Government 2306 Williams
UNIT 1 LECTURE NOTES
Foundations and Political Participation
In this initial unit we will discuss two primary ideas, the foundations of Texas government and politics, then information about participation in the political process.
Chapters discussing Political Culture and The Constitution of your online textbook, along with the lecture notes, will help to provide us with the foundations we need in order to understand government and politics, not only in their relation to Texas, but also the our country’s system of government.
The remainder of the unit will discuss how we as citizens participate in our system of government. These chapters cover what are essentially the “Inputs” to the political system. Among the inputs to our political system we include political parties, voters, campaigns and elections, and finally interest groups. There are online chapters for each of these areas which you will need to read.
The Context of Texas Politics
Politics
The process that determines whose values will prevail in society. Political scientist Harold Lasswell defined it as the struggle to determine “who gets what, when, and how”. It involves conflict and the struggle for lesser resources. Political conflict is rooted in two general conditions of society: 1) scarcity, society’s resources are finite, but people’s appetites are not; 2) differences in values, people see things in different ways.
In very basic terms, those that have “it” want to keep “it”, those that don’t have “it” want to get “it”.
Government
A public institution with the authority to allocate values in society.
Two aspects to government:
1) the institutions in a society which make decisions that affect the whole society
2) it also involves the processes by which decisions are made.
Know this: government is deeply involved in politics, but politics is also found in other aspects of society.
Public policy
What government formulates. Laws, rules, regulations, ordinances - all these things are examples of public policy. There is seemingly no end to the policies that government formulates. This is largely in response to what you, the tax-paying public, requests.
Power
Those who decide political issues are said to have power, a term that refers to the ability of persons or institutions to control policy decisions.
Authority
Power exercised through the laws and institutions of government is known as authority. Authority can be more strictly defined as the recognized right of an individual, organization, or institution to make binding decisions.
Sovereignty
The ultimate authority to govern. Under modern theories of governing power, each individual has the authority to govern themselves. They concede some of this sovereignty to a government to help make an orderly society. This is the basis of what is called the “social contract”.
Legitimacy
The belief people have that their government is based upon morally right principles, and that therefore they should obey its laws. All governments, in order to be effective, must have this. Somehow, the people must recognize the right of the government to govern.
Democracy
The form of government based upon the theory that the legitimacy of any government must come from the free participation of its citizens. It is simply a set of rules determining who will exercise the authority of government. It is based on the idea of the consent of the governed, which has come mostly to mean majority rule.
Theories of Power in Modern Democracies
Essentially, there are three different theories of modern democracy in America, and who is able to exercise power under each:
1) majoritarianism. This is the concept the that numerical majority prevails not only in counting votes but also in determining public policy. This is sometimes referred to as classical democracy. The problem with this form of democracy is that sometimes minority groups can get overlooked when considering public policy.
2) pluralism. This holds that policies are effectively decided through power wielded by special interests that dominate particular policy areas. It helps to protect the rights of minorities. It tries to assure representation for all segments of a diverse (pluralistic) society. The problem with this form of democracy is that many times the will of the majority is thwarted.
3) elitism. The holds that policy is controlled by a small number of well-positioned, highly influential individuals. It is NOT democratic at all. In most theories of elitism the elite is an economic elite who controls the principal economic resources and products in society. The elite uses its economic power to gain and hold political power, sometimes openly and sometimes covertly.
No one of these theories completely explains how decisions are made, but each has its merits, and, as we shall see during this semester, helps to explain how things happen within our government institutions and processes.
Federalism
This is the sharing and/or division of power and authority among more than one level of government. It helps to diffuse authority, yet can also be confusing when trying to determine accountability. We will discuss this more fully when studying the second chapter. Federalism makes an impact on Texas politics in several ways:
1) a significant portion of state revenue each year comes from federal grants
2) the U.S. Congress can appropriate funds through military bases, highway funding, etc.
3) the Constitution and laws of the U.S. are considered supreme, so when there is a conflict between a state’s laws and the U.S., those of the U.S. take precedence.
Political Culture
According to your textbook, political culture can be defined as a “people’s shared framework of values, beliefs and habits of behavior related to government and politics.” As per your online textbook, “the concept of political culture refers to how we view the following four aspects of politics, government and society:
o The relationship between government and the people
o Rights and responsibility of the people
o Obligations of government
o Limits of government authority
Though not covered in your online textbook, there are several key factors that combine to create the unique political culture of Texas. These factors include:
a) geographic size
b) relative geographic isolation (until 20th century), and, in keeping with this, it was sparsely populated until the 20th Century
c) prior independence (a separate republic), which is fostered in an attitude of intense state patriotism (we often think of ourselves as Texans first, and Americans second)
d) part of the “old south” as well as being a frontier area (the “wild west”)
e) status as a former slave state, and the ramifications of our history of reluctance (along with other southern states) to grant citizenship rights to former slaves, as well as Hispanics
f) diversity of population (see Impact of Population on Political Culture below)
These factors combine to produce a very unique political culture. Since it can be stated that culture drives institutions, it is vital that you understand how this mix has created a culture that is considered very conservative ideologically. As stated in your online textbook, “Texas political culture and ideology are well described by the combination of three main philosophical streams: classical liberalism, social conservatism and populism.”
“Classical liberalism places the primary political value on political arrangements that allow for the fullest exercise of individual liberty as long as the liberties of others are not unreasonably restricted. Classical liberal ideas often form the basis for opposition to the use of government to attain social objectives. They stress instead reliance on private initiatives or the free market to determine the best outcomes.”
