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 power4 – 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 PartyRepublican 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.

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.

We cover city elections elsewhere.

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 TexasTexas Green Party

Libertarian Party of TexasReform 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

once represented the 14th 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 can

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 precints.

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 MailEarly 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 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).

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.

DemocratsRepublicans

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