Essay Example: Texas Government: State and Local Politics

Harold Lasswell noticed that political science represents the study of variations in the dispersal of value designs in society. Since the distribution relied on power, the focus of his theory considered power undercurrents (Dunn, 2018). He described values as preferred objectives and authority as the capacity to participate in decision-making processes. Besides, the scholar conceived political power as the capability to generate intended influence on other people.

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Lasswell authored the book titled Politics: Who Gets What, When, How in 1936, this formed the basis of political meaning and regarded the elite as the principal holders of authority. For over a century, from the Reconstruction era to the 1990s, the Democratic Party has controlled Texas politics (Dunn, 2018). However, the Republicans have increased their influence since the late 1960s, becoming the state's prevailing political party. The purpose of this paper involves the examination of state and local politics in Texas.

Cultural Background

Factors that influenced Texas' political alignment included the plantation culture of the Old South that relied on African-American slave labor. Besides, the political dynamics got affected by the Patron System (Williams, 2020). The locals viewed the federal state as preserving the social order. Solving socioeconomic challenges remained an individual's problem, in which people saw such issues as local problems with the expectation that the wealthy could address those challenges.

Many white people didn't vote because of socioeconomic issues. In the early 1900s, most black people and some poor white and Latino people were not allowed to vote, which also decreased voter turnout. Today, the Republican party holds all state-owned offices, both houses of the state legislature, and most of the Texas congressional delegation. Texas is also experiencing an influx of immigrants and new voters, which will likely impact politics in the future.

There exists hostility toward collective action, especially on the vulnerable, that has merged well with southern cultural conservatism to heighten public opposition to liberal, activist government. Besides, there is strong support for the concept of capitalism, stressing the free market's view among Texans (Magstadt, 2020). Furthermore, Texans prefer people who succeed and prosper, since they regard them as worthy of ascending to topmost rank in the socioeconomic ladder. The populace of Texas believes in the trickle-down theory and rejects the liberal idea of deploying government as an economic redistribution instrument.

Conclusion

Texas state and local politics involve a struggle for lesser resources that remains founded on limited resources with high appetite among locals, most of whom remain poor. Besides, there exist diverse values like racism, poverty, and rights to vote that influence the state of Texas and its political dynamics.

References

Dunn, W. N. (2018). Harold Lasswell and the study of public policy. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. www.oxfordre.com/politics/politics/abstract/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-600

Magstadt, T. M. (2020). Understanding politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues. Cengage Learning. www.books.google.com/books

Williams, A. (2020). Complexity & political dynamics. In Political Hegemony and Social Complexity (pp. 53-67). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. www.link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-19795-7_4