Texas Politics & Government: Ideas and Institutions

How different are the attitudes of Texas registered voters from those of the residents of the United States? First, the percentage of Americans who are pro-choice and pro-life is similar to the percentage in Texas. Compare the following:   Recently, James Henson and Joshua Blank, both of the Texas Politics Project , posted an article on the nuanced views of Texas’ registered voters in Texas and concluded:     The presence of nuanced attitudes in both parties or on both “sides” of the abortion debate notwithstanding, the shift in the national legal landscape and the subsequent removal of nearly all access in Texas has put Republicans in a tougher position than Democrats. Looking just at the three choice circumstances, 54% of Republicans would allow some time for abortion access in at least one of the three, including 53% of self-identified conservatives. Voters who identify as “extremely conservative” make up the only group in which a majority (65%) endorses no ex...

Recently, a post on Facebook listed 31 effects of Project 2025, based on the proposals by the project's authors: Mandate for Leadership . The proposals list policy changes that a conservative president should promote. This is the post and the Facebook warning: The fact check was performed by The Dispatch , which boasts that it is "the home for fact-based reporting on politics, policy, world events, religion, culture, economics, and law informed by conservative principles." Meta employs several fact-checkers for content, and The Dispatch is one of them. So, let's check the fact checker. The claim is that the effect of proposals relating to income taxes is to "higher taxes for the working class."   Alex Demas, author of the fact check, rates the statement: “Partly False. Under the plan’s tax proposal, Americans making less than $168,600 would pay a 15 percent income tax. While this rate would be a tax cut for many working Americans, individuals currently in th...

  There are few books whose contents have had as big an impact on my view of politics and government as American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony by Samuel P. Huntington. During graduate studies at SIU-Carbondale in the late 1960s, I used Huntington's book on political development, Political Order in Changing Societies , to guide my master's thesis. Later, teaching at Austin Community College (ACC), I was drawn to American Politics: T he Promise of Disharmony . In teaching, I've always believed that students need a compelling framework or theory on which to hang the concepts they learn in studying politics and government. Huntington provides such a framework. I've written about this framework previously on this blog. In this post, I want to demonstrate how a large portion of the nation has adopted a radical revision of what Huntington described as the American Creed: five ideas that formed the promise and goal of American politics and government. Three of the five ...

  In the contests that I've been following, Governor Abbott picked up four votes for school vouchers, which should be enough to secure the program in the next regular session. Dade Phelan survived his challenge, but others did not. Now, the emphasis turns to what kind of program can pass the legislature. Stay tuned!

  There are several contests that I will be following during the May 28th Republican primary run-off elections. The most important is the contest in which the incumbent speaker of the House, Dade Phelan, is opposed by GOP activist David Covey. In the first primary, Covey bested Phelan but did not receive a majority of the vote. These are all of the contests that I will be following. The future of the Republican Party of Texas hangs in the balance. Will the traditional Republicans win? Or will the MAGA wing win? It's probably also the time to consider why Texas doesn't support Instant Runoff or Ranked Choice Voting in elections that require the winning candidate to receive a majority of the vote.  

  On April 30th, early voting ended for the May 5th local elections in Travis County, Texas. The total vote was 35,683, which is 3.98 percent of registered voters in Travis County. If 60 percent of the total vote was cast during the early voting period, then approximately 6.64 percent of registered voters will constitute the total vote. See the chart below for the cumulative percentage.

  After six days of early voting in Travis County, Texas, only 2.30 percent of registered voters have cast a ballot. For all of Travis County, there are three members of the Central Appraisal District Board of Directors who are up for election in positions created by the Texas legislature. There are also elections for various local offices up for election in other special districts in Travis County. Here are the cumulative results by date of early voting:

  If you're interested in information about the candidates for the three elected positions on the Travis Central Appraisal District Board of Directors, please check out this Website by the Austin League of Women Voters (Vote411 link below). Several links are involved (don't get discouraged), but the effort is worth it. What do you desire in a candidate for the Travis CAD? Decide that first, then consult the candidates and their answers to the questions. The importance of this election is difficult to overstate! VOTE411   Scroll down to find where you can enter your address, city, state, and ZIP code.

