Texas Government 2306—Unit 4 lecture notes Unit 4--POLITICAL PARTIES & CAMPAIGNS Political parties are electoral organizations that seek to gain control of government by getting their candidates elected to office. Like interest groups, political parties play a vital role in a democracy. They recruit and nominate candidates, mobilize voters, contest elections, coordinate policy across independent units of government, and provide accountability. The United States does not have strong national parties, but in reality fifty state party systems. The fifty state Republican and fifty state Democratic parties generally act independently of their national party organizations, even disagreeing on some of the key issues. Some state parties even vary ideologically from their national party. States can be classified according to the strength of party organization and level of party competition within the state. Classifying the fifty states on an index of party competitiveness from 1989 to 1994 indicates that there are 31 two-party competitive states, six modified-one party states, and 13 modified-one party Democratic states. Significantly, there are no longer any one-party Democratic states (there were eight as recently as 1963) and no one-party Republican states. Although Texas was a strong one-party Democratic state for most of its history, it currently is classified as a competitive two-party state—and, perhaps—leaning Republican (Republicans won all statewide races and control of the Texas House and Senate in the November 2002 elections. This is the first time Republicans have controlled both houses of the Texas Legislature and the executive branch since Reconstruction!) Texas's strong loyalty to the Democratic Party was due to several factors: 1. The Republican Party's early opposition to slavery 2. its role in defeating the Confederacy during the Civil War 3. the harsh policies it pursued during Reconstruction These three factors all contributed to the unpopularity of the Republican Party in Texas and much of the South. Party realignment in Texas began as a gradual process in the 1960s, signaled by the election of Senator John Tower in 1961. The election of Governor Bill Clements in 1978 and 1986, and Senator Phil Gramm's first victory in 1984 all indicated the gradual shift in party loyalty in Texas. What caused the party realignment in Texas: 1. Northern immigrants bringing in their Republican Party loyalties contributed to this shift 2. the growing liberalism of the national Democratic Party in the 1960s and 1970s 3. the popularity of Republican President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s 4. The weakening memories of Reconstruction and the Civil War 30 Texas Government 2306—Unit 4 lecture notes Who is shifting their party loyalties from the Democratic to the Republican Party? Conservative Anglos who, in the past, were strong Democrats Today, the profile of the typical Republican supporter in Texas is young, high income, well-educated, Anglo, professional, living in the suburbs of a large metropolitan area, and likely to be a newcomer to the state. In contrast, Democratic supporters tend to be older, native Texans, lower income, less educated, and often nonwhite. Texas has had a history of third parties. The first was the Greenback Party in the 1870s, followed by the Populists in the 1890s, George Wallace's American Independent Party in 1968, the Raza Unida Party formed by Hispanics in the early 1970s, and the Libertarian Party in the last two decades. Ross Perot, running as an independent, has also been a strong presence. However, the difficulty third parties have gaining access to the ballot has limited their impact in Texas. Political party organizations can be discussed in terms of either the permanent or temporary party organization. The permanent party organization is composed of elected party officers, starting at the bottom with the precinct chair, then the county chair, the county executive committee, the state executive committee, and the state party chair and vice chair. The temporary party organization consists of a series of caucuses and conventions held in even-numbered years. It starts with the precinct caucus at the bottom, where delegates are selected to the county convention. The county convention selects delegates to the state convention, which in turn selects delegates to represent Texas at the national convention, which nominates the party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The state conventions also choose their party's electors who will serve in the electoral college if their party's candidate wins the popular vote in Texas. Most of those participating in both the permanent and temporary party organizations tend to be party regulars and activists. The average citizen has little knowledge of party organization and thus, control of the two major parties, by default, usually rests in the hands of the few active elite. TEXAS AS A ONE-PARTY DEMOCRATIC STATE 1. From the end of Reconstruction in 1874 until the 1980s, Texas was a oneparty Democratic state 2. This loyalty to the Democratic Party was due to several factors • First, the Republican Party's strong opposition to slavery since its founding in 1854 • Second, the role of the Republican Party during the Civil War-Republican President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves in the Confederacy and led the Union to victory over the Confederacy 31 Texas Government 2306—Unit 4 lecture notes • Third, the role of the Republican Party during Reconstruction--the harsh Reconstruction laws passed by the Republican Congress and the perceived abuses of Texas's first Republican governor, E.J. Davis, and the state's only Republican Legislature 3. The Democratic Party was so dominant in the state that many races on the ballot were uncontested, with no