Paper on Texas History and Culture - Essay Example

Impacts of Texas History and Culture on the Current Political System in Texas According Maxwell, Crain and Santos (20), politics reflects the political values and beliefs of people. Moreover, it explains how people feel about their government. A political culture stems from agents of socialization such as family, religion, peer group, and education and is characterized by its levels of ethnic and religious diversity and political tolerance. Shaped by culture, individual participation in political system depends on view of their place within it.

Texas moralistic culture viewed the government as a positive force, one that values the individual but functions to benefit the society. Presently, Texas views the government as a force that benefits the whole state. Thus, the people of Texas engage in political activities with an aim of deciding the type of government that should govern their activities. Traditional culture of Texas views politics as a special preserve of social and economic elites – as a process of maintain law and order.

Likewise, the present political system of Texas serves as a solution to the public problems. It views political participation as a privilege and accepts social pressure and restrictive election laws that limit participation. Critics believe that this culture stems from the traditional political culture (Maxwell, Crain & Santos 21). As evident in the past, political activities are a preserve of the rich or social elite. This tends to explain the dominance of the Republican Party in the Texas. Largely, the fact that the social elite dominate the political class makes the running in a political office an activity that a few people would like to perform.

The settlement pattern of Texan people as well as the traditional attributes of the Texan people has continued to define the present political landscape of this state. In Texas, individualistic thoughts override traditional attributes. The result of this situation is evident in the political participation. Available literature indicates that voter turnout in Texas is lower than the National Average because Texan people believe that politics is a domain of economic interest, and many ignore the role of politic in their lives including its benefits (Maxwell, Crain & Santos 20).

Despite the social and cultural extensions that have occurred due to civilization and modernity, black towns seems to exist alongside the white towns. This traditional and cultural aspect seems to define the participation in political issues by the residents of these towns. Elements of segregation still affect social, religious, fraternity lodges, and chambers of commerce. Critics contend that the pattern of political alignment between the white and the black community living in the Texas state has a bearing on the historical issues (Maxwell, Crain & Santos 11).

Traditionally, the white regarded the blacks as inferior. This feature has extended to the present political alignment. The whites and the blacks tend to make political following which borrows this tradition. A glance at the voting pattern for the political offices tends to show that towns dominated by the white communities tend to back the Republican Party whereas the towns dominated by the non-white back other political parties. In conclusion, the traditional and cultural aspects of the Texan people tend to define the political system.

Traditionally, the role of the government was to govern the society, similar, the present government serves the same purpose. Elsewhere, the traditional belief that politics was a reserve of social and economic elite seems to be evident through the participation of elites in the present political landscape. Works Cited Maxwell, William, Crain, Ernest, & Santos Adolfo. Texas Politics Today: 2011-2012 Edition. New York: Cengege Learning, 2011. Print.