The second philosophical stream that your textbook discusses is social conservatism. “Social conservatism derives from the classical conservatism rooted in feudal English and European thinking that viewed liberalism with suspicion, embraced traditional hierarchical social relations, and tended to interpret social change as a threat to established practices and beliefs. In contemporary forms, social conservatives tend to support the use of government to reinforce traditional social relations. They value established traditions, especially established religious beliefs and practices, and respect traditional authority figures such as business, military and religious leaders.” We especially see social conservatism work within party politics, and we will examine this more closely later. We also need to note that “classical liberalism and social conservatism sometimes exert countervailing, even contradictory pressures within the state’s political culture.”
Finally, your textbook recognizes the philosophical idea of populism. “Populism is concerned primarily with the well being of ordinary people, and emphasizes the popular will as the chief virtue of political position. Populism has both political and social dimensions. Politically, it tends to support involvement of the government in regulating society and the economy. But populism may also take socially conservative forms, or rely more on style and rhetorical appeal to ‘the people,’ rather than on the substance of what political leaders are actually advocating. Thus, depending on the context, populist appeals may support very different political positions.”
Your textbook goes on to state that “For much of the Texas Political history, classical liberalism, social conservatism and populism in practical terms have translated into a ‘low taxes, low services’ approach to government.” Texans have historically, and overwhelmingly, been suspicious of government, and seeming prefer as little government as possible. This philosophy is generally referred to as conservatism. This term is quite complex, and we will study it more in depth later in this unit. In general, it refers to a hostility of government activity, especially in the economic sphere. There is a strong support among Texans for the concept of capitalism. This is a set of rules governing the distributions of costs and benefits. It emphasizes the idea of the free market, or laissez-faire, as the ultimate regulator of who gets what.
In reality and in practice, most Texans actually use pseudo laissez-faire economics. What this refers to is that most business people don’t want government interference with regard to regulation or taxation, but if they get into trouble then they want government to help them out.
A differing philosophical view of government is called liberalism. In general (and again, we will study this in more depth later), liberals have a distrust of the free market. Liberals have often seen what they believe are abuses of capitalism by either wealthy individuals or corporations. In their view government is justified in taking a more activist role in not only the regulation of economic activity, but also in the redistribution of wealth within society.
Another factor to note is that most Texans favor and follow something of a belief in social Darwinism. People who succeed and prosper are worthy and deserve to be at the top of the socioeconomic ladder, while those that sink to the bottom are unworthy and deserve their poverty. This is exhibited by a resistance to government aid. In conjunction with the strong belief in capitalism, this leads to a belief in a trickle down theory of economics. This rejects the liberal’s idea of using government as a tool of economic redistribution, and accepts the notion that money will flow from the “top down”, meaning that if wealth is accumulated at a higher socio-economic status then when those groups spend it then it will ultimately trickle down to the lower classes, thus making them better. The liberals reject this notion in that they feel that the wealthier classes tend to hold onto their money and not spend it. To a degree they may be correct, because Texas has historically had one of the highest rates of poverty among all the states. There are many other indicators of the acceptance of the concept of social Darwinism among Texans (see slides in classroom discussion).
Impact of Population on Political Culture
The population of Texas has grown substantially since 1970. Immigration into Texas has come from several areas. In general, there has been a significant shift in the population of the U.S. from the cooler northern states to the so-called Sun-Belt (Southern states). There are two principle factors responsible for this shift. First, many of the older manufacturing centers of the upper Midwest to the Northeast United States started closing in the 1970s due to foreign competition (primarily the auto industry at first). Second, the high cost of heating fuels caused more people to move to the South to warmer climates. This has impacted the politics of the United States in several ways:
The 1990 Census gave Texas three (3) additional seats in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
The 2000 Census gave Texas two (2) more. Texas now has 32 members in the U.S. House of Representatives. This effectively gives Texas more national influence.
According to the 2000 Census numbers, Texas has approximately 20.4 million people.
Texas has a total of 254 counties. The population of Texas is not evenly spread out. Most people in Texas live along or east of IH-35.
Race and Ethnic Information – Since 1850 Texas has been predominantly Anglo-American. However, between 1970 and 1990 the population totals of various racial groups in Texas were growing at far different rates:
Anglo-Americans +34%
Hispanic-Americans +111%
African-Americans +42%
As of the 2000 Census, minorities now made up 45% of the population of the state:
Anglo-Americans 55%
Hispanic-Americans 41%
African-Americans 11%
Asian-Americans 3%
According to recently released Census studies, as of the year 2005, Anglo-Americans were no longer the majority population in the state.
Urban and Rural differences – As of 1998, it was estimated that 85% of the population of Texas lived in urban areas. The 3 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs, a term used by the Census bureau to describe large, complex, multi-city urban areas), Houston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, San Antonio, account for 52% of the total population of the state.
Political Implications of Population Change
First of all, the economic differences between the Anglo-American population (which tends to be wealthier) and the Hispanic-American and African-American populations (which tend to be of lower socio-economic class) creates political conflict. What political scientists believe will happen is that as the population shifts from a single dominant group (Anglo-Americans) to the Hispanic-American and African-American groups (we can see this from above with these groups representing the largest increase in percent of population growth) we will see the more “liberal” attitudes of these groups becoming more of a force in Texas politics and public policy in the future.
Constitutional Democracy
Characteristics of Constitutions