Republicans running for many of the positions 4. One indication of the Democratic Party's domination in Texas: from 1928 until 1952, not one Republican was ever elected to the Texas Legislature--the 31 Senate seats and the 150 House seats 5. From 1874 until 1961 no Republican was elected to statewide office, and only a few others were elected to other offices 6. The Great Depression, blamed on Republican President Herbert Hoover and the Republican Congress, reinforced the Democratic Party loyalties in Texas throughout the 1930s and 1940 7. Conservative Republican voters, having no serious competitive races in the Republican primary, would often cross over and vote for conservative Democratic candidates in the Democratic primary, further strengthening the dominance of the conservative faction in the Democratic Party 8. Republicans were often viewed with disrespect and the subject of jokes and insults 9. Depicting the Republicans as the "party of Yankee aggression" was still an effective way to keep voters loyal to the Democratic Party as recently as the 1950s 10. Because of the one-party system in Texas, politics revolved almost exclusively around personality and economic issues 11. The competition between the liberal and conservative factions of the Democratic Party revolved around economics, with the liberal faction advocating equal rights for blacks, increased governmental regulation of business, policies supporting labor unions, and expansion of the national government's role in our political system 11. The conservative Democratic faction, representing business, the oil industry, wealthy farmers and cattle ranchers, advocated a laissez faire philosophy and were able to win most primary races 12. Most Texans still followed the old saying "I would vote for a yellow dog before I'd vote for a Republican" INDICATIONS OF PARTY REALIGNMENT IN TEXAS 1. The first indication of political change was the fact Texans voted for Republican presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower in the elections of 1952 and 1956 2. In a special election in 1961 to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Lyndon Johnson upon his election to the Vice Presidency, Republican 32 Texas Government 2306—Unit 4 lecture notes candidate John Tower won 41 percent of the vote in the first election and won the runoff election by a small margin 3. Senator Tower's election, the first statewide Republican officeholder since the 1870s, was heralded as the beginning of a new era of two-party politics in Texas 4. Tower won reelection in 1966, 1972, and 1978, but it would be seventeen years before another Republican (Bill Clements in 1978) won a statewide office 5. Prior to Clement's election as governor in 1978, Republicans had some success electing candidates to the Legislature and to local offices 6. Governor Clements was able to use his power of appointments to boards, commissions, and judgeships to recruit people to the Republican Party and get "closet Republicans" to go public with their party affiliation 7. Clements' appointments helped to build the Republican Party in Texas 8. Although Clements was defeated by Mark White for the governorship in 1982, he defeated White in a rematch in 1986 9. Phil Gramm, a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, resigned his House seat, switched to the Republican Party in 1983 after losing his seat on the Budget Committee (due to his consistent support of Republican President Reagan's policies), and won reelection as a Republican 14. Gramm won election to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Tower in 1984, easily won reelection in 1990, and was reelected again in 1996 15. In 1988, Republicans made significant gains in Texas, helped by Republican Clements in the governorship and Texan George Bush's election to the presidency; they won four statewide races: three seats on the Texas Supreme Court and one on the Texas Railroad Commission 16. In 1990, despite losing the governorship, Republicans made further gains, winning the state treasurer and agricultural commissioner races and another seat on the Texas Supreme Court 17. In 1993, Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison won the the other U.S. Senate from Texas when Lloyd Bentsen resigned to become secretary of the treasury under President Clinton 18. In 1994, Republicans made significant gains by • Capturing all three seats on the Railroad Commission • Winning a majority of seats of the Texas Supreme Court • Retaining control of the agriculture commissioner's office • Capturing three additional seats on the state board of education (for a total of eight seats) • Winning several additional seats in the Texas House and Senate (for 14 of 31 in the Senate and 61 of 150 seats in the House) • Winning the governorship (by George W. Bush) 33 Texas Government 2306—Unit 4 lecture notes 19. George W. Bush was re-elected Governor in 1998 and Republicans captured control of the Texas Senate (for the first time since Reconstruction.) 20. When George W. Bush was elected to the presidency in 2000, Lt. Governor Rick Perry became governor 21. Republicans won all statewide races and control of the Texas House and Senate in the November 2002 elections. This is the first time Republicans have controlled both houses of the Texas Legislature and the executive branch since Reconstruction!) Republicans currently have 19 of the 31 seats in the Texas Senate and 88 of the 150 seats in the Texas House. For the first time since Reconstruction, the Speaker is Republican, Tom Craddick (of Midland) and the Lieutenant Governor (who runs the Senate) is Republican, David Dewhurst. 