Political Culture

Characteristics of the Political Climate in Texas after the Civil Rights Movement:

-a comparatively low level of state-funded social services, which are kept minimal by a general hostility toward progressive taxation (particularly any form of income tax) -policies that support economic growth led by the private sector, such as a generally anti-union work environment and limited environmental regulation; and - culturally conservative social policies in areas such as education, religion, and civil rights

Religious Agents of Socialization

A religion, especially a dominant one, also tends to reproduce a society's core values, if for no other reason than its embedded place in the society's "values infrastructure." ~Nevertheless, within some faiths disagreements over both doctrine and politics can occur.

-Political Culture

A set of shared values, beliefs and behaviors relating to government and politics that develop through the process of political socialization.

Home Life

Because parents are usually the closest and most influential authority figures around, children tend to internalize their parent's views with relatively little questioning. -Instead, they offer---usually unconsciously---snippets of political culture and ideology with significant gaps and possible inconsistencies; children gradually fill those in later through subsequent contact with other agents of socialization. -As we mature, we expand our circle of influencers, all of whom are agents of socialization.

12.1 Introduction

Central Ideas: I. Political culture is the shared values, beliefs, and behaviors regarding government and politics that develop over time through the process of political socialization. II. The political culture of Texas expresses the influence of three main currents of political ideology: -Classical Liberalism -Social Conservatism -Populism III. The histories of Texas's major political parties and social groups both shape and are shaped by the state's political culture. IV. Texas has recently seen a dramatic population increase, driven primarily by a rapidly growing Latino population. V. Public opinion broadly reflects Texas's political culture and provides us with a running tally of how that culture might change over time.

Social Conservatism

Derives from the philosophy of classical conservatism (rooted in feudal English and European thinking) that views liberalism with suspicion, embraces hierarchical social relations, and often interprets social change as a threat to established practices and beliefs. ~Today, social conservatives tend to support government involvement in reinforcing traditional social relations. -They values established customs, especially Judeo-Christian religious beliefs and practices, and respect conventional authority figures such as business, military and religious leaders. While socially conservative views are associated primarily with the Republican Party today, they also dominated the Texas Democratic Party through much of its history.

Public Opinion and the Texas Model

For much of Texas's Modern political history, the balance between classical liberalism, social conservatism, and populism has translated into what has frequently been called a "low taxes, low services" approach to government. -The "low taxes, low services" model in state government has endured regardless of which party holds power, reflecting the overarching importance of the state's unique combination of political ideals based on classical liberalism, social conservatism, and populism.

12.5 III. Political History and Texas Political Culture

For nearly a century following Reconstruction, the Democratic Party donated elections at all levels in Texas. ~This period of Democratic rule was led by a conservative white political elite that strongly promoted economic development and resisted social reforms like improved race relations or programs that would help the poor. ~Tensions within the Democratic Party over these issues simmered largely below the surface through many decades, periodically bursting briefly into public view, until the emergence of the civil rights movement in the 1950s. During this time Republicans were not completely absent, but their electoral victories in Texas were few and limited in scope. ~Their most common successes were in presidential elections: Texas supported the Republican candidate in 1952, 1956, 1972, and then in every election after 1980 as the party's strength grew.

Public Opinion and Shifts in Political Culture

Frequent measures of public opinion provides us with two important sources of political insight: -the means to track changes in some of the specific attitudes that both reflect and constitute political culture -the ability to see potential signs of how the changing composition of "the public" as a result of demographic shifts might be updating Texas's political culture Popular attitudes toward same-sex relationships offer an example of relatively repaid shifts in public opinion. ~When public opinion in Texas began to move in a direction that was more tolerant and accepting of same-sex relationships, polling results were greeted with surprise and even skepticism---mainly b/c the results seemed contradictory to the strong influence of social conservatism in the state. In many areas, polling tends to confirm how political culture provides many of the predispositions that are the foundation for a striking amount of predictability in the public's opinions on social and political issues. ~When surgery researchers or pollsters measure attitude, they are measuring a combination of predispositions (preexisting beliefs and values that are often grounded in political culture) and information (typically more recently acquired facts and opinions).

Populism

Is concerned primarily with the well-being of ordinary people and emphasizes the popular will; in fact, that;s its chief virtue as a political position. -Populism has both political and social dimensions. >Political: Support for government involvement in regulating society and the economy often has a populist tone because such policies are justified as part of an effort to establish a baseline of well-being for all members of society, rich and poor alike. >Social: But populism can also inform socially conservative proposals, such as cutting taxes and shrinking government in idea to enable all people to enjoy more liberty. -Occasionally populism even serves as a vehicle to defuse or ignore tensions between the influence of classical liberalism on one hand and social conservatism. -Because of its ambiguity, the term "populist" often refers to the use of such broad public appeals to ground political language that is otherwise hard to reduce to an identifiable or clear set of policy goals and preferences.

