CHAPTER 1 Texas Culture and Diversity Learning Objectives
Analyze the relationships among Texas political culture, its politics, and its public policies. Differentiate among the various types of state political cultures and the attributes that describe the major Texas regions. Analyze Texans’ political struggles over equal rights and evaluate their success in Texas politics today and in their impact on the state’s political future. Apply what you have learned about Texas political culture.
Summary Overview Chapter 1 introduces the concept of political culture and examines the various factors that have influenced Texas’ social and political identity. A political culture reflects the political values and beliefs of people. It explains how people feel about their government—their expectations of what powers it should have over their lives and what services it should provide. Texans’ predominantly conservative political culture is reflected in voters’ Republican affiliation and in the state’s conservative public policies. Texas’ size and diverse geography have contributed to its unique blend of culture. Texas can be divided into a series of cultural regions with differing characteristics and traditions: (1) East Texas, (2) the Gulf Coast, (3) South Texas, (4) Far West Texas, (5) the German Hill Country, (6) West Texas, (7) the Panhandle, (8) North Texas, and (9) Central Texas. These regions display varying combinations of moral, traditionalistic, and individualistic cultures. Much of the history of Texas has reflected its traditionalistic and individualistic cultures, with women, racial and ethnic minorities, and LGBT facing significant struggles in their quests for equality. Women were not legally equal to men in early Texas and their path to equality has been a winding and occasionally hesitant one. Activists finally won the long battle for the right to vote in 1918. It was not until 1972 that women won equal rights in real estate, contracts, divorce, child custody, and property rights. The judicial decision in Roe v. Wade that further clarified the right of women to control their reproductive functions is still at the center of a national controversy. Civil rights have always been an issue, and the dominant Anglo Texans once believed that the primary purpose for Africans and Latinos being in Texas was to supply sources of cheap labor. Modern Texans can take no pride in the historical treatment of both these groups, who were undereducated and exploited for their labor and lived under a state-enforced caste system. The enduring consequences of discrimination are still evident in Texas, as is illustrated by lower levels of health care, education, and income. © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Chapter 1: Texas Culture and Diversity
African Texans’ struggle for legal equality reflected similar struggles being simultaneously waged in other southern states. The battle to vote in the Democratic primary and admission to public accommodations and public schools were settled only by national courts or congressional intervention. The Latino struggle in Texas was similar to that of African Texans and was resolved only by national action. The right to form labor unions occupied much of the Latino Movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Gays, lesbians, and transgendered Texans are now waging similar battles for legal equality. Lawrence v. Texas (1973) gained national significance by decriminalizing sexual activity between consenting persons of the same gender. Texas public policies are conservative. Per capita, only four states have lower taxes, and no state spends less on public services than Texas. The state has more business-friendly economic policies and culturally traditional social policies than most states. Texas spends less on public schools than 17 other states, but none has a larger percentage of the population without high school diplomas, additionally, only five states score lower than Texas on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores. Texas’s economy has become more industrialized than that of most states but continues to maintain the lax environmental standards of the past. Texas ranks first among the states in emission of greenhouse gases into the air and toxins released into the water. Texas ranks first in the amount of cancer-causing chemicals released into the air and ranks seventh in those released into water. Overall, Texas ranks first in the amount of hazardous waste generated. With three of America’s ten largest cities, Texas has become the second-most populous state and one of the most metropolitan. Texas ranks among the top ten states in population growth, and today it has twice the percentage of Latinos in its population as the nation as a whole. Projections of population growth and immigration predict a shift in Texas’s population away from an AngloTexan plurality to a Latino-Texan plurality. Increased political clout can come with increased population, and Latino Texans could begin to challenge the political and economic dominance of Anglo Texans. Regardless of the political outcome of population shifts, Texas is becoming more culturally diverse and now has an opportunity to build on its cultural pluralism.
