Abstract
Naturally people will establish factions within society. These factions can be established by shared values, beliefs, and habits through a political view which is called political subcultures. There are three main types of subcultures that people characterize themselves as: moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic. The moralistic, promotes authority and power as long as it is used for the greater good of the people by social and economic improvement. The individualistic, only concern is self-interest and favors business success. Finally, the traditionalistic values hierarchy structure and supports social values. According to Daniel Elazar these are the three political cultures of United States although overtime our society
…show more content…
is changing our subcultures are changing with it. Political cultures are established by regions so, depending on what region you were brought up in you might notice you agree with the characteristics of subculture that was given to you. Keywords: Traditionalistic, Moralistic, Individualistic, Region, faction, Daniel Elazar Introducing the Dominate Political Culture in Texas. “Everything is bigger in Texas” and that’s definitely not an understatement. The Texan ego is just as big as its state. The people of Texas have this go-get it attitude that can shape the way Texans see politics. The political subculture of Texas is established by how the state’s people are influenced by their values, beliefs, and attitudes. In this case, it is specifically effected by its distinct history, economic success, and conservative view which makes Texas dominated by individualistic subculture. Don’t Mess with Texas. Texas is known to have beautiful sceneries from its vast country fields to its bustling cities but the people are the ones that make up Texas.
Texans are brought up with a go-get it attitude and were taught to fight for what they want and to always ignore authority. Texas economy is one of the largest economies in the country by its great production of agriculture, technology, and energy. The population of Texas is almost twenty-eight million people the majority of the population is Anglo but Hispanics make up a great chuck as well. Texas has an abundant amount of rural area but some parts are urban. The majority of Texas is conservative which mean Texans honor old fashion view and customs yet many Texans are against any form of rulership. Primarily, the majority of Texas is republican and weren’t a complete red state until George Bush took …show more content…
office. Individualistic Views of Texas. The majority of Texas is individualistic because of its extensive history, demand of successful economy and conservative views. The History of Texas contributes to the reason Texas has become an individualistic state. This belief, dates back to the eighteenth century when the Anglos obtained land from Mexico. Many of the Texas heroes like Sam Houston, James Bowie, and Davy Crockett fought for the vision that Texas would become independent. During the Republic of Texas, many settlers moved to Texas in hopes that they will become more economically stable with the new opportunity that the state provided, one of them being Stephan F. Austin. The Republic of Texas developed a successful economic, and military system. Overtime these achievements have stuck with Texas and to this day Texas has a one of the largest economies in the United States. Because of this Texans continue to have individualistic views on Texas economy. More elements of individualistic qualities are the demand for limited government. The role of government in Texas is limited. Therefore, it has restricted powers. This means the legislature only meet biennially instead of annually. This gives more power to the people like If salaries were to be increased they must need the Texans approval first. The governor of Texas also has limited power which he only has a certain amount of budget to work with. The judiciary must be elected and has multiple levels of courts underneath it. Texas limited government has led to many benefits like low taxes, balanced budgets, and fair legal systems. The majority of Texas is a conservative state which means they are against authoritative government especially when it interferes with the economy. Conservatism relates to individualism because of the type of conservatism they value. Texas has a combination of two types of conservative values: economic conservatism and social life conservativism. Texans believe the government should not get involved in the privates lives of people. They also believe that that government should spend and tax less. Texans also very patriotic and like to promote individual freedom. Texas is based on the philosophy of social Darwinism which relates to Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Those who are the fittest will survive. The government should not fix individuals responsibility’s and the person should not get any sort of help hence the Texan saying “the lone ranger.” How does Individualism Effect Texans? Although individualism provides many positive attributes like the ability to not rely on the government to help fix problems and economic stability it also has its down falls.
