Political Science 236: Term Paper

Texas Southern University

Dr. Yaguibi
November 11th, 2016

Chapter 1: The Environment of Texas Politics

For approximately 100 years, from after Reconstruction until the 1990s, the Democratic Party
dominated Texas politics. After renewed competition from the Populist Party in the late 19th
century and loss of a Congressional seat in 1896 and 1898 to a Republican elected by a plurality,
the Democratic Party in Texas ensured its control by disenfranchising most blacks, and many
poor whites and Latinos, through imposition of the poll tax in 1901 and white primaries, like
other former Confederate states. These exclusions lasted until after passage of civil rights
legislation in the mid-1960s. In a reversal of alignments, since the late 1960s the Republican
Party has grown more prominent within the state based on an influx of primarily white voters
(the majority in the state) from the Democratic Party. By the mid-1990s, it became the state's
dominant political party. This trend mirrors a national political realignment that has seen the once
solidly "Dixiecrat" Democratic South, initially dependent on disfranchisement of minorities,
become increasingly dominated by Republicans. But growth among the Hispanic or Latino
population in Texas, whose voters favor the Democratic Party, may shift party alignments in the
long term.
A. Population Distribution: Just as Texass physical geography makes the state a land of great
contrasts so does the distribution of its inhabitants. At one extreme is Harris County in the
southeastern part of the state, with approximately 4 million inhabitants. Population distribution is
the arrangement or spread of people living in a given area; also, how thepopulation of an area is
arranged according to variables such as age, race, or sex.
B. The Economy: The Lone Star States economic success has relied heavily on land-based
industries. These days, the Texas economy is vastly more diverse and includes 21 st century
industries like high technology and international trade.

C. Immigration: Immigration has been the source of many controversies that affect the state,
national, and international politics: how to control the flow of immigrants, the length of time of
each nonresident may remain in U.S. territory, the type of labor nonresidents may perform and
other problems.
D. Water: After a devastating drought in the 1950s, the Texas legislature created the Texas Water
Development Board (TWDB) in 1957 and mandated statewide water planning.
E. Poverty and Social Problems: Texas has alarming numbers of children living in poverty and
single parent homes. Births to unwed teenagers, juvenile arrests, and violent acts committed by
teenagers and preadolescents is also a signal of social dysfunction.

Chapter 2: Federalism and the Texas Constitution

A. Interstate relations and State Immunities: The Privileges and Immunities Clause (U.S.
Constitution, Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1, also known as the Comity Clause) prevents
a state from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner. Additionally, a
right of interstate travel may plausibly be inferred from the clause.
B. State Powers: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people
(Tenth Amendment in the Bill of Rights)
C. Federal State Relations: Full faith and credit clause: Each state must honor other states
public acts and records (Art. 4, 1).
D. A citizen of one state is a citizen of every state and is entitled to all the privileges and
immunities of those states (Art. 4, 2, cl. 1). Anyone who is charged with a crime in one
state and escapes to another state must be returned to the state where the crime was
committed (Art. 4, 2, cl. 2). Congress may admit new states to the Union, but no new
states can be created within the boundaries of existing states without the approval of
Congress and the state legislatures concerned (Art. 4, 3).
E. Constitutional Revision: Pressure to update and streamline the Texas Constitution began
to build in the late 1960s. In 1969, fifty-six outdated and obsolete provisions were
repealed, including one entire article (Article XIII on Spanish and Mexican Land Titles).
Nevertheless, pressure for a more fundamental overhaul and restructuring of the
Constitution persisted. A protracted and circuitous process of constitutional revision
began in earnest in 1971, only to end in total defeat in the special elections of November
1975.

Chapter 4: Political Parties

A. Temporary Party Organization: Consists of primaries and conventions. These events are
temporary because they are not ongoing party activities.
B. Selection of National Convention Delegates: Selection of delegates to a national party
convention depends on the delegates support of candidates for the partys presidential
nomination.
C. Permanent Party Organization: Each major political party in the United States consists of
thousands of virtually autonomous executive committees at the local, state, and national
levels.
D. Conservatism: Conservatism (or conservativism) is any political philosophy that favors
tradition (in the sense of various religious, cultural, or nationally-defined beliefs and
customs) in the face of external forces for change, and is critical of proposals for radical
social change.
E. Liberalism: Liberalism is a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of liberty
and

equality.

Whereas

classical liberalism emphasizes

social liberalism stresses the importance of equality.

Chapter 6: The Media and Politics

the

role

of

liberty,

Politicians are always quick to blame the media when a news story doesn't put them in a
favorable light. But politicians use media to win elections by getting the exposure they need to
reach voters. Reporters have no choice but to cover the people chosen to lead government. In
election years, people who work in media should prepare themselves for the manipulation they'll
likely face when a politician's quest for office runs head-on into the media's desire to seek the
truth.
A. Staged Political Rallies: Rallies are designed to show the voters' spontaneous excitement
for a candidate. There's nothing wrong with that. But those homemade signs that you see
waving in the air are often drawn by campaign workers themselves, not people at home.
Sometimes the crowds are even made up of campaign workers and volunteers, so that the
TV cameras don't capture an empty room. They'll be dressed so they appear to be moms
and dads, factory workers and teachers, but that can be just an illusion.
B. News-less News Conferences: The sure-fire way for a candidate to get media coverage is
to invite reporters to a news conference for an "important announcement." That
announcement could be the same tired 10-point economic plan that the candidate has
announced twice a week for the past six months. It could be a "major endorsement" from
his Sunday School teacher or a "demand for the truth" about why an opponent refuse to
debate.
C. Exclusive One-on-One Interviews: Nothing tempts reporters like a chance for an
exclusive interview. A campaign will sometimes dangle these offers just before election
day to guarantee news coverage. Campaign experts know an exclusive interview will be
promoted heavily and be given more space in a newspaper or more time in a TV newscast
than a typical day-to-day campaign story. That's free publicity.

