Political culture can be defined as people’s shared beliefs, values, and habits pertaining to government and politics (Texas Politics-Texas Political Culture). The political culture of Texas is said to be based off of three key ideological concepts: economic liberalism (a strong belief in a free market economy), social conservatism (traditional values and morals), and populism (a belief in the rights and worthiness of ordinary people) (Texas Politics-Texas Political Culture). In the early 1900s, advancements in technology and economics changed society in rural Texas and negatively impacted Mexican-Americans and other minorities. Among these advancements were the growth of railroads, the invention of barbed wire, and the use of irrigation (Texas Politics-Texas Political Culture).
Shifting forward to the future, where there have been even more technological and economic developments, the three main ideological concepts of Texas have begotten a “low tax, low services” fiscal approach to government. This is such a prevalent concept in Texas that politicians from either major party tend to refrain from making higher taxes a part of their campaign platforms. Another consequence of this strong Texan mindset is that incumbent leaders must scramble to find creative ways to get out of fiscal crises without raising taxes. One of the ways administrators do this is by pulling from various user fees that residents pay for on a regular basis. These include driver’s license fees, hunter’s license fees, and others.
As with most other aspects of Texas, the history and nature of its elections are unique as well. The state of Texas has its own house of representatives which serves on a biannual basis (Texas Constitutional History). Because of this, there is a much higher frequency of elections and political activity in Texas than in other states within the union. Unfortunately, voter turnout is still historically low despite all of the opportunities that Texans have to make their voices heard (Chapter 7. Elections: Texas Style). Also, in another stark contrast to the rest of the nation, there are many more uncontested races in Texas than the national average.
One of the reasons why so many of these races go uncontested could be the history of political parties in Texas. For a very long time after the Civil War, the Democratic party had a clear hold over the state of Texas. One of the ways that the party kept this hold was by excluding minorities from political participation. In fact, it was not until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the political parties went through realignment and minority voters were better protected at the polls (Texas Politics-Texas Political Culture). Along with the aforementioned legislation, Texan Democrats willingly began to support Republican presidential candidates around the 1950s or so. Since this shift in the mid 1900s, the Republican party has become the majority party in the state and makes up the majority of the Texas Legislature and the state’s congressional delegation.
In summary, the state of Texas is very unique, culturally and politically. It possesses its own house of representatives, senate, and supreme courts. The political cultural can be stripped down to three core ideologies (economic liberalism, social conservatism, and populism) and the voters and political leaders of Texas stick very closely to these ideals. Even so much to the point where neither Democrats nor Republicans will put a plan to raise taxes into their campaign statements as long as they run as a Texan. Hopefully, the voter turnout numbers will increase in the future as there is a plethora of opportunities to both serve as and vote for this state’s officials.
- (n.d.). Chapter 7. Elections: Texas Style. CQ Press. http://college.cqpress.com/sites/lonestar/Home/chapter7.aspx
- (n.d.). Texas Constitutional History. Dallas Community Colleges. htt_GoBack_GoBackps://dlc.dcccd.edu/txgov1-2/texas-constitutional-history
- (n.d.). Texas Politics-Texas Political Culture. University of Texas at Austin. https://www.laits.utexas.edu/txp_media/html/cult/print_cult.html