Individualism prevents unity of a community because an individualist has a mindset of self-love which can led to the corruption of order. In federalist paper #51, Hamilton states “if men were angels, no government would be necessary.” and “you must first enable the government to control the governed.” Meaning if men where perfect no government would be needed but since humans have the tendency to have a big ego they must be a governed. Individualism must be controlled by the people’s dependence of the government which individualism lacks. On the other hand, Traditionalist believe in order and being controlled by a higher government which makes it much easier for stability. The moralist political subculture motives are public interest and believes in the common good which is best for engaging in unity with each other. These are the two things that individualist cultures
lack. How does individualist Subculture effect Laredo? The majority of Texas is individualist but it does share another subculture. Because of immigration by the Mexican countries the majority of the southern cities of Texas have developed a traditionalistic subculture; Laredo is one of those cities. “Traditionalistic subcultures hold the view that there is a hierarchical arrangement to the political order.” They also “comprise the self-perpetuating elites” (Newell & Riddesperger 2016). Having the majority of Texas identify as individualistic, the conditions of both traditionalist and individualistic complement each other.
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.
Texas is an intricate state with deep roots embedded in limited government authority. Almost all, Texans, favor the limited government between citizens and state. The two most important cultures in Texas are individualistic and traditionalistic culture. Individualistic views are summoned by limited government and that politics are the root of malicious acts, and is usually responded with negative reactions from the community. The individualistic cultures’ vision is egotistical for ones self-interest. The individualistic culture is viewed as priority in private independent business rather that those of the community as a whole. Unlike individualistic views, traditionalistic culture is motioned by conservatism. This cultures vision is supported by the common wealth of society’s privileged. Its beliefs are usually of distrust in its bureaucracy. Traditionalistic culture maintains an obligation to its family hierarchy. The traditionalistic subculture has a lower voting turn out rate compared to the opposition. These distinctive cultures were bestowed upon Texans in the 1800’s, when Texas was changing into a diverse and demographically society. Individualistic and traditionalistic cultures are the outline of ideology and certainty to the way Texas government is administrated. This has a huge impact on the way the Texas structures its government and why people support such a structure. And Texas is viewed as both subcultures.
The Texas Legislature is far too archaic to provide consistent leadership for a state government; Congress has become too enmeshed with the executive branch and leaves blurry lines drawn in its separation of powers. The ideal legislature would be a modernized version of what the Texas Constitution created.
The constitution written then was the fifth that the state has been ruled under, and is the one still in place today. At that point in Texas history, the state was primarily agricultural, and that was obvious by the delegates present at the Constitutional Convention. This resulted in a large percentage of the rewritten constitution being in favor of individualistic political culture; a weaker, more limited state government in which voters have a great deal of
The Governor of Texas needs to not only be a citizen of the United States, but also reside in Texas for at least five years immediately preceding the election in order to fully understand the policies Texas residents’ are dealing with, the culture of Texas, as well as how Texas’ political decision impacts the rest of the nation. Both the President and the Governor are required to give an address to the legislatures, which cover very similar topics. The President’s State of the Union address “…recommends to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;” while the Governor of Texas gives the Condition of the State in which, “…he shall recommend to the Legislature such measures as
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.
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.
Texas, being the second largest state in the United States, has a very large and ethnically varied population. Since 1850, Texas has had more of a population growth in every decade than that of the entire population of the United States. Texas' population is growing older as the people of the post World War II reach their middle ages. It's estimated that the people over the age of 64 in Texas will more than double by the year 2020 in Texas. Four out of every ten Texans are either African American or Hispanic with the remainder predominately white. There are a small but very rapidly growing number of Asians and fewer than 70,000 Native Americans. The diverse set of ethnic groups in Texas causes a big impact on laws and legislature in Texas.