22. Today Texas is truly a two-party state, perhaps even leaning slightly Republican CAUSES OF PARTY REALIGNMENT IN TEXAS 1. The growing liberalism of the Democratic Party in the 1960s and 1970s led many conservative Texas Democrats to seriously consider voting Republican 2. Republican President Ronald Reagan's popularity in Texas helped attract additional supporters to the party 3. Northerners moving into the state during the oil boom years of the 1970s and early 1980s, brought their Republican Party loyalties with them, further adding to the Republican base in Texas 4. The weakening memories of Reconstruction and the Civil War removed the emotional stigma that had hurt Republicans for many years 5. This party realignment toward the Republican Party is part of both regional and national trends of increasing support for the Republicans 6. This party realignment has not significantly altered the state's traditionalistic/individualistic political culture and is not likely to change it any time soon 7. Thus, party realignment has occurred in Texas while maintaining the continuity of the conservative, laissez faire political ideology Compare and contrast the Texas Republican and Democratic parties in terms of ideology, issue orientation, and group and regional support. A. IDEOLOGICAL COMPARISONS 1. Texas Republicans tend to be overwhelmingly conservative to ultraconservative 34 Texas Government 2306—Unit 4 lecture notes 2. Texas Democrats still include liberals, conservatives, and moderates, but conservatives are slowly gravitating to the Republican Party, leaving the Texas Democratic Party increasingly dominated by moderates and liberals 3. Most Republican candidates are conservative to ultra-conservative 4. In contrast to the past, when most Democratic candidate winning their party's nomination were conservative, a growing number of Democratic candidates nominated today are moderate-to-liberal B. ISSUE ORIENTATION COMPARISONS 1. Texas Republicans generally advocate: • A laissez faire philosophy--a smaller role for government--especially the federal government, believing that it is part of the problem, not the solution • A strong national defense • A pro-life position on abortion • Limiting government regulations because the private sector is important for economic growth • An anti-union position • A smaller government role in civil rights because it is not the serious problem liberals make it out to be • An end to affirmative action • Traditional family values, including the return of prayer to public schools 2. Texas Democrats generally advocate: • A more activist government, especially the federal government, because often only the government can solve problems society faces • Social programs to help the needy and disadvantaged • A pro-choice position on abortion • Some government regulations--to protect the worker, the consumer, the environment, and to prevent business abuses • Strong support for unions • An active government role in protecting the civil rights of all minority groups • Support for affirmative action • Keeping prayer out of the public schools to protect the rights of religious minorities and maintain the separation of church and state GROUP SUPPORT COMPARISONS 1. The Texas Republican Party draws support from • Upper and upper middle class voters • The business community • White collar professionals 35 Texas Government 2306—Unit 4 lecture notes • Evangelical, conservative Protestants • Newcomers to Texas • Primarily Anglos • Primarily conservatives and ultra-conservatives • Younger voters • Those with more education, particularly a college education • More men than women 2. The profile of the average Republican supporter in Texas is: young, high-income, well-educated, Anglo, professional, living in the suburbs of a large metropolitan area, and a newcomer to the state 3. The Texas Democratic Party has a much more diverse base, drawing support from: • All classes, but especially the middle class, the lower middle class and the poor • All workers, but especially blue collar workers • Unions • All religious groups, but especially Catholics • Native Texans • Minorities and liberal Anglos • Primarily liberals and moderates • Older voters • Those with less education, particularly high school and below • More women than men 9. The profile of the average Texas Democrat is: older resident, native Texan, lower-income, less-educated, and non-white D. REGIONAL SUPPORT COMPARISONS 1. Republicans have a much smaller geographical base than do Democrats, with 80% of their vote from the fifteen most populous counties. However, this is slowly changing as Republicans expand their base. 2. Geographically, Republicans draw most of their votes from the Panhandle, the Midland-Odessa area, Lubbock, Abilene, and the suburban areas, especially in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth area 3. Democrats have support from all geographical areas in Texas, but have been particularly strong in Hispanic South Texas, conservative East Texas, and in inner city areas where blue-collar workers, minorities, and the poor are concentrated The effects of two-partyism in Texas are several: o The voters have more choices and more contested races on the ballot o Government is more responsive to public demands o Both parties work harder to attract voter support and no longer take your vote for granted 36 Texas Government 2306—Unit 4 lecture notes The Five Past Effects of Low Level Party Competition in Texas (Being a one-party Democratic State) o Lower voter turnout o Public apathy o Less government responsiveness o More corruption in government o More powerful interest groups All of these are not good for a democracy and are gradually fading away today as a result of two-party competition in Texas. CAMPAIGNS CAMPAIGN TACTICS • Building an Image o Candidates today hire public relation firms and media consultants to build a positive image for them and a negative image for the opponent. • Where and How to Campaign o In a state as large as Texas candidates must pick and