1. Describe the five reasons for low voter turnout in Texas, and what each means? The Reasons for low voter turnout in Texas is Legal Constraints, Demographic factors, Political structure, Party competition, Political culture. Legal constraints-scholars interested in the variation in turnout across the American states have focused on laws regulating registration and voting. The most important of these laws restrictions on who may vote, such as the poll tax, Property ownership requirements, or the outright exclusion of African Americans and women. Although these restrictions disappeared some time ago, other barriers to registration and voting persisted, and some remain in effect today. However, nearly all of these restrictions have been changed by amendments to constitution, state and national laws, rulings by the U.S Department of Justice, and judicial decisions. …show more content…
Texas is also the land of the big poor and that more than 4 million persons more than in any other state live in poverty level in 2010 was 15.3 percent, in Texas the proportion was 17.9 percent. For African-American and Latino Texans, almost 25 percent have incomes below this level. More than 4 million individuals in Texas living in poverty, more than one third are children. Given that income and education are such important determinants of electoral participation, low voter turnout is exactly what we should expect in Texas. Political structure- Texas uses a long ballot that provides for the popular election of numerous public officers. In an urban country, the ballot may call for the voter to choose from as many as 150 to 200 candidates vying for 50 or more offices. Party competition- Elections is important to voters. The problem for Texas and other Sothern states is that general elections between the two parties are not competitive, and this has been true for a long time even when the party in power
Texas remains a solidly Democratic state, losing influence in the executive branch and the legislative. New Deal era has brought about a new relationship between the states and the national government where the national government has the legal authority wider economy and ultimately better protects civil rights. Much of the expansions of federal government power were made under the terms of interstate commerce. 1944, a split has developed between liberal and conservative Democrats in Texas based on their opposing positions on the New Deal. 1952, the conservative wing of the democratic party affiliated with Allan Shivers governor to vote for the popular (and conservative) Republican presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower. They are called "Shiver rats." For the most part, the Texas Democratic Party after a new contract was agreed on one issue: race relations and
The people of Texas are diverse and carry their “big can-do attitudes and accents” (Pearson); making Texas a bigger than life state. The political culture of Texas is impacted by two different subgroups of individualistic and traditionalistic characteristics. The combination of traditionalism and individualism has had a huge impact on the state and Texas’ seven different constitutions. The shift in power between 1827 and 1876 has impacted the political diversity Texas has today. Looking at the specifics of these subcultures, the traditionalists believe government should benefit the wealthy and powerful, and that government services must be limited.
Lawrence, Regina. "Shifting Demographics in Texas Politics." 27 July 2013. News-Journal.com. Web. 22 March 2014.
Some registration laws in the past had clearly been designed to abstain certain races and types of people from registering, these restricted rather than assisted voter turnout. In the South they made provisions to stop African-Americans voting and the North implemented obstacles such as the poll tax and literacy tests. These were blatant attempts to stop people who were not of the typical voter, an educated white male landowner from casting a ballot. Typically in the South turnout historically tends to be lower than that of the North. An example of this is the contest between Kennedy and Nixon when only 40% of the south turned out to vote compared with 70% of the rest of the nation. These southern states tend to be the ones who were part of the old Confederacy. They still seem to have similar political ideologies, as in the most recent election George W. Bush took all these states in defeating Al Gore. It seems that the stigma connected to the civil war that ended over 130 years ago still seems to loom over American politics. However due to the 1965 Voting Rights Act, procedures for registration have become much more user friendly in allowing a much wider scope of American citizens to register. Because of this Act I am going to concentrate on the more recent elections and explanations for the low turnout.
In the youth of Texas, the Democratic Party enjoyed electoral dominance on all levels of state government and in the representation in the national government. Democratic rule was dominated by a conservative white political elite that strongly promoted economic development, but that resisted change either in race relations or social programs for the poor ("Texas Politics," 2009). Republicans were not completely absent during this period, but their electoral victories were few and limited in scope ("Texas Politics," 2009). In every election after 1980, however, the Republican strength grew into the now dominant rule that currently reigns in Texas. Since the 1990’s, the Republican Party, despite the attempts of others, has had a stronghold on the state government. With that being said, the Republican Party has dominated the overall elections.
Texas politics is an interesting ecosystem of power, rules and regulations. Of course, in typical Texas fashion, most of the politics we engage in we do our own way. From governors who stay in office for a decade to our extremely diverse demographics, Texas is extremely unique. This uniqueness of course comes with its critics, benefits, and downsides. This is particularly true with the Texas Court system compared to both the federal courts and many other states.
