POLS 207 Lecture Notes Politics in States and Communities politics management of conflict focus on issues such as taxes and spending infrastructure education crime and poverty joint programs programs paid for by federal government carried out by the states Comparative Study of States and Communities describes politics and public policy and explains the differences from state to state and community to community analyzes socioeconomic and political environments to arrive at explanations states and communities provide excellent laboratories for applying comparative analy states are laboratories for democracy Distinguishing Ourselves as Americans education income as education goes up income goes up historic and cultural settings sis race religion age 1 The six flags over Texas have shaped our culture What is Economic Growth 1 Population Growth more seats in the house 2 Rising per capita personal income 3 Increased education levels states are growing unequally in these three areas problems with population growth lack of resources infrastructure gets messed up per capita has gone down jobs being created aren t high paying jobs education doesn t always go up due to a better system more educated people might just move to that area some states just grow faster than others Liberalism and Conservatism in the United States liberalism state s tendency to expand welfare benefits regulate business adopt pro gressive state income taxes and generally use government to achieve social change want more government involvement conservatism state s tendency to limit the welfare benefits deregulate business keep taxes low and generally place less reliance on government and more reliance on indi viduals and the marketplace to achieve social goals limit government involvement State Political Culture 2 political culture historical styles and traditions in state s politics that cannot be directly attributed to socio economic factors and the shared culture and how we feel about government across states Three major subcultures Moralistic government is good Helps man search for good society should always be involved in our lives New England States Great Plains West Coast Individualistic reliance on individual does not rely on government Government is a marketplace government supplies only when people demand it Texas and South frontier states Traditionalistic familial ties and networking family political organizations Texas South political entrepreneurship electoral politics provides incentives for candidates to pro pose policy innovations in order to publicize themselves and win votes state politicians only have to worry about people in their state Easier to gain publicity can even be on the opposite side of the political spectrum and win Key Policy Areas for State and Local Government education states are dominant government costly policy area largest or second largest expenditure health and welfare transportation 3 from federal government paid for by those who work 10 of our budget federal government pays for most of it taxation public safety all in the states no federal government state and local problem little federal interest marriage drinking age speed limits all on the states Constitutional Government in the States All fifty states have constitutions limiting documents Constitutions govern the government policies powers rules of policies Constitutions set government structure and organization Constitutions distribute powers among branches of government Constitutions prescribe rules for policy making Constitutions limit powers of government and protects rights of citizens Background of Constitutions Limited Government the power of government over the people is limited with stuff the government can t interfere with not absolute liberties state constitutions are the supreme law of the state and only subordinate to U S Legal Status Constitution 4 Origins of Constitutions Magna Carta 1215 colonial charters in the New World Colonial History for citizens themselves Overview of State Constitutions Bill of Rights recognized proprietary rights for companies for established governments and finally Article 1 of U S Constitution Set up as positive rights what you can do not what you can t do Key point equal rights for women in Texas Constitution not U S Constitution Separation of Powers Weak Governors Assigns separates powers to the branches Third fourth and fifth articles We elect people in separate elections directly not like the presidential election Not a single person in charge of the bureaucracy Legislative Powers powers to make laws bicameral Local Government 5 Municipal governments created by the states No mention of local governments in the Constitution States also have the power to destroy cities Interest Group regulation Taxation and Finance Debt Limitation Must have balanced budget States can go into debt but we have to vote on it Most state constitutions are extremely limiting documents Texas has amended their Constitution 483 times Limits financing taxes they can collect and how they spend those taxes How to Change a State Constitution Legislative Proposal most commons method an amendment is passed by the legisla ture and put to the voters in a referendum Popular initiative citizens can bypass the legislature for a direct vote if they obtain a requisite number of petition signatures Constitutional Convention lost favor as a method Useless and doesn t often succeed Only called if voters approve of it Texas had one in 1975 to revise the state constitu tion miserable failure Constitutional Revision Committees rarely used but effective when attempted Democracy in the States Democracy popular participation in government Direct democracy people themselves can initiate and decide policy questions by pop Republicanism involves decision making by representatives of the people ular vote 6 Direct Democracy Developed in states and communities following a strong populist movement Populist and Progressive Reform movement Bypass political institutions and encourage direct participation in government Support women s suffrage and civil service Restrictive immigration laws Three forms of direct democracy initiative percentages of voters using a petition may have a law of amendment placed on ballot without legislative involvement referendum electorate must approve legislative decisions before they become law takes 50 1 recall allows voters to remove an elected official before the end of his her term Most done on
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