choose which areas of the state they will concentrate on—this means use of the mass media— tv—and concentrating on the areas with larger population • Choosing the Issues o The candidate must decide whether to take a position based on issues (the “high road”), a negative stance based on attacking the opponent (the “low road”), or a combination of both. o It is best to raise only a few issues, so that the voters do not get confused. • Timing o The campaign must “peak” and achieve maximum support from the electorate as close to election-day as possible. Candidates will often reserve resources (time and money and advertising) for a last-minute media “blitz.” o Changes in absentee voting in Texas will most likely limit the effectiveness of the last minute media blitz that was so effective in the past. • Money in Political Campaigns o In Texas, campaigns for statewide offices are often multi-million dollar efforts. In 1982 and 1986 Bill Clements spent $13 million to win the governorship. 37 Texas Government 2306—Unit 4 lecture notes o Candidates often raise money from these major sources: Loans from wealthy friends Political action committee (PAC) contributions • Where Does the Money Go? o For consulting firms to manage the campaign o Advertising—especially on television (this often accounts for up to 60% of the typical campaign budget) o Other advertising is on radio, billboards, newspapers, and magazines • Control Over Money in Campaigns o Both federal and state legislation attempted to place limits on spending— the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (in 1976) that this was unconstitutional o The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that PAC’s could spend unlimited amounts to promote a candidate independently (independent expenditures) o In 1975, the Texas legislature passed the Political Funds Reporting & Disclosure Act Candidates may not spend or raise money until an official campaign treasurer is appointed Candidates and PACs may not accept cash contributions larger than $100 Direct contributions from corporations and labor unions are forbidden Candidates and their treasurers must file sworn statements listing all contributions and expenditures with the Texas secretary of state’s office Both criminal and civil penalties can be imposed on violators of the laws provisions Primary enforcement is the responsibility of the Texas Ethics Commission o In spite of this law, raising and spending money in Texas campaigns is pretty unlimited and unregulated CONSERVATIVE-LIBERAL COMPARISON ISSUE LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE DEFINITION 1. favor activist govt. 1. favor passive govt. 2. Pro-change–things can always be improved 2. Anti-change–if it works, don’t fix it 3. top priority–increase equality & 3. top priority–indiv. Liberty, freedom, & order & stability 38 Texas Government 2306—Unit 4 lecture notes make it available for more Americans TAXATION EXPENDITURE S Progressive–fairer to pay according to ability to pay redistributes wealth by wealthy paying more, can cut tax rate on m. class & poor Favor social programs to help poor, disadvantaged, elderly Govt. has responsibility to help underdog regressive–fairer for all to pay same rate; don’t penalize wealthy by taxing at higher rate doesn’t weaken work incentive Favor defense, business incentives, and infrastructural spending: roads, bridges, ports, etc. Stress balanced budget ECONOMIC REGULATION ` LAW &ORDER More willing to engage in deficit spending Favor govt. regulation of business to prevent business abuses & protect worker & consumer Necessary to protect worker from business abuses–workplace now a safer place; right to strike, join a union, bargain collectively Rehabilitation; solve root social causes: poverty, racism, discrimination, unemployment; favor handgun control (too easy to conceal) & anti-death penalty-unfairly used ENVIRONMENT Govt. regulations necessary because business won’t police itself; major polluters (industry) should pay cost of cleanup Favor fewer govt. regulations of the economy– too costly, cuts profits, red tape Have become too powerful & may have outlived usefulness; lead to strikes & are inflationary corrupt; need to be regulated Favor strong law & order: tougher penalties; pro-death penalty; anti-gun control– only criminals will have guns More police, prisons We have over-regulated the environment; hurts business; leads to loss of jobs & makes Am. businesses less competitive Everyone should pay for cleanup CIVIL RIGHTS A top govt. priority; pro ERA, proaffirmative action; tougher laws & penalties needed Not as important a problem; Anti-ERA & affirmative action; Affirm. Action = reverse discrimination CIVIL LIBERTIES Fewer restrictions More restrictions if needed Anti-; separation of church/state Pro–right of maj. to practice exclusionary rule Pro–prevents illegal searches Anti–allows guilty to go free Miranda rights Pro–protects uneducated Anti–your responsibility school prayer 39 Texas Government 2306—Unit 4 lecture notes Fewer restrictions–indiv. choice MORAL Adults-freedom of choice, privacy ISSUES More restrictions–pub. morality Not protected by const. pornography Pro; Freedom of choice, privacy gay rights Pro-choice; privacy rights Anti–protect public morality abortion DEFENSE & FOREIGN AFFAIRS ROLE OF GOVERNMENT Pro-life; = murder Peace thru arms control & negotiations; econ. aid & social reforms best way to fight communism in third world Activist government, esp. nat’l. if government doesn’t step in to solve problems; it’s a tool to be used to improve society Peace thru strength; don’t be too trusting of communists; mili. aid best way to fight communism in world more passive govt.; state or local govt. if any govt. makes problems worse govt. a danger to our liberties lack confidence in govt. & its ability to solve problems 40