Political Parties in Texas
GOVT 2305
This is one of several sets of slides
that discuss political parties in
Texas.
This one is designed to discuss
general features of the parties and
provide an introduction to the rest.
It might be good to start with a
definition:
What is a political party?
Here’s a reasonable definition: “A political
party is defined as an organized group of
people with at least roughly similar
political aims and opinions, that seeks to
influence public policy by getting its
candidates elected to public office.”
Notice the major point: The chief
goals of a political party is to win
elected office.
That’s how it seeks to influence
public policy.
They are very similar to interest groups –
which we cover elsewhere – because they
are private organizations that attempt to
influence public policy by organizing like
minded citizens.
But they are different because political
parties actually run candidates for public
office while interest groups simply attempt
to influence them.
Here’s another key point:
Parties are political – as opposed
to governing – organizations.
Here’s a reminder of the
definitions of “politics” offered
elsewhere in this class:
1- The authoritative allocation of values in society.
2 - The struggle over who gets what when and how.
3 - Intrigue or maneuvering within a political unit in
order to gain control or power
4 – The art of what’s possible.
Parties attempt to organize groups
in order to control governing
institutions so they can pass laws
that reflect their values and
interests.
In this section we’ll look at the basic
features of political parties, what functions
they serve and – primarily - provide
specific detail about political parties in
Texas.
This section builds off the section on
political parties in GOVT 2305. I’ll try not to
repeat too much material from that
section, so you might want to review that
section, click here for it.
Consider this section to be an
introduction.
You might also benefit from
looking through this online chapter
on political parties in Texas.
Other slides about parties discuss
the election code, the state and
county organizations, the
temporary and permanent party
organizations, parties in the Texas
legislature and the transition in
Texas from Democratic to
Republican dominance.
Here’s a quick reminder of the
place political parties occupy in the
federal system. Some of this
material was covered in GOVT
2305, some in the introductory
slides in this class – 2306.
There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution
about political parties other than an
indirect reference in the First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law . . . abridging . .
. the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the government
for a redress of grievances.
There’s nothing in the Texas
Constitution about them either.
Parties exist because elections
exist.
Elections are won by whichever
side is best organized.
That’s what political parties do.
They organize candidates for
elective office. This allows
supporters of the party to
dominate the policy making.
This is what has created incentives
for party formation and
maintenance.
But the national government has
very little authority over them.
There is no language in the
Constitution that authorizes
Congress to pass laws related to
how parties organize outside
Congress.
States do.
Since the U.S. Constitution
reserves to the states that right to
pass laws related to elections - and
parties are responsible for
conducting elections – states pass
the laws related to parties.
Laws related to political parties in
Texas can be found in the Election
Code, especially Title 10.
More on this in a separate section
below.
Parties are effective ways of
organizing political and governing
forces in order to achieve – or
oppose – certain policy objectives.
By taking positions on different
issues parties can allow people to
identify with whatever party takes
the position they have taken.
They simplify the political process
for people who are not attentive to
politics.
By identifying with a political party,
a person can more efficiently make
decisions about what policies and
candidates to support.
As discussed in GOVT 2305, political parties
developed quickly in the first U.S. Congress
in order to help organize supporters and
opponents of Washington’s policies. These
were – respectively – the Federalists and
Democrat-Republicans.
Their divisions were largely similar to the
divisions between the supporters and
opponents of the ratification of the U.S.
Constitution.
For example, in the 1840s the
Democratic Party supported the
annexation of Texas while the Whig
Party opposed it.
It’s little wonder the Democratic
Party was dominant in the state for
many years after that.
Over the course of American and Texas
history two large scale political parties –
since 1856 these two have been the
Democrats and Republicans – have
dominated politics.
Others come and go, but only these two
have grown to the point where they
become integral part of not only the
political process but of the governing
process as well.
In 2305 we mention that this is largely a
consequence of the winner take all election
system which creates incentives for people to
cluster their support around two large parties.
Smaller parties are – by definition –
uncompetitive in this type of election, which
means that the two major parties are best
understood as being coalitions of like-minded
factions rather than solid groups.
This means that there can be –
always is actually - conflict within
each party over what the party
stands for.
Parties will take the positions of
whichever faction within the party
happens to be strongest at a
particular point in time.
The Democratic Party is generally
composed of members of various racial
and ethnic minority groups, in addition to
those who promote egalitarian policies and
a more tolerance to alternative lifestyles.
