POLS 207 1st Edition Lecture 6 Outline of Current Lecture II The Texas Political Culture A The Concept of Political Culture III Purposes of Government a The Role of Government b The Role of Government in the Economy Current Lecture The Texas Political Culture Different States have different cultures and this affects the policies that they enforce and the policies that citizens want The Concept of Political Culture Political culture is a shared framework of values beliefs and habits in behavior in regard to government and politics Texas political culture is distinctive for a variety of reasons o The state s great size and its relative geographic isolation until the 20 th century are important factors Isolated allows Texas to create its own culture without interference from other states o Texas was an independent republic before joining the United States Texas residents are often very patriotic to the State o Its mixture of the Old South and the West of the frontier contribute to the state s distinctiveness Though some Texans particularly African Americans and Mexican Americans tend to be separate from the political culture of the dominant Anglo majority history and political institutions have shaped the assumptions that most Texans bring to politics The intense patriotism of Texans is shaped by the myth that Texas is the most wonderful place to live that ever existed The experience shared with other Southern states of slavery defeat in a civil war and postwar occupation and denying African Americans full citizenship undergird the state s conservative political culture o After the defeat the North made it extremely difficult for ex Confederate supporters to vote This angered the South During the Radical Reconstructionist era the Democrats were the party of the South Reinforcing the state s southern cultural conservatism is an extreme individualism derived from the myth of the frontier Bases on the cultural patterns of the fifty states identified by Daniel Elazar Texas is located at a midpoint between traditionalist and individualist political cultures Individualistic Political Culture It is an approach to government and politics that emphasizes private initiative with minimum government interference This political culture stresses the importance of the individual and private initiative o Self reliance Texas is a frontier state and fairly rural People are expected to look after themselves rather than relying on others It emphasizes a role of government limited to protecting individual rights ensuring that social and political relationships are based upon merit rather than tradition family ties or personal connections Moralistic Political Culture It is an approach of government and politics in which people expect government to intervene in the social and economic affairs of the state promoting the public welfare and advancing the public good This political culture regards participation in political affairs as one s civic duty o If you are expecting the government to help you you must be part of the system Unlike individualistic who feel that government should be small Traditional Political Culture It is an approach to government and politics that sees the role of government as the preservation of tradition and existing social order o Resistance to change Gay marriage will not happen for a while in Texas most likely In this view government leadership lies in the hands of the established social elite and the level of participation by ordinary citizens in the policymaking process is relative low According to this political culture the role of government is to protect and preserve the existing social order Texas is a mixture of individualistic and traditional political cultures Texas Political Culture Professor Elazar believes that the political culture of Texas is a hybrid that includes both traditionalistic an individualistic elements Texas s traditional political culture is represented in the state s long history of oneparty rule low levels of voter turnout and social and economic conservatism Texas s individualistic political culture is represented in the state s strong support for private business opposition to big government and faith in individual initiatives Political culture is a useful concept because it focuses on a state s history and development as important factors influencing politics and policy Participation rates higher for moralistic and lower for traditionalistic Texas has a very low turnout for elections due to its political culture Purposes of Government What are the roles that government should play in supporting society 1 Maintain Order Establish law to preserve life and protect property 2 Provide Public Goods Benefits and services available and beneficial to everyone Externalities o Education o Sanitation Benefits the market is unable to provide o Street lights o Parks o Utilities Free market ideal believes that all these should be provided by the private sector but that is not what happens in the US The government provides for these services but there can be privately funded roads parks and utilities However if a private enterprise did this how would they tax it Everyone would argue that they were not using the service freerider problem Everyone wants to use the good but nobody wants to pay for it 3 Promote Equality Help the poor newest and most controversial use of government Residents of Texas want the government to maintain order but don t want to pay higher taxes etc to fund this maintenance of order People like to have control over most aspects of their lives therefore parents often choose to home school their children because they don t trust the local school district The Role of Government Totalitarian Anarchy Totalitarianism government should have unlimited power Hitler with Nazis Stalin with Communist Russia Also in North Korea and monarchies such as Saudi Arabia Anarchy no government power no government Example is Somalia The Role of the Government in the Economy Socialism Capitalism Equality Efficiency Socialism government owns the basic goods and services provided to members of the society Capitalism individuals own the basic goods and services provided to member of the society and do with them as they please As resources become more abundant and society becomes more civilized government moves closer and closer to socialism It works much better under these circumstances Healthcare is a promotion of equality so that people are healthy to work and so