Texas Government - ch. 1
The city of ____ is the largest in the state, with a population of over 2 million people, while the ____ metro area is the largest metropolitan area in the state, with over 7.6 million residents.
Houston; Dallas-Fort Worth.
Put the following urban areas in order in terms of projected population in 2050, from largest to smallest.
Houston; Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington; Austin; San Antonio; El Paso
Which of the following universities are the only ones that can receive funds from oil and gas revenues that go into the Permanent University Fund?
Texas A&M University University of Texas
Select the best explanation for the change in Oil production and average closing price between 2018 and 2020.
Companies continued producing oil but the pandemic radically decreased demand for petroleum products.
Select the best explanation for the change in production and average closing price between 2018 and 2020.
Companies continued producing oil but the pandemic radically decreased demand for petroleum products.
Up until recently, which factor has contributed the most to the increase in Texas's population?
A natural increase of births in proportion to deaths
In the early twentieth century, less than 50 years after the end of the Civil War, influential groups in the state sought to rewrite history by promoting the ____ narrative, which suggested that the South's primary cause was not to protect ____ but to protect states' rights from an overreaching federal government.
"Lost Cause"; enslavement
Innovations like the steel plow and barbed wire affected the Texas economy in what ways?
- They virtually ended open-range grazing and cattle drives. - They increased cotton production.
Provincialism in Texas has historically contributed which of the following features to the state's political culture?
-A narrow worldview and an intolerance of diversity -A belief that the public interest is not served by spending on social services and education -A rejection of modern urban lifestyles
Which of the following statements accurately characterize the country's population change from 2010 to 2020?
-Florida experienced some of the most significant population growth in the country -Texas had more counties with 10 percent or more growth than neighboring states.
Which factors help explain why the Austin metro area has a higher average income than other major metro areas in Texas?
-It has a thriving high-tech industry -It contains the state capital -It has a highly educated workforce
Texas is often described as sharing features of both individualistic and traditionalistic political cultures for which of the following reasons?
-Limited regulation on individuals and businesses to encourage self-interested hard work -Elites, such as business leaders, have a dominant voice in how the state is run -Social services connected to government are minimized.
Which of these are arguments President Trump and other Republican lawmakers made about NAFTA's shortcomings?
-NAFTA brought an increase in undocumented immigrants that created a burden on state social services -The United States has lost a large number of manufacturing jobs to Mexico
Which factors does San Antonio's economy rely on?
-National military bases -Educational institutions -Tourism -Medical research
Which statements about other large states in the United States are accurate?
-Texas and California have similar proportions of Latino residents -Florida and New York have a higher proportion of Black residents than Texas
In what ways did Texas benefit from the United States' membership in the landmark NAFTA trade deal?
-Texas goods have had more access to foreign markets -Trade stimulated growth along Texas's border -NAFTA helped speed up a diversified economy
What future trends can be inferred from the information in the chart?
-Texas will become more firmly positioned as a majority minority state. -If current trends continue, Latinos will likely soon become the largest single demographic segment of the state population.
What characteristics are true of the Asian American population in Texas?
-Texas's Asian American population is made up of people of many different nationalities -Asian Americans compose only a small part of the state's total population
Which physical regions of Texas are most likely to remain consistently controlled by Republicans?
-The Great Plains - The Interior Lowlands
Though Black Americans were emancipated in 1865, they were disenfranchised by the ____ and forced to pay ____ taxes in order to vote. It was only after the Voting Rights Act of ____ that the political system opened up for Black Americans.
-White primary -Poll -1965
Which of the following goals would be consistent with the La Raza Unida Party platform?
-expand voting access for Latino citizens -increase the number of Latino officials in public office
Which of the following economic activities are located primarily in the Gulf Coastal Plains region?
-industrial manufacturing -timber -fruit and vegetable farming -petroleum export
What are the reasons that Latino populations make up higher concentrations in urban areas and the Rio Grande Valley?
-relative geography to international border -availability of jobs
Since ____, the _____ Party has enjoyed nearly unchallenged control of the government in Texas.
2002; Republican
Relative to the rest of the country, _____ of Texas's population is under 18 years old and _____ of the state's population is over 65 years of age.
A larger percentage; a smaller percentage
Which of the following best describes the social impact of the Black Codes, White primaries, voter suppression, and segregationist ideas that dominated Texas politics between Reconstruction and the civil rights movement?
African Texans were subjugated and given a social status similar to the status they held when slavery existed.
Prior to World War ll, Latinos primarily worked in the ____ industry in rural areas but began moving to ____ areas of Texas after the war in search of jobs with better wages.
Agricultural; urban
Texas Democrats believe the path to being more competitive in statewide politics in Texas is largely tied to which of the following trends?
An expanding young Latino population
Which of the following best supports the assertion that these monuments were aimed at celebrating the authority of White Texans after the Civil War ended?