Tension can exist within the party general
tensions between these groups.
The Republican Party is less racially and
ethnically diverse – which can be an advantage
because it allows for greater solidarity – but
conflict can exist between the business sector
and those who promote a more conservative,
traditionalist social agenda.
Some argue that party should be true to a
limited set of proposals and restrict participation
to those committed to those principles while
others argue the party should include more
diverse views.
More on these conflicts in an
upcoming set of slides.
As mentioned earlier this semester, Texas had
already been populated by people who were
affiliated with the Democratic Party, and the
concept of Jeffersonian Democracy.
This was the political idea that governing
institutions should be closely connected to the
“people” – though it had to be understood that
the concept of “people” was very restricted.
To drive home a point:
Here’s a basic fact of political life in
Texas.
It is dominated by two major
political parties. They are the
conduit through which all
meaningful political action flows.
The two major parties in the state
are:
Texas Democratic Party
Republican Party of Texas
Each party is also organized at the
county and precinct level as well.
Parties are very decentralized
entities, but this can help explain
their effectiveness since they are
tied closely into local concerns and
allow for grassroots participation.
For example, here are links to area
county party organizations:
Brazoria County Democratic Party.
Brazoria County Republican Party.
Harris County Democratic Party.
Harris County Republican Party.
In order to hold elective office in the state – and
to have an influence in political in the state in
general – one needs to be a member of one of
these parties. This is not a legal requirement –
there are other political parties in the state, and
one can be a member of any party or of no party
– but this is simply a reality of political life in
Texas.
Parties dominate the political process, and for
that reason they also dominate the governing
process.
Every member of the Texas
Legislature is either a member of
the Democratic or Republican
Parties.
This tends to be true for county positions
also – people run for county office in the
state as a member of a political party, and
the members of the Texas Democratic and
Republican Party are most likely to win.
Those two parties have the organizational
capabilities to organize and win elections.
But this does not apply to cities.
City elections are non-partisan.
State and county races are
partisan.
Candidates for city offices – mayor,
city council, city attorney, or
whatever elective offices a city
decides to have – do not have
party labels by their name.
They run as independent
candidates, even though they tend
to have party affiliations.
A bit more on smaller parties.
They do exist, they just are not
competitive. They tend not to be
able to win elections.
The smaller parties in the state
include the following:
Constitution Party of Texas
Texas Green Party
Libertarian Party of Texas
Reform Party of Texas
Socialist Party of Texas
Of these, the Libertarian and Green Parties
can get a handful of votes in elections, but
generally the best they can do is draw
enough votes from one of the major
parties to impact election results.
No Libertarian or Green Party member has
ever won election to the Texas Legislature,
or to statewide or judicial office.
The Libertarian Party has a long
history in Texas. Ron Paul – who
th
once represented the 14
Congressional District – ran as the
Libertarian Party candidate for the
presidency in 1980.
But he switched to the Republican
Party in order to win office.
The people who join smaller parties tend to do
so because they are more interested in the
principles the parties stand for than the
potential competitiveness of the parties.
While the Democratic and Republican parties
also present a set of principles and policies, they
have the added advantage of providing to
candidates a recognizable brand that voters
accept as legitimate and an organization that
helps get them elected to office.
Smaller parties cannot offer that.
We will discuss the reasons for this
elsewhere. Some of this has to do
with the very nature of winner take
all elections which tend to lead to
the development of two large
political parties.
Another reason is that the major
parties get to pass the laws about
party organization.
They can pass rules that preserve
their power.
One of the reasons Texas has a two
party system – and why the
Republican Party now dominates –
is because party members get
themselves elected to office and
then get to make, implement and
adjudicate the laws related to
political parties.
This includes laws related to
registration, finance, redistricting
and all sorts of things.
We touch on these in the section
on elections.
It should be noted that smaller parties have had
an impact on Texas politics in the past.
We cover this material elsewhere, but an
example is the Peoples Party which was a
populist organization that promoted agriculture
and farmers. Other smaller splinter parties have
popped up whenever there has been internal
dissatisfaction with one of the major parties. An
historical example is Texas Regulars. The Tea
Party is a current example – though it really isn’t
a party. More on that elsewhere.
The lesson here is that if you want to be
hold office in the state of Texas you should
be a member of one of the two major
parties.
In the section on the temporary and
permanent party organizations we discuss
the ways that an individual can get active
in party politics.
