Texas is one of only a few states that elects judges in partisan elections. It has been suggested that perhaps this is not an appropriate way to choose judges, given the nature of their job. There are many problems that could occur when citizens elect judges in partisan elections, including campaign contributions, lack of minority representation on the bench, perceptions of fairness, and lack of knowledge on the part of the voters.
A partisan election is one where candidates are listed on the ballot with indication of their political party. Then Texas voters choose who they think is best to elect as their judge. Partisanship does not belong in the courts, and judges should be chosen on their virtues. Texas is one of very few states that select their judges by this method. Every judge must pick a party and face the voters. This means that judges occasionally have to campaign for reelection, raise money, and appear on the ballot. Like other elected officials, they rely on the knowledgeable judgment of the voters to keep them in office.
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The Texas Supreme Court has been the subject of multiple media reports looking into the influence of judicial campaign donors. There are many different cases when a contributor would donate a large amount of money to a judge in order to have them elected and they would overturn a case that was going on against the contributor and their business or company. This argues that partisan elections lead to more campaign contributions and increased partisanship among judges. These problems may be the reason why several states have abandoned the idea of partisan judicial elections in recent decades. Only six states still elect judges in partisan races, including Texas, Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. “All of these states are among the top ten in total judicial campaign contributions from 2000 to 2010”
Despite the overwhelming critics, Texas remains one of several states that keep supporting the concept of partisan judicial elections, where voters cast a straight-ticket vote. In fact, electing judges by the public leads to a number of ethical problems which necessarily require compromise between judicial integrity and independence. Most of the allegations of wrong-doing have caused a number of professional and citizen groups to become disaffected with the existing system.
The principles, which define the work of juridical branch, are relevant nowadays, as they have proved their effectiveness and managed to gain confidence of population. Texas juridical branch is complex and confusing. According to the principles of the Texas Constitution, six types of courts are established, some of which have simultaneous or overlapping jurisdictions. In accordance with the Texas Constitution of 1876, two high courts were established. In addition, in the traditions of Jacksonian Democracy, all the judges in Texas courts should be ready to compete with electoral politics and take their positions according to the results of partisan elections. This democratic principle of fair elections and respect to the votes of citizens is still applied in the juridical branch of Texas
The people of Texas are diverse and carry their “big can-do attitudes and accents” (Pearson); making Texas a bigger than life state. The political culture of Texas is impacted by two different subgroups of individualistic and traditionalistic characteristics. The combination of traditionalism and individualism has had a huge impact on the state and Texas’ seven different constitutions. The shift in power between 1827 and 1876 has impacted the political diversity Texas has today. Looking at the specifics of these subcultures, the traditionalists believe government should benefit the wealthy and powerful, and that government services must be limited.
In this essay, I will explain why Texas should retain the partisan election of judges. Texas is one of the few states that elect their judges using a Partisan voting method. Partisan elections can be unfair and can misinform the voter. A high legal position such as a judge should never be chosen in such a manner. Partisan elections often cost more than nonpartisan elections in campaigning. Partisan elections are also more likely to lead to straight ticket voting or mindless voting. Partisan elections also lead to more campaign contributions and can increase the power of constituencies. Lastly partisan elections can cause an imbalance in equal represent the population. Therefore, Partisanship voting does not belong in the courts of Texas and
There has been a huge question of why Texas has shifted from being mainly Democratic to Republican state. When reading “Cowboy Conservatism” by Sean P. Cunningham the most basic analysis of why there has been the drastic change was because rather than Texas leaving the Democratic Party the Democratic Party left Texas. Both parties went through a great amount of change on what each specific party views were. For example “Both parties experienced periods of factional discord and ideological readjustment” The democratic and republican parties had big changes in their political views. The economic changes that Texas was undergoing was one of the reasons that there was discord in the democratic and republican party. Increase in the population in the suburbs was a huge impact in the change of the political parties. The migration into the major cities such as Houston, Austin, and Fort Bend County had an influence on the votes. Since there was an influx of people from other places with republican views there was a tremendous increases of change in votes of political party’s from democratic to republican. There was also a decrease in conservative democrats in the U.S. furthermore having a decrease of conservatives demarcated and increase of more suburbs and the Republican Party is what changed Texas to republican. Texans had a view of the Democratic
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 pro-business. This phenomenon is not static, however, since changing demographics in the state are causing changes in the profile of Texas in reference to electoral politics, among other major issues. This paper will explore different perspectives about the changing demographics of Texas, and where they might lead the state politically, and will present a variety of viewpoints regarding this complex subject.
