The Influence Of Political Culture In Texas

Texas is a large state with a vast population that has a variety of diversity and perspectives about the government. The perspectives of the people are important since they define the political culture of the state and affect how others in different nations perceive us. Texas is often described as having a combination of traditionalistic individualistic political culture. Some patterns that reflect Texas’s political culture are taxes kept low and social services minimized. Also, business leaders are the people that have a major say in how the government is managed. In Texas the state has a diversity of views in how the government should be managed which makes it more difficult to classify the political culture. (Champagne and Harpham, pg. 6)The
As well political culture, “both reflects and shapes the terms debate of the competing interests in society.” (Texas Politics-Texas Political Culture)In the recent year political culture has been the cause of many political arguments. In the American culture the values of liberty, equality, and democracy are emphasized. With political culture there are times where political leaders obtain too much power considered considerable to individuals.(Champagne and Harpham, pg.34) In Texas the government is often perceived as getting in the the way of individual liberty rather that something that can help them accomplish their dreams or interests. Two views of equality are present in Texas a play a huge role in the political culture. The first view is the equality of opportunity which can be found deep in the Texas’s traditionalistic individualistic political culture. Equality of opportunity is the view that every citizen in texas should be ensured to be treated fairly and equally while helped in making it on their own with their interests and skills. Another view is political equality, which has been found an issue in Texas politics. This view has started to grow as an issue with the growing importance and population of minorities such as African Americans and Latinos. Many debates have taken place over the equal
In this political culture the government is limited in taking action to keep the economy prosperous.(Barbour and Streb, pg. 15-18) Any politicians that are running for office are interested in material wealth and to advance themselves professionally. In an Individualistic political culture, they have a perspective in which the government should limit its role to providing order in society, so that the citizens can pursue their economic self-interest. Which means that the government places a low expectation of citizen participation in politics and ensures stability for the citizens so they can achieve their interests.(Texas Politics-Texas Political Culture)
The perspective of a traditionalistic political culture is that the government should be dominated by political elites who are mostly business leaders and guided by tradition. Also in a traditionalistic political culture, citizen participation is limited and any public policies benefit the elites the