uncommitted.
superdelegate
An unpledged party official or elected official who serves as a delegate to a party’s national convention.
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10. Critical Thinking Question:
Texas state senator Wendy Davis, shakes hands with Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, after participating in the Rio Grande Valley Gubernatorial Debate in Edinburg, Texas on September 19, This was the first of two scheduled debates between the two candidates. On November 4, 2014, Abbott won the election.
(left: AP Images/The McAllen Monitor/Gabe Hernandez)
Critical Thinking Question:
How might a candidate debate persuade voters?
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11. Party Structure Permanent Party Organization
Recruit candidates, devise strategies, raise funds, register voters
Precinct Chair
Organizes voting activities for the party
County and District Executive Committees
County Chair
permanent party organization
In Texas, the precinct chairs, county and district executive committees, and the state executive committee form the permanent organization of a political party.
precinct chair
The party official responsible for the interests and activities of a political party in a voting district; typical duties include encouraging voter registration, distributing campaign literature, operating phone banks, and getting out the vote on Election Day.
county executive committee
Composed of a party’s precinct chairs and the elected county chair, the county executive committee conducts primaries and makes arrangements for holding county conventions.
county chair
Elected by county party members in the primaries, this key party official heads the county executive committee.
district executive committee
Composed of county chairs within a district that elects a state senator, U.S. or state representative, or district judge, this body fills a vacancy created by the death, resignation, or disqualification of a nominated candidate.
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12. Party Structure Permanent Party Organization State Executive Committee
Highest permanent party organization
One man/one woman from each senatorial district
Chair and vice chair
Elected at state convention
Chief fundraiser
Learning Check 4.1
What is the difference between a party’s permanent organization and its temporary organization?
True or False: A political party’s state chair is chosen by the temporary organization.
state executive committee
Composed of a chair, vice chair, and two members from each senatorial district, this body is part of a party’s permanent organization.
Learning Check
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13. Political Ideology Conservatism
Prefer social/economic systems largely untouched by government
Conservatives
Opposed to government assistance
Fiscal and social conservatives
George W. Bush’s neoconservatism
Tea Party
Conservatives are further divided between fiscal conservatives and social conservatives. Today’s fiscal conservatives give the highest priority to reduced taxing and spending; whereas social conservatives (such as those associated with the Christian Coalition) stress the importance of their family values, including opposition to abortion and homosexuality.
conservative
A person who advocates minimal intervention by government in social and economic matters and who gives a high priority to reducing taxes and curbing public spending.
neoconservatism
A political ideology that reflects fiscal conservatism, but accepts a limited governmental role in solving social problems.
In 2009, several conservatives within the Republican Party formed the Tea Party movement. Taking their name from the Boston Tea Party, an event that led to the American Revolution, Tea Party activists have argued that the size and scope of government has grown out of control.
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14. Political Ideology Liberalism Favor government regulation of economy
Government obligated to aid unemployed, alleviate poverty, guarantee equal rights
Limited government role in religion
Democrats’ neoliberal ideology
Less government involvement in economy, more government involvement in social programs
Learning Check 4.2
What is the primary difference between social conservatives and fiscal conservatives?
True or False: Texas Democrats generally have a liberal political ideology.
liberal
A person who advocates for government support in social and economic matters and who favors political reforms that extend democracy, achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth, and protect individual freedoms and rights.
neoliberal
A political ideology that advocates less government regulation of business but supports more governmental involvement in social matters.
Learning Check
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15. An Overview of Texas Political History
1840s to 1870s: The Origin of the Party System
Pro-Houston and anti-Houston (Sam)
Jackson Democrats/Calhoun Democrats
During Civil War, became firmly Democratic
Republicans controlled during Reconstruction
Anglo majority disliked Republican Governor Davis
Republican governor Edmund J. Davis, a former Union army general, was elected in 1869 during this period of Radical Reconstruction. The Davis administration quickly became unpopular with Texas’s Anglo majority. During his tenure in office, Davis took control of voter registration and appointed more than 8,000 public officials. From the Texas Supreme Court justices to the state police to city officials, Davis placed Republicans (including some African Americans) in office throughout the state. Opposed by former Confederates, Davis’s administration was condemned by most Anglo Texans for corruption, graft, and high taxation.   After Davis’s defeat for reelection in 1873 by a newly enfranchised electorate, Texas voters did not elect another Republican governor for more than 100 years.
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16. An Overview of Texas Political History
1870s to 1970s: A One-Party Dominant System
Democrats strong/Republicans weak
Populist party strong during 1890s
Two factions in Democratic party
Conservatives and liberals
Republicans come to power in 1960s
In the latter part of the 19th century, Democrats faced a greater challenge from the Populist Party than they did from Republicans. The Populist (or People’s) Party formed in Texas as an agrarian-based party, winning local elections throughout the state. From 1892 to 1898, their gubernatorial nominees received more votes than did Republicans. Although its ideas remained influential in Texas (for example, protection of common people by government regulation of railroads and banks), the Populist Party became less important after 1898.
During the next five decades, two factions emerged within the Democratic Party: conservatives and liberals. Fighting between these two factions was often as fierce as between two separate political parties.