Chapter Outline I. Political Culture, Public Opinion, and Public Policy A. Ideology B. Partisanship C. Public Opinion D. Public Policy II. Types of Political Cultures and Texas’s Political Regions A. State Political Cultures B. Political Culture and Political Participation
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Chapter 1: Texas Culture and Diversity
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C. Texas Cultural Regions III. Politics and Cultural Diversity A. Texans Struggle for Equal Rights B. Cultural Diversity Today IV. Applying What You Have Learned About Texas Political Culture A. Politicians, Vigilantes and the Quest for Civil Rights in Texas
Teaching Tools Learning Objective 1.1: Analyze the relationships among Texas political culture, its politics, and its public policies. Critical Thinking Question: To what extent do the traditionalistic and individualistic subcultures still manifest themselves in modern Texas? What are some examples of the traditionalistic subculture at work? What are some examples of individualistic subculture at work? Are there any examples of moralistic subculture? Lecture Launcher: Ask the students to list some examples of current public policies and discuss whether the political discourse surrounding them reflects traditionalistic, individualistic, or moralistic values. It may be useful to bring in news articles or allow the students to search online for relevant supporting material. In-Class Activity: Divide the class into small groups and have them define what it means to be “Texan.” Have the groups compare notes to determine those areas where there is a common definition and those where there is disagreement. Link these discussions to the presence of both traditionalistic and individualistic subcultures. Learning Objective 1.2: Differentiate among the various types of state political cultures and the attributes that describe the major Texas regions. Critical Thinking Question: It has been suggested that geography is a contributing factor to the development of political culture. Do you believe that regional variations explain Texas’ political culture, or is there something more to it? Consider the argument that population density is more important than any other aspect of geography. Can you think of any way to tell if this is true? Lecture Launcher:
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Chapter 1: Texas Culture and Diversity
Foul state or Fair state? (Refer to Table 1.1 and How Does Texas Compare? How Texas Ranks among the 50 States: Public Policy and Quality of Life.) Have students examine the numbers shown in the above-mentioned two tables. How do these numbers reflect the Texas that the students know? Often, there will be differences by region of the state. These can also be incorporated into a discussion of the numerous regional realities that exist in the state and the various cultures within each region. In-Class Activity: Divide the class into small groups representing various regions of the state. Then randomly assign to each student a demographic characteristic to represent. Ask them to consider a political issue (such as increased education spending in low-income areas) and provide arguments for or against such a policy. Compare the effects of region and demographics on policy preferences. Learning Objective 1.3: Analyze Texans’ political struggles over equal rights and evaluate their success in Texas politics today and in their impact on the state’s political future. Critical Thinking Question: Texas’ legacy of resistance to political equality for minority groups has been argued to be a reflection of its traditionalistic and individualistic culture. Would you expect to see a similar correlation between the moralistic subculture and racial equality? What would evidence of that relationship look like? Lecture Launcher: A State of Change (Refer to Table 1.3.) Use the data contained within the Table 1.3 to emphasize the changing nature of Texas. What are some other examples of change in the state of Texas? To what extent are these economic, social, or political changes? Material from the chapter can be used to demonstrate the extensive changes that have occurred in the state throughout history. In-Class Activity: Ask the students to identify aspects of the traditionalistic and individualistic cultures that seem to correlate most strongly with political inequality, then encourage them to find an example of that cultural characteristic in the news or on the internet. Learning Objective 1.4: Apply what you have learned about Texas political culture. Critical Thinking Question:
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Chapter 1: Texas Culture and Diversity
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As Texas continues to experience a shift in its demographic balance, how will the political culture of the state change? What old characteristics do you believe will become less common? What new characteristics do you believe will begin to appear? Lecture Launcher: Discussing the role of geography on political culture, politics and public policies provides an excellent opportunity to introduce the idea of scientific inquiry into a government class. After presenting the linkages between culture, politics and public policy, discuss the difficulties in identifying, measuring and possibly changing the negative effects of culture. In-Class Activity: Have the students break into small groups and develop slogans supporting the different political cultures. Ask them to imagine that they are creating bumper stickers, for example, to get people to support moralism, traditionalism, or individualism. Have the class vote on which “ism” seems most desirable and discuss the difficulties (if any) that they experienced when trying to sell their culture to a wider audience.
Key Terms Bicultural: Encompassing two cultures. Conservative: A political ideology marked by the belief in a limited role for government in taxation, economic regulation, and providing social services; conservatives support traditional values and lifestyles, and are cautious in response to social change. Creole: A descendant of European-Spanish (or in some regions, French) immigrants to the Americas. Demographics: Population characteristics, such as age, gender, ethnicity, employment, and income, that social scientists use to describe groups in society. Individualistic culture: A political subculture that views government as a practical institution that should further private enterprise but intervene minimally in people’s lives. Ku Klux Klan (KKK): A white supremacist organization. Liberal: A political ideology marked by the advocacy of positive government action to improve the welfare of individuals, government regulation of the economy, support for civil rights, and tolerance for social change. Maquiladora: Mexican factories where U.S. corporations employ inexpensive Mexican labor for assembly and piecework.
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