12.2 I. The Concept of Political Culture

Political Culture develops over time, and it affects political life at the state, regional, and national levels in different ways. ~In a basic sense, political culture really refers to how we view a few particular aspects of politics, government, and society. These typically include: -the relationship between the government and the people, -the rights and responsibilities of the people, -the shared identity among members of a political community, -the government's obligations, and -limits on the government's authority. Political culture takes shape from the process of political socialization, form ideas that originate in political ideology, and from historical experiences.

12.3 Political Socialization

Political Socialization: Is the process by which people acquire beliefs, values, and habits of thought and action related to government, politics, and society. ~The process of political socialization goes beyond an individual learning information about how the world *actually* operates, and instead relates to an individual developing a point of view about how people and institutions *should* operate.

12.4 II. Political Ideology

Political ideology is a term used differently in different contexts. ~When discussing political culture, it tends to refer to the deep, broad influence of political philosophies on a particular community. ~When talking about public opinion, it typically refers to how individuals self-identify their views along a spectrum that rangers from liberal to conservative. Here we will be looking at it in the context of the political culture of Texas, which expresses the influence of three main currents of political ideology: -classical liberalism -social conservatism -populism

12.8 V. Texas Public Opinion and Politics

Public opinion provides a window into what Texans seem to want from the political system. ~One of the advantages of monitoring public opinion is that it gives us the ability to observe tensions and sources of potential change in the historically rooted patterns of Texas's political culture. -In a more immediate sense, information about public attitudes on politics and policy also helps us to assess how public opinion shapes the behavior of elected officials and other political leaders who attempt to follow it. Public opinion is measured through scientifically designed surveys, commonly called public opinion polls.

Grade School

Public schools are conservative in the literal sense: their job is to conserve and reproduce the dominant values in society. -Grade schools usually have a mission to imbue (inspire, penetrate) students with a sense of citizenship, which often involves teaching accepted histories of the state and nation while promoting patriotism and permissible forms of political participation. -When they attend school, however, young people also spend time outside their own immediate circle of friends, which inevitably means wider social exposure and new experiences that may not coincide with socialization patterns at home.

African Americans

Represented a significant portion to the early settlers in the region. Regardless of their numbers, it was difficult for African Americans to shape the dominant culture from the position of enslavement, or from the social underclass to which many in the state and the country belonged well past the turnoff the 20th century. On the civilian side, a number of African Americans held public office in Texas during the Reconstruction period and late 19th century. Through much the state's history, democratic institutions and social justice were more tan simply abstract ideals for black Texans. They were fundamental to any chance at economic and social advancement---and indeed, even to physical survival.

-"Pragmatic Center"

Texas has contributed to the development of what might be called a "pragmatic center." Scratch the surface of this pragmatism and you're likely to find that what is deemed practical is -a relatively conservative -pro-business set of policy preferences -periodically affected by mobilized groups that lack the power to remain influential over long periods of time (such as third parties or even left and right wings of the Democratic and republican parties, respectively). -The pragmatic center of the spectrum of political discourse and policy is generally more conservative in Texas than in states of similar size and population. ~Texans as a group tend to hold more conservative views than the rest of the nation.

Spanish and Mexican Americans

The Spanish influence at all levels of contemporary Texas is considerable, perhaps out of portion to the number of Spaniards (ex. those who came directly from Spain) who ever set foot in the territory we now call Texas. ~Spanish legal customs governing things like family relations and the disposition of land and water still influence current Texas law. PAST--> PRESENT PAST: -Focused mainly on establishing isolated missions aimed at converting the Native Americans to Christianity and to a more settled, town-based form of social organization. ~The missions were also intended as means of halting French encroachment from the Louisiana territory by establishing Spanish control over remote areas. -After Mexico won independence from Spain (by 1821) many Spaniards didn't live in Texas. Which leads to why the...Spanish culture in what became the state of Texas would be based primarily on---and filtered through ---Mexican culture, a very distinct and dynamic tradition that was derived only partly from its Spanish roots.

Indigenous Groups

The broad labels "indigenous groups" and "Native Americans" apply to literally hundreds of diverse groups go people in the Texas territory. ~Not all could be described precisely as tribes, as many of them were large clusters of families, bands, or other associated groups with distinct customs, organizations, and behaviors. -This large number of indigenous groups resulted in great variety of social structures, values, and practices---a great variety of political cultures, if you will. ~Apaches & Comanches: were very aggressive and warlike, living on the spoils of raids and conquest ~Caddos: were primarily engaged in agriculture ~Wichita: participated in a mix of hunting, trade, and warfare. -The expansion of Anglo American settlements in the eastern part of the continent led to new waves of Native Americans moving into the areas that would become Texas. ~some for hunting and fishing ~forcibly pushed out It is reasonably safe to say that like the Spanish and Anglo settlers, Native Americans found life on the frontier to be harsh, intensely competitive, sometimes violent, and often solitary. -THe culture of the indigenous groups has been largely extinguished or marginalized in contemporary Texas, with just three reservations representing the only organized settlement sod Native Americans in the states, according to the Handbook of Texas. Beyond the numbers of Native Americans in the sate, some of the cultural traits shared by many of the indigenous groups---especially competitiveness and self-reliance---were characteristics that the frontier also instilled in the political culture that developed among Texans of European descent.