Beyond that, it helps to be a member of
the majority party – which in Texas is the
Republican Party. Since 1994, the
Republican Party has held all state wide
offices in the state.
The term “statewide office” refers to those
elected positions that represent the entire
state, as opposed to those that represent
smaller districts like the Texas House or
Texas Senate, or district judges.
The following are considered to be
“state-wide offices”
All offices that are part of the
plural executive, the Texas
Supreme Court and Court of
Criminal Appeals, and the three
members of the Texas Railroad
Commission.
All of these positions have been
held by members of the
Republican Party since 1994 – we
will go into reasons for this later, as
well as a discussion of the
prospects for a resurgence of the
Democratic Party.
Since 2004, the Republican Party
has also had a majority in both the
Texas House and Senate.
Elsewhere we discuss the tendency
of Texas to be a one party state and
try to determine why this is the
case.
Until the early 1960s the situation was reversed. The
Democratic Party was the dominant party in the state –
so much so that there was little to no organized
Republican Party in the state. Some sessions of the
Texas Legislature had no Republican members at all.
This explains why there is very little party organization
in the Texas Legislature – though this can always
change. There was little reason for one to develop if
everyone was a member of the same party. There were
internal disputes, but these were handled internally.
We can look at the eras of parties
in Texas this way:
1845 – 1960: One Party Democratic Rule.
1960 – 1994: Two Party Competition
1994 – present: Republican Dominance.
We will cover these changes
elsewhere.
The previous material should give
you a general idea about why
parties exist.
Let’s now turn attention to what
they do.
What do political parties do to win
elections and influence public
policy?
A variety of things.
Here are three:
1 – They provide means for people to participate
in the political system.
2 – They structure and present the issues of the
day to citizens.
3 – They provide the glue that connects
government vertically (federalism) and
horizontally (separated powers).
Let’s look at the first:
1 - Parties provide means for
people to participate in the
political system.
This claim supports the idea that
political parties are central to
democracy. It is the party that
fosters political participation
because it makes them more
competitive. Without viable parties
there is little incentive to expand
suffrage, or encourage
participation.
Supporters of political parties
argue that they drove the
expansion of political participation
and suffrage in the United States
and are primarily responsible for
the development of democracy in
the country.
They argue:
No Parties, No Democracy
Here’s a curve ball however.
It’s generally assumed that the two major
parties in Texas have different incentives
when it comes to participation. Democrats
do better when rates of participation is
high, Republicans do better when rates of
participation are low.
Here are four basic ways political
parties attempt to enhance
participation:
They help people get registered to
vote.
They recruit people to run for public
office.
They organize election precincts.
They organize get out the vote drives.
Let’s look at each in turn
Voter registration drives
Each state requires that eligible voters
register prior to election day. Each state
establishes its own rules. In Texas people
have to be registered 30 days prior to an
election.
Registration rules of course are established
by the state legislature, which responds to
the wishes of the majority party. These can
be impacted by laws passed on the
national level as well.
Registration is conducted by each county in the
state, but parties and other groups get involved
in encouraging people to register. Each party
attempts to ensure that potential identifiers –
those they think are most likely to vote for them
– are registered.
The party with a higher percentage of its
supporters registered to vote has an advantage
over the other. Generally, the Republican Party
has advantages over the Democratic Party in this
regard.
Controversially, parties might
attempt to suppress registration
among populations that are not
likely to support them.
Again, this is based on the idea
that greater participation benefits
Democrats more than Republicans
in the state.
Texas’ registration requirements
have become more lenient over
the years.
Voter registration is officially
overseen by the tax assessors
office in each county:
- Texas SOS: Voter Registration.
- Harris Votes.
- Brazoria County Tax Assessor Collector.
But parties – especially county
parties – and affiliated groups do
the leg work to ensure that
supporters are registered to vote
prior to each election.
Candidate Recruitment
Parties are more likely to be successful if
they recruit quality candidates to run for
office.
Each party is heavily involved in making
sure their candidates have name
recognition and are well positioned to win.
They also get involved in vetting candidates
– making sure that they have clean
backgrounds and are committed to the
party’s positions on issues.
An example of a candidate
recruited by the Republican Party
to run for office both for name
identification and to appeal to
Latino voters: George P. Bush.
Political parties allow candidates the
opportunity to run with a label that
grants them a degree of legitimacy and
indicates to voters a minimal level of
information about them.
