Texas Political Culture
There are multiple classifications for political cultures
Moralistic political culture- ones believe that the government should promote the public good and in order to ensure that good the citizens should participate in politics and civic activities
Individualistic political culture- ones believe that the government must limit their role when providing to society in order to make the citizens able to pursue their economic interests
Traditionalistic political culture- ones believe that the government should controlled by political elites and must be guided by tradition.
Changes in Texas
The One Party State- Texas had been governed by the Democratic party for over 100 years. But the pattern was broken when a competition…show more content…
Given the prominence of slavery in its formation, a traditionalistic political culture, in Elazar’s argument, sees the government as necessary to maintaining the existing social order, the status quo. Only elites belong in the political enterprise, and as a result, new public policies will be advanced only if they reinforce the beliefs and interests of those in power. Elazar associates traditionalistic political culture with the southern portion of the United States, where it developed in the upper regions of Virginia and Kentucky before spreading to the Deep South and the Southwest. Like the individualistic culture, the traditionalistic culture believes in the importance of the individual. But instead of profiting from corporate ventures, settlers in traditionalistic states tied their economic fortunes to the necessity of slavery on plantations throughout the South. When elected officials do not prioritize public policies that benefit them, those on the social and economic fringes of society can be plagued by poverty and pervasive health problems. For example, although the map below shows that poverty is a problem across the entire United States, the South has the highest incidence. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the South also leads the nation in self-reported obesity, closely followed by the Midwest. These statistics present challenges for lawmakers not only in the short term but also in the long term because they must prioritize fiscal constraints in the face of a growing demand for services. While moralistic cultures expect and encourage political participation by all citizens, traditionalistic cultures are more likely to see it as a privilege reserved for only those who meet the qualifications. As a result, voter participation will generally be lower in a traditionalistic culture, and there will be more barriers to participation (e.g., a requirement to produce a photo ID at the voting booth). Conservatives argue that these laws reduce or eliminate fraud on the part of voters, while liberals believe they disproportionally disenfranchise the poor and minorities and constitute a modern-day poll tax. Finally, under a traditionalistic political culture, Elazar argues that party competition will tend to occur between factions within a dominant party. Historically, the Democratic Party dominated the political structure in the South before realignment during the civil rights era. Today, depending on the office being sought, the parties are more likely to compete for voters. Page 2 Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 The Court System of TexasUnit 6 Local Government in TexasUnit 7 Voting and Political Participation in TexasUnit 8 Elections and Campaigns in TexasUnit 9 Unit 10 Interest Groups and Lobbying in TexasUnit 11 Public Policy in TexasUnit 12 The Criminal Justice System in TexasUnit 13 Financing State GovernmentUnit 14 Public Opinion and the Media in TexasPolitical Culture |