Parties, Interest Groups, Elections/Campaigns in Texas

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Parties, Interest Groups, Elections/Campaigns in
Texas

• Chapter 26
• OConnor and Sabato
• American Government Continuity and Change

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Parties, Interest Groups, Elections/Campaigns in
Texas

• In this chapter we will cover.
• 1. Roots of Political Parties, Interest Groups,
  Elections, and Campaigns in Texas
• 2. Political Parties in Texas
• 3. Interest Groups in Texas
• 4. Elections and Political Campaigns in Texas

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Roots of Political Parties, Interest Groups,
Elections, and Campaigns in Texas

• Political parties and interest groups developed
  slowly in Texas
• Democratic Party dominance
• Early interest groups - agrarian and Grange
• Post WWII economy and society became more
  complex and represented broader interests
• Campaigns were originally personal loyalties
  were transformed into partisan or faction groups

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Political Parties in Texas

• Political Parties perform functions through
• 1. party organization
• 2. party in the electorate
• 3. party in the government

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Party Organization

• Formal organization includes both a temporary and
  permanent organization for each political party
• Functional organization provides a skeleton for
  party organization
• Political parties lack of unity detracts from
  their effectiveness

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Party in the Electorate

• Most important function for party organization is
  to win elections mobilizing interest in the
  partys goals and candidates among voters
• Party in the electorate consists of people who
  identify with the party and consider themselves
  members

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Party Identification in Texas, Selected Years
1952-2001
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Party in the Electorate

• Recent changes in party attachment shows
• -decrease in Democrats
• -increase in Republican
• -increase in the percentage of independent
  voters
• Party realignment in Texas triggered by critical
  elections has changed the distribution of
  partisan attachments

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Party in the Electorate

• Realignment has resulted in changes including the
  following
• young voters more likely to be Republicans
• new residents more likely to be Republican
• It is also possible that dealignment is
  occurring, not realignment (in dealignment party
  affiliation weakens)

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Party in the Government

• Party in the government is the political partys
  mechanism for establishing cooperation among
  separate branches of government
• Considerations in party in the government
• executive branch plural executive
• legislative branch institutional leadership
  reduces party organizational strength
• judicial branch partisan elections ballot and
  gubernatorial appointive authority impact
  effective party organization

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Interest Groups in Texas

• Types
• Business and trade (oil and gas industry)
• Professional (lawyers and teachers)
• Labor (municipal workers)
• Racial and ethnic groups (NAACP LULAC)
• Public interest groups (common cause)

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Interest Groups in Texas

• Interest activities
• Lobbying
• Electioneering
• Litigation

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Elections Campaigns

• Type of elections
• In Texas elections are frequent, the ballots
  tend to be longer, and the legislature has
  established uniformed election dates.
• Primary
• Special general
• Local elections

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Elections Campaigns

• Texas Campaigns should provide opportunity for
  voters to compare candidates on issues and views
• Factors influencing campaigns
• Money
• Media
• Marketing

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Elections Campaigns

• Voters Decision (yes/no)
• Turnout low in Texas
• Benefits of voting
• Impact of motor voter laws
• Early voting rates
• Legal requirements
• Cost of voting
• Changing composition of electorate

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Elections Campaigns

• Vote Decision
• Psychological factors
• Party identification
• Issues
• Candidate characteristics
• Voting behavior
• Split ticket
• Straight ticket

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Voter Turnout in Texas, 1958-2002