Exam 3 Notes (Ch. 4-6, 10, 12) PDF

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Summarized all Notes needed for Exam 3 (Ch. 4-6, 12, 12)...

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[CH. 4] Political Parties in TX    

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THE ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN TEXAS POLITICS In most narrow sense, political parties are organizations of peoples est. to win elections In broader sense, political parties are those people in the electorate who identify with a particular political party & vote for that party’s candidates on a regular basis Perhaps the most important function of parties in Texas is that they provide a label that candidates can run under & voters can identify with o

Since TX elects such large # officeholders, voters cannot always be familiar with all of them

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So, voters use candidate’s party label as a cue to their ideology

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Thus, party label becomes the standard that voters apply in casting a ballot for a candidate

TX voters overwhelmingly identify with the Republican Party or the Democratic Party o

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Partisan Polarization: degree to which Republicans have become more conservative and

Democrats have become more liberal Parties also help candidates by raising money for campaigns, assisting with legal requirements, sometimes recruiting candidates, and assist in “getting out the vote” Parties also help in organizing the government: governors often appoint members of same party, officials may feel greater sense of loyalty & cooperation toward other officials of same party, and banding together of officeholders gives voter opportunity to hold the party accountable TX = 1 Party State—TX politics have always been dominated by 1 party (never 2 powerful) o

most important facet of political parties in TX

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Developed out of homogenous ideology that characterized TX culture & its people

Party as branding mechanism o

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Wk10 (Tue. 10/25—Thu. 10/27)

Political parties = “brands” = electorate

Political Socialization—introduction of individuals into political culture; learning the underlying beliefs and values on which the political system is based o

How individuals’ choose their Party ID: —

Parents

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Religious leaders, teachers, friends, work, media

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Environment (TX = state pride, independence, conservatism

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First election (often stays with people)

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Party ID’s are strong brands that people hold on to and do not often change after choosing

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However, Party does NOT equal ideology

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Democratic & Republican Party Organization TX does not have a system of party registration for voters TX parties conduct primaries to select the party’s candidates for office The party is organized at the precinct, county, and state levels The precinct chair heads the precinct convention and serves on the county executive committee The county executive committee is responsible for running the county’s primary elections and planning the county convention The county chair is elected at the party’s primary election and heads the county executive committee The state executive committee and state chair and vice chair coordinate the party’s statewide activities Conventions are held at the precinct, county, and state levels

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THIRD PARTIES IN TEXAS Third Parties have emerged in TX at certain points in history mainly because of particular issue Dixiecrats: conservative Dems who created own 3rd party in favor of segregation

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Also known as the States’ Rights Party

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1948: supported segregationist candidate Strom Thurmond instead of the Democratic candidate Harry Truman for the presidential election

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Thurmond was able to win a number of southern states, but TX voted for Truman (won)

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Recently, Libertarian Party has gained popularity in TX, but no success in actual elections yet Occupy movement & Tea Party movement have both gained popularity in TX recently Occupy movement: political movement aimed at limiting the influence of Wall Street and big corporations in American politics. Created following government bailouts in 2008  Tea Party movement: created after Barack Obama’s election, a political movement that advocates lower government spending, lower taxes, and limited government [Types of Primaries] Election system & third parties:  Proportional Representation system  significantly more 3rd parties formed

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Proportional dividing up of electoral votes based on popular vote %’s

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System encourages 3rd-party voting because even if a party wins only 10% of vote in an

election, still gets 10% of seats in legislature Single-member district (or Plurality) electoral system  3rd parties much more rare o

Electorate can only elect 1 representative for each district

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“first past the post”—candidate that wins plurality of the votes wins (elected)

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Since vote for losing candidate “wasted” people don’t vote for candidates they expect to lose

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All electoral votes of states go to candidate who won popular vote (majority) of state voters

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Duverger’s Law—in single-member district system, a two-party system will emerge

Run-Off Election System o

1st popular vote conducted; if no candidate gets majority, then top 2 from 1st are the only ballots in 2nd election held (1 will obviously have to get a majority vote)

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HISTORY OF PARTIES IN TX Governing Coalition: a cabinet of a legislators within government in which several political parties cooperate, reducing dominance of any one party within that coalition —usual reason given for arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority

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In TX past during Democrat dominance, Ex. conservative & liberal Democrats together

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Pre-1950s, TX was entirely Democratic

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1927-51 not even 1 single Republican elected to office in TX Congress

1873: defeat of Repub. Gov. Edmund J. Davis began period of Democratic Party dominance in TX o

Due to aftermath of Reconstruction (NOT because of ideology)

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Legacy of Reconstruction was that Republican Party became tainted (“bad word”)

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Other parties, such as the Populists and People’s Party, had some impact, but short-lived

The Democratic Party split between conservative and liberal ideologues in the 1940s o

Before split, Democrats = Governing Coalition

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Mid-1940s: split in Democratic Party over New Deal economic policy & civil rights

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Presidential Republicanism or Split-Ticket Voting: voting pattern of conservative TX Democrats voting for Democrats for state offices, but Republicans for presidential

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Shivercrat Movement: conservative TX Democrat movement led by TX governor Allan