Demographic Change and Political Change

The demographic changes in Texas discussed above will continue into the future, and have generated much discussion of the impact that these changes will likely have in state. ~Both the increase in the number of people in Texas as well as shifts in the state's redial composition that make it a "majority-minority" state, where non-Hispanic whites are outnumbered by ethnic and racial minorities, are universally expected to have implications for Texas politics. -Behaviors that constitute political culture are rooted in the past but adopted and acted our by people in the present. ~We know that the underlying population of the state is chaining, so we also need to be alert to the possible ways that the underlying attitudes that make up its political culture might be shifting as a result of those changes. The effort to detect possible changes in political culture is one of the reasons we pay attention to public opinion.

12.7 IV. Population Growth in Texas Today

The growing share of the population made up by ethnic minorities, especially the rapidly increasing Latino population, looms very large in both the cultural identity of Texas and the politics of the state. ~This sustained increase in the overall population further fuels the tendency of many Texans to view their state as an engine of growth for the rest of the United States; it also provides a reason for the rest of the country to pay attention to politics and policies in the sate. -At the same time, the increasing share elf the population mad dup of non-Anglos seems sure to alter a political culture based on the historical dominance of politics and society by Anglos. -Texas's record of providing rights to ethnic and racial minorities has, like the rest of the nation's seen improvement in the wake of the changes wrought by the civivl right's movement, and the coming demographic changes in the state should mark a significant departure from its Anglo-oriented traditions.

-Reconstruction

The period between 1865 and 1877 when former Confederate states were occupied by federal troops during the process of rewriting their constitutions, rebuilding from the war and being readmitted to the Union.

Texas's Surge in Population

The state's phenomenal 21-st century population explosion follows a decade of similarly rapid growth. The repaid growth of the Latino population has been the main source of the state's dramatic population increase. ~The slowest rate of growth was among the non-Hispanic white population. All other racial and ethnic groups grew at much higher rates.

Agents of Socialization

These include parents, family, friends, church, and the media; they also include experiences withe duration, employment, government, and other public institutions. -The activity of political socialization is similar. It's a type of socialization that refers specifically to the process of acquiring ideas about people, society, and government. -Agents of socialization may teach us ideas regarding political rights ("life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"), or the ideal political structure ("government of the people, by the people, for the people").

Anglo Americans

They only began arriving and staying in much larger numbers after the Spanish were ousted (drive out) and the territory came under the rule of an independent Mexico (1821-1836). ~The primary attraction for Anglo Americans was the Mexican government's *empresario* policy, which awarded land grants to settlers. -Within less than a decade after Mexico's independence from Spain, the Anglo American presence had come to dominate the political and cultural development of the territory. ~An independence movement led primarily by Anglo Americans and the territory's subsequent (following) ascension (the act of rising to an important position) to U.S. statehood in 1845 solidified the Anglo American traditions as the foundation for Texas's political and cultural development. -This meant that Texas culture would comprise a unique mix of liberal and conservative orientations. The frontier attitude toward minimal government and maximal freedom to pursue the accumulation of wealth and property infused this culture. ~But the unique form of Anglo American culture that took root in Texas also had considerable conservative streak that emphasized social class stability and order (a prominent characteristic of Spanish culture as well). -For decades after the war, state law and Anglo American social norms still sought to maintain a rigid race-based class system that effectively disenfranchised African Americans, Mexican Americans, and other non-white groups.

Classical Liberalism

Values political arrangements that permit the fullest exercise of individual liberty without unreasonably restricting the liberties of others. ~Classical liberal ideas are often at the root of opposition to the use of government to attain social objectives, stressing instead a reliance on private initiatives or the free market to achieve the best outcomes. -In Texas, classical liberalism is a philosophical foundation that has fostered support for entrepreneurship and the market economy. ~fueling support for religious tolerance and civili liberties -Nevertheless, the expression of classical liberalism as an embrace of every individual's right to "do your own thing" has been balanced by the enduring influence of social conservatism in Texas. -Classical liberalism differs from liberalism in common uses of the term, which, in the United States, refers to the notion that government should actively intervene in society to foster socially and economically just outcomes; it also refers to the belief that changes in traditional practices should be greeted with an open mind.

Higher Education

When teens move to institutions of higher education, both in the classroom and on the quad, they encounter still more conflicting and perhaps controversial views. ~tend to impart a variety of political influences. -As such, students are likely to be exposed to some views that reunite wight heir existing beliefs and other that challenge them.