In other words, Texas does not levy and individual income tax, instead the revenue is largely generated through property and sales taxes. Property taxes like your house, a place you own, or where your business is at, those are in some way ‘local taxes’ since the state is the one who is in charge of them. There are two type of taxes, progressive and regressive; the progressive taxes take a larger porcentage of income from taxpayers as their income rises (What is, web). Regressive taxes is the exact opposite, the tax is not based on ability to pay. Texas has one of the most regressive tax systems in the US, the reason? Because of their state taxes, where everyone pays the same tax rate regardless of their income. Inside Texas, however, the state’s tax system is not universally beloved. Although few are calling for Texas to impose its own income tax, the way the state employs property, sales and business taxes to finance services, particularly education, draws criticism and debate across the political spectrum (Batheja, web). Also, some critics say shifting away from income taxes and toward sale taxes puts a greater burden on poor people, who at the end would pay a higher percentage of their income to taxes that wealthy ones do(Dealer, web). In other words, the lower class is always the more affected by this type of taxes (regressive), because the way taxes
The movement for independence in Texas started when Mexican president Anastasio Bustamante, on April 6, 1830, forced new laws upon Texans to increase the population of Mexican citizens and decrease the population of American settlers. Bustamante prohibited further immigration to Texas by Americans. He also revoked the property tax law, which allowed immigrant settlers to avoid paying taxes for a full ten years, and increased the tariffs on goods exported from the United States. If that hadn’t already angered the Texans, Bustamante demanded that the settlers abide with the federal prohibition against slavery. The settlers were told if they were to disobey these orders, military intervention would
As individuals, we turn towards political parties to identify with a group that has the most in common with our own values and principals. Each political party’s agenda focuses on the primary interests affiliated with that party and is motivated to enact its beliefs and interests through legislation by electing officials into government. Texas is a large state with four political parties: Republican, Democratic, Green Party, and Libertarian. Each political party has a basic fundamental ideology and platform on current issues. The two major political parties in Texas and in the nation are the Republican and Democratic parties.Texas is a conservative state where the Republican Party has known success as the leading political party in Texas for recent years. It’s basic ideology can be described as conservative, Christian, and for the idea that government should play a minimum role in the lives of citizens. Republicans also believe in less government spending and taxation. The 25-page Texas Republican Platform is a detailed document that outlines the party’s beliefs and values and legislative goals. It contains a preamble and 9 principals that are stated briefly at the beginning and then later elaborated on in detail. It closes with party legislative goals. The Republican Party’s points of interest are: Strong Families, Limited Government, Opportunity For All, Personal Responsibility, Rugged Individualism, Principled Innovative Leadership, Honest Compassion, Quality Education, and Freedom as outlined on the party’s website. (Republican Party of Texas) Its first point of interest in legislative priorities is to “enact legislation requiring a sonogram be performed and offered as part of the consent process to each mother seek...
The government of the state of Texas is a difficult and complicated institution that is composed of many different levels. The question comes in to everyone's mind at one time or another whether or not to trust the government. It could be that people believe that the officials will take advantage of their power, or simply people don't like the idea of being controlled by someone who is not a family member or friend. To avoid this centralized power, the government is divided into stages and this is a reasonable ground for trusting the government. Government runs this state and it does deserve to be trusted.
Texas, being the very conservative, right-wing state that it is, has long had problems compromising and working with the federal government and when it comes to environmental policy, this is no exception. Republicans in the state of Texas tend to clash frequently with federal Democratic leaders and this has been especially noticeable within the last few years. The state of our environment is a national problem and has gotten to the point where federal law must intervene when it comes to regulation of how each state deals with the problems of air quality, water pollution, and conservation of land and resources, to name a few. It seems as though when it comes to issues regarding the environment, the states and federal government have been unable to see eye to eye. In the past, there was a focus on meeting the minimum federal standards when it came to the environment but states are leaning towards more aggressive policies. While each state may choose to handle this policy in the way they feel best benefits them, it is an issue that affects the whole country and should be handled as if it were as important as any other. Single states often become catalysts for others to adopt their regulations, rather than using the federal government as a leading example, but it is important that these catalyst states are being led in the right direction in the first place.
The political culture of a country is the basic values, attitudes, beliefs, and ideas of the people t...