They also provide a network and
organization that can assist with their
campaigns.
Before becoming getting on the
general election ballot, one has to
get on the primary ballot.
This is where things get interesting.
Here are links that outline what it
takes to become a candidate.
From the Secretary of State’s
Office:
Candidate's Guide to Primary and
General Elections
From Ballotpedia:
Ballot access requirements for
political candidates in Texas
See Title 9 of the Texas Election
Code for Specifics on how to
become a candidate for one of the
major or minor parties.
In order to be listed on the primary ballot for
one of the two major parties - Democratic or
Republican - a candidate must either collect
signatures on a nominating petition or pay a
filing fee to the county or state chair of the
appropriate party. The number of signatures
needed and the cost of the registration fee vary
according to the level of office being sought. –
Texas Politics.
This opens the door to almost
anyone who wants to run in a
party’s primary.
Problem: Parties have little ability to directly
control who runs for office under their label, or
the positions their candidates take.
There are incentives for candidates to take
positions that the party stands for – it increases
the chances that the candidate will be elected –
but an individual candidate might stand for the
specific policies promoted by a faction within
the party, rather than the party’s leadership.
For example, one of the current problems the
Texas Republican Party faces is the conflict
between moderates and conservatives.
Conservatives commonly argue that moderate
Republicans are RINOs (Republican In Name
Only) that do not really support the party’s
positions, they only seem the party’s
nomination so they can run on the party label.
Area Democrats have also has
problems with candidates who do
not adhere to the party’s policies.
Great example: Kesha Rogers
Even if one isn’t recruited to run
for office, the political party allows
individuals the opportunity to
throw their own hat in the ring and
decide to run for office themselves.
Organizing Election Precincts
As we will discuss in several
sections in this class, the election
precinct (sometimes called a voting
precinct) is the basic political unit
in both Texas and the nation.
Each county is carved into a number of
precincts. These help organize the electoral
process because it determines where one
votes. We all live in a precinct drawn up by
county officials.
When you register to vote, you are notified
which precinct you live in and where you
have to go on election day in order to vote.
Brazoria County is divided into 68
precincts. Click here for the maps
each precinct.
The map is duplicated on the next
slide.
ACC is in precinct 41
You can find the sample ballots for
the March 2014 primaries in
Brazoria County here.
Harris County has over a thousand
precincts.
Here’s what they look like:
Each precinct may have a precinct chair from
each party that organizes party activities in that
precinct.
This becomes the fundamental unit of party
governance. After each primary election, the
party chair organizes a precinct convention that
allows party identifiers to participate in forming
the party’s platform, influencing party rules and
selecting the party’s presidential candidates.
The major parties, over the many
decades they have existed, have
organized down to the precinct
level.
This is one of the many factors that grants
the two major parties considerable
advantage over minor parties in the state.
Here’s a simple rule of thumb:
Wherever there is an election,
there is a party organization.
County parties recruit supporters
to serve as party chairs.
This is a key responsibility of the
county parties.
We will discuss precinct chairs
more thoroughly in an upcoming
section.
For now its best to think about the fact
that being a precinct chair allows people
the opportunity to get involved in the
electoral process.
It can be a great first step in developing the
connections that can lead to a successful
political career.
GOTV Drives
[get out the vote]
Each party – in cooperation with the
campaigns of each candidate – organize
ways to ensure that registered voters who
identify with their party are able to get to
the polls. This can be done in a variety of
ways depending on which type of election
the party wants to impact.
Here are a few examples:
Vote by Mail
Early voting
Election day voting
Texas allows certain people –
notable the elderly and
handicapped – the opportunity to
vote by mail. Click here for the
application from the Secretary of
State’s office. County parties
encourage eligible voters to do so
in order to increase turnout.
For early voting and general
elections, county parties and
candidates – with the assistance of
precinct chairs – identify party
supporters that need help getting
to the polls and do what’s needed
to get them there.
Here’s a second thing parties do to
influence the political process.
2 – They structure and present the
issues of the day to citizens.
The political environment can be
very complex.
You probably have thought the
same.
A political party can help simplify
the political environment to those
who identify with that party. By
identifying with a political party
one can simply adopt the positions
promoted by the party.
Many people identify strongly with
one or the other political parties.
This can make it easier for people
to make a decision about what’s
going on politically because each
party attempts to frame this for
their supporters.
This introduces the concept of
party identification.