D. TV Commercials and Print Ads: Any candidate with enough money will spend some of it
on TV and print advertisements. Just like all other ads, the aim is to sell a product, not
necessarily to tell the entire truth about the candidate or his campaign.
E. Friendly, Harmless Media Coverage: Ever wonder why a politician who has no time to be
a guest on a show like Meet the Press is suddenly available to appear on The Late Show
with David Letterman? It's not because his schedule suddenly opened. President Obama
has even taken a seat next to Letterman. That type of setting allows a politician to be on
TV without being asked pesky questions about his policies.

Chapter 11: The Judicial Branch

A. Where the Executive and Legislative branches are elected by the people, members of the
Judicial Branch are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
B. Article III of the Constitution, which establishes the Judicial Branch, leaves Congress
significant discretion to determine the shape and structure of the federal judiciary. Even
the number of Supreme Court Justices is left to Congress at times there have been as
few as six, while the current number (nine, with one Chief Justice and eight Associate
Justices) has only been in place since 1869. The Constitution also grants Congress the
power to establish courts inferior to the Supreme Court, and to that end Congress has
established the United States district courts, which try most federal cases, and 13 United
States courts of appeals, which review appealed district court cases.
C. Federal judges can only be removed through impeachment by the House of
Representatives and conviction in the Senate. Judges and justices serve no fixed term
they serve until their death, retirement, or conviction by the Senate.
D. Generally, Congress determines the jurisdiction of the federal courts. In some cases,
however such as in the example of a dispute between two or more U.S. states the
Constitution grants the Supreme Court original jurisdiction, an authority that cannot be
stripped by Congress.
E. The courts only try actual cases and controversies a party must show that it has been
harmed to sue in court. This means that the courts do not issue advisory opinions on the
constitutionality of laws or the legality of actions if the ruling would have no practical
effect.

Chapter 12: The Criminal Justice System

A. Law Enforcement: The wheels of law enforcement start grinding when a crime is
detected. Detection takes place when the concerned law enforcement body (police force
or specialized agency) receive a report from the victim or a witness, or catch the crime
perpetrator. Thereafter, the law enforcers verify the information furnished and proceed
with the investigation.
B. Adjudication: The adjudication of a criminal case involves court processes. In plain
terms, adjudication refers to the legal process by which a judgment is pronounced by the
court to the parties in a case. As with the law enforcement component of the criminal
justice system, the courts are organized at federal, state, and special-jurisdiction levels.
C. Pretrial services: The adjudication process starts when the law enforcement body has
submitted the police/arrest report to the prosecutor. The prosecutor, in turn, determines
whether the incident will prosper into a criminal case, in which the suspected offender
will be charged with the crime.
D. Arraignment: If the prosecutor decides to press charges against a suspected offender, the
adjudication process advances to arraignment. During arraignment, the suspect is read the
charge/s filed against him or her. With the aid of a legal counsel, the suspect (now a
defendant) enters a plea of either guilty or not guilty.
E. Corrections: The third component of the criminal justice system is corrections. While it
implies reform and rehabilitation, corrections encompass all sentenced offenders,
including those who are on death row. Federal and state criminal justice systems hold
corrections as the replacement for penology that many find harsh and unforgiving.

Chapter 13: Finance and Fiscal Policy

Methods of funding: Governments spend money on a wide variety of things, from the
military and police to services like education and healthcare, as well as transfer

payments such as welfare benefits. This expenditure can be funded in several different ways:
Taxation, Seignior age, the benefit from printing money, Borrowing money from the
population or from abroad, Consumption of fiscal reserves, Sale of fixed assets (e.g., land).
Borrowing:

fiscal

deficit

is

often

funded

by

issuing bonds,

like treasury

bills or consoles and gilt-edged securities. These pay interest, either for a fixed period or
indefinitely. If the interest and capital requirements are too large, a nation may default on its
debts, usually to foreign creditors. Public debt or borrowing refers to the government
borrowing from the public.
Consumer prior surpluses: A fiscal surplus is often saved for future use, and may be invested
in either local currency or any financial instrument that may be traded later once resources
are needed; notice, additional debt is not needed. For this to happen, the marginal propensity
to save needs to be strictly positive.
Economics Effects: Governments use fiscal policy to influence the level of aggregate demand
in the economy, to achieve economic objectives of price stability, full employment, and
economic growth. Keynesian economics suggests that increasing government spending and
decreasing tax rates are the best ways to stimulate aggregate demand, and decreasing
spending & increasing taxes after the economic boom begins.
Fiscal Straight-jacket: The concept of a fiscal straitjacket is a general economic principle that
suggests strict constraints on government spending and public sector borrowing, to limit or
regulate the budget deficit over a time. Most US states have balanced budget rules that
prevent them from running a deficit.

References

[1] Brown, Lyle C., Ted A. Lewis, Ryan Rynbrandt, Veronica Reyna, and Sonia R.
Garcia. Practicing Texas Politics. 16th ed. Vol. 2. Texas: Cengage Learning, 2015. Print.
Texas Southern University.