  If you're a registered voter in any county with a population greater than 75,000 residents (that includes Travis, Williamson, Hays, Blanco, and Bastrop counties among others), there's an important election that few people know about occurring on May 4, 2024.  In the constitutional amendment that gave property owners and seniors a reduction in their property taxes, there was also a provision that modified the composition of the Central Appraisal Districts' (CADs) board of directors and how they are selected. For those counties, the board's composition now includes five members appointed by a majority vote of board members, three elected members, and the county tax assessor-collector, as an ex-officio director. Board members serve staggered four-year terms.  To be an appointed member of the board, candidates must serve on one of the taxing units that are a part of the CAD.  Appointed board members must garner a majority of the board members and the majority must incl...

I will be teaching a course on citizenship at ACC's South Austin Campus during the summer of 2024. The impetus for the course was my concern about the growing polarization and tribalism of contemporary politics. The course is located on the Continuing Education schedule here . The course description is here . The information on the course section is here (tuition and fees). The syllabus is below:   Being a Citizen GOVX 3000 Synonym 96442 Summer 2024   Instructor: Stefan D. Haag      Phone: 512-925-2878 Office: South Austin Campus, Rm 1202 Office Hours: Wednesday 9:00 PM – 9:30 PM Web Site: http://www.austincc.edu/shaag/Index.pdf Email: shaag@austincc.edu   COURSE OBJECTIVE: Are you frustrated with contemporary politics and have stopped paying attention? This course explores what it...

Governor Greg Abbott still wants the Texas Legislature to approve his signature agenda item: school vouchers. In response, he targeted several incumbents in the 2024 Republican primary election by supporting opponents who would vote for vouchers. Similarly, Attorney General Ken Paxton seeks revenge against many Republicans who supported his impeachment in the House of Representatives during the 88th Texas Legislature. Paxton endorsed candidates in Texas Republican primary elections who opposed his impeachment in the Texas House of Representatives. Here is a list of candidates for the Texas House who either did not seek reelection or who were targeted both by Abbott and Paxton. Note : An asterisk (*) indicates the incumbent is not seeking reelection. Source : Texas Tribune for the designation of the House members' position on school vouchers and Paxton's impeachment. The Lib/Con Score is from a personal email from Professor Jones at Rice University.  

The second decision in voting involves a choice of a candidate to support with your vote or a decision on an issue of public policy. We’ll consider a decision about candidates first. You’ve already made a plan to vote. However, you have to decide which candidates to support for all of the offices on the ballot. Political scientists note that there are three bases for the vote choice: (1) Party affiliation; (2) Issue positions of the candidates; and (3) candidate characteristics.  If you’re affiliated with a political party (either party), then vote for the party with which you’re affiliated. The percentage of Texas registered voters that affiliate with the Republican Party of Texas is, according to the UT/Texas Tribune Poll of February 2024), approximately 37 percent (That does not consider Republican Leaning Independents [RLI] as partisans). According to the same poll, approximately 37 percent of Texas registered voters identify with the Democratic Party (same caveat about De...

I remember reading Jonathan Haidt's " The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion" in 2012. I thought at the time that the idea of moral foundations was an interesting explanation of the reason that people adopted a political view on moral issues. More recently, I have discovered a debate over whether the differences between liberals and conservatives on moral foundations are correct. In 2009, Jesse Graham, Jonathan Haidt, and B.A. Nosek identified differences between liberals and conservatives on the five moral foundations that are innate in all humans. These five moral foundations are the following pairs of moral positions: The Care/Harm Foundation makes humans sensitive to suffering and needs. The result is that humans attempt to protect the vulnerable through laws that punish those who harm other humans and provide care for those who are less fortunate.  The Fairness/Cheating Foundation causes humans to seek others who want fairness in soc...