What percentage of people in
Texas identify with the Republican
Party, or the Democratic Party?
Here’s a graph:
Trends in Party ID from Texas Politics
Click here for the Texas Politics section on
Trends in Party Identification.
Note that in terms of percentages both
parties are relatively equal. The difference
is in turnout. The Republican coalition
contains groups that are more likely to vote
than those that are part of the Democratic
coalition.
Since Texas is not monolithic, party
identification varies from region to
region.
Here is the breakdown in each
county in the state.
Democrats are clustered in the
major cities and in the counties
along the Mexican border.
Republicans dominate counties
that contain suburbs and in the
rural areas.
It is simpler to figure out what
news is important and what
opinion to have about them if one
identifies with a party.
Independents have to figure this
out on their own. Of course, that
might be a good thing.
Parties often help determine what
the dominant issues of the day
happen to be.
They can also provide supporters
with arguments in favor and
against different issues.
Example: What are the arguments
for and against gun control? School
vouchers? Voter ID laws?
And of course parties can provide
arguments for and against certain
people involved in the political
process.
Generally these would be
candidates for public office, but it
can include others as well.
Who are the good guys?
Who are the bad guys?
Obviously this implies that
independents will have a tougher
time figuring out what to make of
the political environment since
they do not identify with an
organization that provides cues for
how to think about political issues.
A good way to figure out where the
parties stand on different issues is
to look at each party’s platform.
Here’s a quick look at what’s in
each party’s 2012 platform.
Democrats
Republicans
We will explore areas of agreement
and disagreement elsewhere.
And a final thing parties do to
influence the political process.
3 – Parties provide the glue that
connects government vertically
(federalism) and horizontally
(separated powers).
A central theme in this class – as
well as 2305 – is that government
in the US is very decentralized.
This occurs both horizontally and
vertically.
Horizontal decentralization refers
to the fact that governmental
powers are separated into three
institutions that can then check
and balance each other.
This arrangement can create
gridlock and make it difficult for
anything to get done.
Vertical decentralization refers to
the fact that government is divided
into three levels: the national,
state and local.
As we have seen before,
coordination can be difficult in this
arrangement.
While there are benefits in these
arrangements – the separated
powers prevent the creation of
tyrannies and federalism divides
governing authority along certain
levels of government – each makes
the governing process more
difficult.
The most efficient governments
are those that concentrate
authority in a few hands.
Autocratic, unitary governments
for example.
One of the reasons we might
complain that our government
can’t get things done is that in
many ways it is designed not to.
Political parties are argued to be
useful at making the governing
process more efficient.
A key benefit of political parties is that they
can provide coordination between these
institutions and levels.
If one party does especially well in a series
of elections across each level of
government – which generally means that
the general population supports their
policies more than the other – then the
activities of each are more likely to be
coordinated.
Two concepts are important here:
Divided Government
Unified Government
Divided government refers to
periods of time when the parties
only control one of the elected
branches – or at least the
legislative and executive branches.
Unified government occurs when
one party controls both the
legislative and executive branches,
meaning that they can also
influence the judiciary as well.
It’s argued that unified
government enhances democracy
because it allows for a clearer
choice for the voters. It is easier for
voters to pin responsibility for
what happens in government
when one party is in charge than if
each is in control of one branch of
government.
Governing is argued to be easier in unified
rather than divided government. Policies
are easier to pass, and the agenda of one
party is easier to implement.
This is even easier to do if the same party
that dominates the national government
also dominates the state governments as
well.
In Texas its easier for parties to tie
the three branches of government
together because all major
positions in each are elected.
This gives the majority party the
opportunity to control them all.
Texas has a history of one party
rule.
From annexation to the 1970s – with the
exception of Reconstruction – the
Democratic Party dominated elections.
Since 1994 the Republican Party has
dominated state elections and has
controlled the state legislature since 2004.
The design of the Texas Constitution allows the
dominant political culture to dominate the
governing institutions. Texas government tends
to be unified.
This is less the case on the national level. Since
1968, control of the national governing
institutions has been split. Congress tends to be
controlled by one party and the presidency by
another. Sometimes each chamber in Congress
is controlled by a different party.
But there can be tension between
the state government and county
and city governments – especially
in the larger ones – because
citizens in larger metropolitan
areas tend to vote Democratic.
This is enough to provide a basic
look at what parties do, and which
parties exist in the state.
Additional material will be
provided in upcoming slides
Enough.