Evidence of the growing strength of the Texas GOP (Grand Old Party, a nickname that the Republican Party adopted in the 1870s) was sharply revealed in 1961, with the election to the U.S. Senate of Texas Republican John Tower, a political science professor at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. Originally elected to fill the vacancy created when Lyndon Johnson left the Senate to become vice president of the United States, Tower was the first Republican to win statewide office in Texas since 1869; he won successive elections until his retirement in 1984.
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17. An Overview of Texas Political History
1970s to 1990s: An Emerging Two-Party System
Republican party made gains in 1970s
Kay Bailey Hutchison first Texas woman in Senate (1993)
1994 election last time Democrat won a statewide office
1996 first time Republican primaries held in all 254 Texas counties
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18. An Overview of Texas Political History
2000 to 2014: Republican Dominance
Statewide party success in 1998
Bush narrowly defeats Gore for presidency in 2000
GOP sweeps all races in 2002
Gained control of the House and Senate
Obama does not win Texas in 2008 or 2012
Learning Check 4.3
True or False: In 2012, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama received the majority of popular votes in Texas.
What has been the impact of Latino and African American support in urban counties?
In the closest presidential election of modern times, Governor Bush defeated Democratic nominee Al Gore by four electoral votes (271 to 267) in After controversial recounts and protracted court battles over Florida’s 25 electoral votes, George W. Bush was ultimately declared the victor in mid-December 2000 after a 5–4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court Bush’s election made lieutenant governor Rick Perry governor.
Texas GOP (Grand Old Party, a nickname that the Republican Party adopted in the 1870s)
Learning Check
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19. An Overview of Texas Political History
2000 to 2014: Republican Dominance (cont.)
Most believe Democrats won‘t be competitive in Texas until at least 2024
Significantly more Republican voters in 2014 gubernatorial primary
After election, Republicans retain control of all three branches of Texas government
Learning Check 4.3
True or False: In 2012, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama received the majority of popular votes in Texas.
What has been the impact of Latino and African American support in urban counties?
In the closest presidential election of modern times, Governor Bush defeated Democratic nominee Al Gore by four electoral votes (271 to 267) in After controversial recounts and protracted court battles over Florida’s 25 electoral votes, George W. Bush was ultimately declared the victor in mid-December 2000 after a 5–4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court Bush’s election made lieutenant governor Rick Perry governor.
Texas GOP (Grand Old Party, a nickname that the Republican Party adopted in the 1870s)
Learning Check
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20. Texas Counties Obama Won in 2012 Presidential Election (blue)
Figure 4.2
Source:
Critical Thinking Question: How does Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s success in Texas’s five largest (or urban) counties in 2012 reflect the changing demographic nature of the state? What implications might this have for the two major parties?
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21. Texas GOP primary candidates for lieutenant governor—Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, State Sen. Dan Patrick, Agricultural Commissioner Todd Staples, and incumbent Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst—are shown during a debate at the KERA Channel 13 studios in downtown Dallas in February 2014.
Source: AP Images/L.M. Otero
Critical Thinking Question: What has been the impact of strong one-party (Republican) dominance on Texas primary elections?
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22. Electoral Trends Texas politics more partisan
Both parties experience factionalism
Dealignment of Texas voters
Realignment of Texas voters
Democrats have switched loyalty to Republican party
Straight-ticket voting
“Yellow-dog Democrats”
Critical Thinking Question: In what ways does the structure of political parties in Texas encourage participation in partisan politics? In what ways does it discourage participation?
realignment
Occurs when members of one party shift their affiliation to another party.
straight-ticket voting
Voting for all the candidates of one party.
Straight-ticket voting for all Democratic candidates on the general election ballot has declined, however, as fewer Texans (especially those in rural East Texas) choose to remain ‘‘yellow-dog Democrats.’’ This term has been applied to people whose party loyalty is said to be so strong that they would vote for a yellow dog if it were a Democratic candidate for public office.
Critical Thinking
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23. Electoral Trends Third Parties Make public aware of issues
Populist party during 1890s
Agricultural concerns
La Raza Unida during 1970s
Latino concerns
Libertarian Ron Paul
Green Party
Environmental protection
third party
A party other than the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. Sometimes called a ‘‘minor party’’ because of limited membership and voter support.
During the 1890s, the Populist Party successfully promoted agricultural issues and displaced the Republicans as the ‘‘second’’ party in Texas.   In the 1970s, La Raza Unida elected a few candidates to local offices in South Texas and forced the Democratic Party to begin to address Latino concerns.
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24. Electoral Trends Independents No party affiliation
Lack fundraising abilities
Difficulty in gaining ballot access
Most candidates lose elections
Learning Check 4.4
Who was the last independent candidate to be elected governor of Texas?
True or False: Third parties’ success comes more often in the form of their ability to make the public aware of the issues than in the number of their candidates elected to office.
independent candidate
A candidate who runs in a general election without party endorsement or selection.
Based on this criteria, to qualify for statewide ballot access in 2014, an independent candidate was required to gather 49,798 signatures from registered voters who had not voted in either the Democratic or Republican primary elections or the primary runoff elections and who had not signed another candidate’s petition for that office that year.
Learning Check
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25. Which Party Controls the Statehouses in 2015?
Source:
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26. Former Governor Ann Richards Discusses the Rise of the Republican Party in Texas
Click picture to view video
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27. Video Discussion Questions
What are the benefits of a two-party system?
According to former Governor Richards, what brought many new residents to Texas?
How does former Governor Richards describe the “winning formula” for a major Democratic victory in Texas? Is this accurate?
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