Shivers that supported Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower for president out of the belief that the national Democratic Party had become too liberal (Blue Dog Dems) 1980 election of Ronald Reagan as president marked significant change in TX voting, both in presidential (national) and state elections o

Reagan era ushered in a period when Conservative Democrats began to switch to the Republican Party in record numbers

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Election of Gov. Bill Clements 1978 & George W. Bush 1994 signaled TX 2-party state

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By 1999 every statewide elected official in TX was Republican

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All Republican in state offices remains true today (as of 2014)

Blue Dog Democrats: conservative Democrats, mostly from the south o

Marginalized in the national Democratic party for their social conservatism

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continued until 2008 congressional voting for Obama Care

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Blue Dog Dems pressured into voting for Obama Care voted out in next election (2010)

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or lose their elections By 2006, Republican candidates were widely supported at the TX polls o

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By 2012 all blue dog democrats representing TX in US Congress retired, switched parties,

After that year’s elections, both U.S. senators, 19 of TX’s members of US House, and the

majority of both the TX State Senate & House were Republicans 2010 election=wave of increased Republicanism throughout the nation, and TX experience this wave in 3 ways: o

4 Democratic incumbent US Congress members of TX were defeated

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Republicans maintained monopoly over statewide offices

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Republicans gained 22 seats in the TX House

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Conservative majority reasserted itself in TX politics

ISSUES IN TEXAS PARTY POLITICS Whenever a single party becomes dominant in a state, factions within the party appear o

Parties need to keep factional disputes under control, or risk losing voters to other party

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2 Major Republican factions in TX: (1) religious conservatives (religious right) concerned

with social issues; and (2) economic conservatives concerned with reduced government spending, lower taxes, and more free market economics Another major divide in political party affiliation is rural vs. urban o

In TX: urban cities are more Democrat, rural areas continue to be solidly Republican, and suburban area are hybrid pockets of Republicans & Democrats

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Since voters tend to settle in places with like-minded people, cities tend to attract more

Democrats and suburban & rural areas tend to attract more Republicans High influence of African Americans in TX Democratic party because they tend to participate in elections & vote more than other ethnic groups An estimated 20 percent of registered voters in Texas are Hispanic, a demographic change that has made Hispanic voters a growing and more influential group o

recent increase in registered Hispanic voters who identify as Democrats has resulted in recent Democratic wins in urban areas in TX

[CH. 5] Elections in TX     

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Wk11 (Tue. 11/1—Thu. 11/3)

Elections (in theory) Hold normative importance for the institution of democracy - normative=way things “should be” (ideal) vital for maintaining the integrity of democracy voting = primary mechanism by which the people express themselves in the democratic process In TX, voters select candidates in all 3 branches and vote on changes to the state constitution; both meant (in theory) to enable the people to exercise some direct control over each branch; However, one-party dominance & low voter participation & turnout show this not always true and has left the state gov. exposed to special interests Question of who should be allowed & who should be restricted from participating in elections Argument against democracy: people don’t know what’s best for them Democracy relies on belief that people are intelligent/reasonable enough to govern themselves Types of Elections in TX Primary elections: ballot vote in which citizens select a party’s nominee for the general election - In TX, generally held on 2nd Tuesday in March of even-numbered years - Conducted by the political party & jointly funded by the party & the state - Most important election in TX because one-party state - Runoff primary: secondary primary held between the 2 candidates who received most votes in first primary if no candidate wins more a majority (>50%) in first primary - Open primary: any registered voter can participate, regardless of party affiliation - Closed primary: only registered members of particular political party can vote - Open primary elections saw higher voting for Trump (brought in vote of other non-established Republican Party members), while in closed primaries, Ted Cruz did better - Primary election in TX is legally “closed”, but in practice it is an “open” primary: voters required to declare their party allegiance before being allowed to vote, but not restricted to voting in that party’s primary election General elections: election when voters cast ballots to select public officials

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- In TX, held 1st Tuesday following the 1st Monday November of even-numbered years - (statewide officials voted for, except for the governorship of TX) - Election of governor held in off-years to minimize influence of presidential elections Special elections: elections not held on a regular basis - In TX, special elections held to fill vacancies, to ratify amendments to state Constitution, or to give approval for the state government to borrow money In TX, to run as an independent requires relatively difficult process: must obtain petition signatures, signatures must come from registered voters who did not vote in other primaries, signature collection cannot begin until day after last primary, voters may only sign one petition - Difficult process for independents to get onto primary election ballots is used to ensure that the 2 major political parties can dominate politics in the state

Dependency Theory  James Kent (1821)—only people that should be voting are landowners, particularly, farmers (argues they are most virtuous citizens because owning land gives them ties to actual country); and “men of no property” should not be voting because their interests not tied to benefit of country as a whole, or because they are dependents  Dependency Theory: those who are dependent on others to take care of them cannot think logically/clearly because thoughts preoccupied with how to get taken care of

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Alexander Hamilton used dependency theory to argue against suffrage for poor people

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John Adams argued dependency theory related to women & children (no vote if 5,000 can adopt home-rule charters by a majority vote Home-rule charter—rules that a city operates under; gives local gov. considerable independent governing power—greater authority over taxes & the form of government for the city - Home-rule cities can borrow money in ways not available to smaller municipal gov. - Home-rule charters must be consistent with the state constitution & other state provisions  Cities...