In the youth of Texas, the Democratic Party enjoyed electoral dominance on all levels of state government and in the representation in the national government. Democratic rule was dominated by a conservative white political elite that strongly promoted economic development, but that resisted change either in race relations or social programs for the poor ("Texas Politics," 2009). Republicans were not completely absent during this period, but their electoral victories were few and limited in scope ("Texas Politics," 2009). In every election after 1980, however, the Republican strength grew into the now dominant rule that currently reigns in Texas. Since the 1990’s, the Republican Party, despite the attempts of others, has had a stronghold on the state government. With that being said, the Republican Party has dominated the overall elections.
Texas politics is an interesting ecosystem of power, rules and regulations. Of course, in typical Texas fashion, most of the politics we engage in we do our own way. From governors who stay in office for a decade to our extremely diverse demographics, Texas is extremely unique. This uniqueness of course comes with its critics, benefits, and downsides. This is particularly true with the Texas Court system compared to both the federal courts and many other states.
In William Hudson’s book, American Democracy in Peril, he writes about different “challenges” that play a vital role in shaping the future of the United States. One is the problem of the “imperial judiciary”. Hudson defines its as that the justice system in the United States has become so powerful that it is answering and deciding upon important policy questions, questions that probably should be answered by our democratic legislatures. Instead of having debates in which everyone’s voices are heard and are considered in final decision-making process, a democratic-like process; we have a single judge or a small group of judges making decisions that effect millions of citizens, an “undemocratic” process. Hudson personally believes the current state of judicialized politics is harming policy decisions in Americans. According to him, the judicial branch is the “least democratic branch”, and ...
With any decision, both parties (republican and democratic) campaign over the state to gain support from voters to increase their chances of being elected to the office that they desire. When voting most voters arrive at polling stations to vote, first for instance, they can be given a paper ballot on which they will select their choices and which later will be checked by hand; second they can be given a paper ballot on which they will select their choices with the assistance of a voting machine; or thirdly they can be given a sheet of paper with a numerical access code. Texans share a lot of the same essential needs of voting and nonvoting as other Americans. The republican party remains undefeated after a decade that saw fights over legislature redistricting, bitter and commonly intense campaigning around both inside and between the parties, continuously expensive battling up and down the ballot. In 2002, Republican competitors cleared all statewide races and took control of both houses of the Texas legislature, viably assuming the organizations of powers. The resulting year the legislative gathering returned to the distribution of districts for the U.S. House of Representatives the accomplishment of that offensive is seen inside the progressive changes in the delegations that are represented in the features of The Texas Delegation to the united states House of Representatives.
Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians are perhaps three of the most prominent political parties within Texas. Within the pages of their party platforms, we see that each possesses a unique philosophy, with specific viewpoints and recommendations for shaping or reforming government policy. To be sure, the people of Texas face many challenges, two of the most compelling issues being the crisis in healthcare and in education. Not only are we lacking in these areas as Texans, but also on the national level. The parties’ stance on these two major issues defines them, giving us insight into the minds and intentions of each.
Political Divide in the United States The political divide in the United States is very bad. The two main political parties are the democrats and the republicans. The two parties dislike each other and each other's views. Abortion is something that has been talked about a lot, some people find it good and others find it as a bad thing. Health care is another issue that is controversial. Another big issue is illegal immigration. The death penalty and euthanasia are also reasons the government is divided. The topic of the right to bear arms is also very controversial, especially with all the murders and riots going on. Global warming, even though it does not seem very political, is a topic that comes up a lot in political speeches and events. And lastly, the separation of church and state is another topic that gets in heated discussions in politics. Not all of these seem like they are political, but they have been made into be, even though they should not have, the United States is divided over them. The political parties have caused the country to be divided. Democrats and Republicans, also known as liberals and conservatives, most people do
...upreme Court selections. It has been the subject of academic inquiry in a variety of fields, as well as law, economics, and public policy. For the reason that our congressional depiction is founded ahead geographical boundaries, the lobbyists who have a word for the a variety of commercial economic, and additional functional interests of the country serve up a functional purpose and have supposed an significant role in the legislative process
If you are going to run for President it needs to be done equally, whether it is in our neighborhoods, financially, or even the justice system. Every four years our country undergo a process called the presidential Election, and we the citizens of America vote and choose who we think it’s the right candidate to run our country. I choose these to because they are the most popular people that we are talking about right now. Donald Trump a candidate for the Republican Party that has no political background that is a successful business man and Hillary Clinton a Candidate representing the Democratic Party that has more experience in the political background with being secretary of State which was appointed by former President Barack Obama. Both people have strong and different political views.
There are many steps in running for president. Running for president is said to be one of the longest campaigns. Running for President consists of mainly two different parties and which consist of: the presidential primary campaign and the general electoral campaign that follow the party’s national convention. Generally both campaigns take place within the first 10 months of the election year. The primary campaign was mainly used for opening the nomination process to ordinary party members and to delay and postpone the influence of party bosses. During this time there is a process where the candidates go through a “beauty contest” where they are competing for popular votes; however the “popular” votes do not have