Among the many ways Americans can participate in politics, voting is considered one of the most common and important ways for Americans to get involved. The outcome of any election, especially at the national level, determines who will be making and enforcing the laws that all Americans must abide by. With this in mind one might assume that all Americans are active voters, but studies show the voter turnout is actually astonishingly low. With this unsettling trend it is important to know what statistics say about voter turnout as was as the four major factors that influence participation: Socioeconomic status, education, political environment, and state electoral laws, in order to help boost turnout in future elections.
The different strategies in political campaigning have led to lower voter turnout and less political participation by the general public according to Steven Schier in his book, "Payment Due: A Nation In Debt, A Generation In Trouble." Different public and private interest groups can link these downturns to the changing political strategies and the lobbying of the government. Political participation and lower voter turnout is something that we should not be concerned about and doesn’t pose a significant problem in the United States.
The government of the state of Texas is a difficult and complicated institution that is composed of many different levels. The question comes in to everyone's mind at one time or another whether or not to trust the government. It could be that people believe that the officials will take advantage of their power, or simply people don't like the idea of being controlled by someone who is not a family member or friend. To avoid this centralized power, the government is divided into stages and this is a reasonable ground for trusting the government. Government runs this state and it does deserve to be trusted.
From its early period, the United States has obtained an indirect type of democracy, and has always had contentment that its citizens are allowed to vote for their representatives, especially the President. Nevertheless, the amount of citizens that actually vote in nationwide elections has decreased noticeably over the years. Voter participation and turnout has been declining in the United States throughout history. Voter turnout, the percentage of eligible individuals who actually vote (Ginsberg), to this day is lower than it was in the 1900’s. Since 1912, presidential elections have only had about 50 to 65 percent of Americans participate. This means that about half of United States citizens who are eligible and have the freedom to vote have failed to participate in presidential elections. At the end of the nineteenth century voter turnout started plummeting, reaching the 60 percent level by the election of 1912 (Teixeira, 1987). The declining rate of voter participation in the United States is due to voter registration and procedu...
Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians are perhaps three of the most prominent political parties within Texas. Within the pages of their party platforms, we see that each possesses a unique philosophy, with specific viewpoints and recommendations for shaping or reforming government policy. To be sure, the people of Texas face many challenges, two of the most compelling issues being the crisis in healthcare and in education. Not only are we lacking in these areas as Texans, but also on the national level. The parties’ stance on these two major issues defines them, giving us insight into the minds and intentions of each.
Voting is one of the citizens’ rights living in a country. In the past, not everyone can vote. Voting used to be for only white American men. However, our ancestors fought for that rights. Eventually, any American who are older than eighteen can vote, despite their race or gender. In addition, voter turnout is used to keep track of the voting. It is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Unfortunately, the voter turnout has been decreasing over time, and it means that there are less and fewer people who actually show up and vote. This essay will discuss the voter turnout in Harris County, Texas.
To examine this decline in voter turnout we must consider several factors. One of those factors is that there is no political efficacy. Political efficacy means that people are less likely to vote if they don't believe that their vote will be counted, or if they don't trust the government. Little faith in the electoral process leads to a conviction that a person's vote doesn't really matter. Citizens show lack of interest in politics because they have limited information about the government. The percentage of Americans who say they have “trust and confidence” in the presidency and Congress has decreased in the past decades. Americans’ Trust in government was 70% in 1960s, and then decreased to 40% in 1980s. A recent survey from Pew Research Center showed that “Only 2...
Texas politics is long and at times very complicated, due to the amount of state constitutions they have gone through, especially the one we follow today. The first state constitution was in 1827 before Texas gained its independence from Mexico, due to the fighting and Texas achieving its independence in 1836 a new constitution had to be adopted. A few years later a new constitution was needed when Texas joined the United States in 1845. However, when Texas seceded from the United States at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, a new constitution had to be drafted. After the civil war in 1866, yet another constitution had to be written for Texas to re-join the union. Three years later during the reconstruction of 1869, Republicans took control
In my lifetime it has never been a question what side of the poll Texas has been on. Now it seems that Texas is undecided and could be a big part of the way this election goes with our 38 electoral votes the second by any state and California is democratic for the most part. Those 38 votes could be the game changer in this election, because it seems this election could go either way. This last debate will be a deciding factor in my opinion. Our state could be deciding to go democratic, because of the high volume of Hispanics in Texas, and Trump is trying to build a wall between Mexico and the United States. Some people view this idea and Trump’s comments on illegal immigration to be racist. This seems like a big reason for Texas to be switching to democratic