Approximately half of the monuments were erected between 1900 and 1940. (This period of time coincided with the heights of Jim Crow, enforcement of separate but equal doctrine, and the Ku Klux Klan's influence)
The ____ has the highest proportion of Latino Texans and contains some of the few rural areas of Texas that are more supportive of the Democratic Party.
Basin and Range Province (containing the Big Bend country)
Which conclusions can be derived from studying the chart on Oil Production in Texas.
Correct answers: The years of highest production are associated with the lowest prices. Once the price of oil starts to go up, production starts to go up to follow that price increase--for a time. Incorrect answers: Oil prices are generally a stable commodity.
Which of the following statements about the cotton economy in Texas are accurate?
Correct: It established an underclass in Texas society. It helped bolster the Populist movement. Incorrect: It remains a driving force of the Texas economy today. About 5 percent of the Texas population now lives on cotton farms or is connected directly to cotton cultivation.
Identify the projected population trend for each racial group.
Decreasing population share- White Texans Constant population share- Black Texans Increasing population share- Latinos
Match each industry with the urban area it is most associated with.
Fort Worth: cattle Houston: energy San Antonio: military installations Austin: high tech
Select the region where fertile soil, cheap land, and location encouraged White southerners to bring enslaved people to plantations.
Gulf Coastal Plains
The overwhelming majority of Black Texans live in which geographic region of Texas?
Gulf Coastal Plains
Which region in Texas has historically had the most influence over politics in the state?
Gulf Coastal Plains
Which major county most diverges from the overall demographic composition of the rest of the Texas population?
Hidalgo county
The development of ____ industries in the 1900s created an economic driver that diversified the revenue streams of the state away from reliance on the ____ industry.
High-tech; petroleum
Which of the following is a benefit of the privatization of public property in Texas?
It allowed Texas to retain ownership of the minerals under some of this land, which has provided funding for elementary and secondary education as well as higher education.
Why does "Juneteenth" hold a particularly special place in Black communities in Texas?
It commemorates the day enslaved people in Texas were emancipated. (June 19, 1865- more than a full two years after the Emancipation Proclamation- was the day that the war was over and slavery had been ended)
Which of the following statements about the Latino population in Texas are true?
Latinos have become the majority in major Texas cities. Latinos are a diverse population. Latinos are concentrated in south and west Texas.
Saudi Arabia is the only place in the world that has a larger oil reserve than which oilfield in Texas?
Permian Basin
The persistent poverty created by the sharecropper and tenant farmer systems had what political impact on Texas?
Poor farmers supported Populist movements that led to stronger popular control of government.
Texas surrendered claims to land in present-day New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma in the Compromise of 1850 in order to do which of the following?
Raise money and pay off its debts
Label each region of Texas on the map
Red: Basin and Range Province Teal: Great Plains Orange: Interior Lowlands Green: Gulf Coastal Plains
Political parties in Texas are currently more influential in some parts of the state than in others. Match the party with the areas in Texas in which it tends to dominate.
Suburban areas- Republican Party Rural areas- Republican Party Urban areas- Democratic Party
Who is responsible for the regulation of oil and gas in Texas?
Texas Railroad Commission
Study the following information about other large states in the United States to determine which of the following statements are accurate.
Texas and California have similar proportions of Latino residents. Florida and New York have a higher proportion of Black residents than Texas.
When Texas entered the Union in 1845, what did Texas do with its public lands?
Texas retained control of its public lands
Texas's political life grew out of which region?
The Gulf Coastal Plains (region that contains the majority of Texas's population)
Which countries signed the historic North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)?
The United States, Mexico, and Canada
Which of the following statements accurately describes the trend in the number of Latino officeholders in Texas from 1980 through the early twenty-first century?
The number of Latinos in public office has increased dramatically since the 1980s.
Which of the following statements about political culture accurately describe Texas?
The political culture of Texas is being influenced by changing demographics. Values in urban areas are strongly influenced by the diverse populations living there. The political cultures in urban and suburban areas have increasingly diverged.
______ is the process by which people move from ______ areas to the cities and suburbs.
Urbanization; rural
Which of the following is a significant challenge to business influence in Texas?
a powerful social conservative wing
Which of these is the best definition of political culture?
broadly shared values, beliefs, and attitudes about how the government should function and politics should operate
The economy of Texas grew rapidly in the 1990s. What was at the heart of this boom?
expanding manufacturing because of high tech
The process of turning over public lands to private entities through sale or lease agreements for cultivation and development is called what?
privatization
Which of the following has been used to deal with the controversy surrounding memorials and monuments to the Confederacy and its leaders placed on public grounds?
providing more historically accurate and inclusive context by moving them or adding new monuments
Which term describes a narrow view of the world that is associated with rural values and is often intolerant of diversity?
provincialism
In recent years, business groups, a key part of the Republican base in Texas, have been challenged by which group that makes up another important part of the Republican coalition?
social conservatives
