Please assist with the following discussion questions for Texas Governement and Politics 2312-701. Each discussion response must be written in paragraph form, (well thought out), times new roman font

Unit 3

• Required Written Lecture: Political Participation

• Aggregate Participation

• Political participation can be defined as any method by which citizens represented by a government attempt to influence policies, policymakers, or policy outcomes.

• There are two types of participation - Individual and Aggregate.

• Individual participation refers to those actions that individuals undertake on their own rather than in a group. For example, while alot of people vote, it is an act that individuals do on their own- there is no one else with them in that voting booth when they cast their ballots. For the purpose of our discussions, there are four types of individual participation: voting, contacting, campaigning and running.

• Aggregate Participation refers to those actions that undertake in conjunction or at the encouragement of other individuals. The individual participant does not initiate the interaction and usually does not act alone- they work with others to achieve their goals of influencing the direction of public policies. There are two agents of aggregate participation: interest groups and political parties.

• We addressed individual participation in Unit 2- in this unit (Unit 3), we focus on aggregate participation.

• There are two types of aggregate participation in our system: interest groups and political parties. People join interest groups in order to join forces with others who have a similar policy interest and desire to influence policy. You can do more as a group than you can as an individual. In contrast to interest groups, political parties are primarily interested in getting members of their party elected. Interest group members are concerned about getting folks into office who agree with them, while political party leaders just want someone who shares their party label.

• In recent years, many politicians, journalists, and scholars have raised interest group and political party bashing to a national sport. Many people make the case that American politics is controlled by special interests and that interest groups and political action committees should be banished from the political process. Others suggest that our political system would be much better off if we got rid of the political parties and let candidates run on the issues and voters vote without regard to parties. Indeed, more Texans today claim to be independent of political party affiliation than are affiliated with either political party.

• However, take a careful look at those who argue for the elimination of these two means of aggregate participation. They are usually people or groups who have access to political power without them or perceive political parties and interest groups as a challenge to their own power. For example, if I had all of Ross Perot's money, I would oppose political action committees too, because PAC's allow people with little money to pool that money and influence politics. Likewise, the two political parties rejected Mr. Perot, so he opposed their existence.

• So, when you hear people calling for the end to political parties or interest groups, examine their motives closely and realize that parties and interest groups may be the only way that people like you and me can really influence the political process.

• While we will discuss Individual participation in this section of the course, we will examine political parties and interest groups in the next section (section 3).

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• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Interest Groups: Definition

• Lecture: AUDIO

• The images we have of an interest group or a lobbyist are seldom positive. We perceive an interest group as some big, rich machine that gets benefits that we are unable to get. The image of a lobbyist (the person that tries to influence government on behalf of an interest group) is probably even more negative. The stereotypical lobbyist is a "good old boy" with a three-piece suit, a cigar, lots of jewelry, and lots of money, who is smooth, savvy, and willing to spend money. While there may be a grain of truth in all of these stereotypes, the reality is that interest groups are necessary and, I would argue, a positive part of the political process.

• The four components that define an interest group include:

• composed of more than one person;

• organized for a common goal;

• joined by a common interest; and,

• interested in trying to influence policy. Nothing in this definition suggests trying to control or illegally manipulate policies.

• Further, nothing here precludes you from joining or starting your own group. In order for a group to be classified as an interest group, it must have all four of these qualities. It is not enough for it to be more than one person, organized with a common goal-that could define a baseball or football team, a fraternity or a sorority. This group must be interested in trying to influence public policy if it is to be considered an interest group.

• While all interest groups have several characteristics in common, as noted in the previous lecture, not all interest groups are alike. Some groups are large, others are small. Some represent individuals (like the National Rifle Association), others represent businesses or product producers (such as the Texas Beef Council), others represent governmental units (for example, the Texas Association of Regional Councils). Each of these groups has a common interest, is organized, and tries to influence policy. However, they may differ significantly in their membership, their budgets, their methods, and their levels of success.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Interest Groups: Additional Definitions

• In addition to understanding the four components of the definition of an interest group, it is also important that you understand the definitions of three other related terms: lobbyist, constituency, and Political Action Committee (PAC).

• A lobbyist is a person (usually paid) who is hired to represent an interest group in the political process. They are hired to go to the state capitol and build relationships with legislators, governors and other people involved in making policy. They are usually paid well for their services. You and I cannot take time to go to the capitol, but we can come together and hire a lobbyist to do that for us.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• The constituency is all of the people who are represented by the interest group and by the lobbyist, whether they are part of the interest group or not. For example, if you are over 55, but have not paid money to join AARP (the Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons), you still benefit from the work they do. If you are a coal miner, but not in the coal miners' union, you still benefit if the union gets better wages or working conditions for every miner. This creates something called the “free rider problem,” where people who do not financially support the interest group benefit from their work.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• The final definition I want you to know about is the political action committee or PAC. It is the financial arm of the interest group. It is responsible for raising, coordinating, and distributing campaign contributions on behalf of the interest group. You can have an interest group without a PAC (if it does not try to influence elections without money), but you cannot have a PAC that does not have an interest group.

• One problem created by the distinction between the constituency (all those that benefit from the work of a group) and the interest group (those who actually pay dues and work on behalf of the constituency) is the free rider problem. Free riders are those who do not join the group, pay dues, or work on behalf of the cause, but gain benefits from those who do. For example, even if you never join the National Rifle Association, you benefit from their efforts if they are able to keep gun control laws out of Texas.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Reasons for Joining Groups

• We in the United States and Texas are joiners. People in this country join groups more than any other country in the world. Look at your own life. I would bet that you are a member of several groups-perhaps a fraternity, a service organization (League of Women Voters, Lion's Club, Masons), a church, a sports club or league, an ethnically, or gender-based group (NAACP, LULAC, NOW), or a professional association (group of engineers, lawyers, teachers, etc.). We like to join groups!

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Generally, we divide the reasons that people join groups into three types. First, many people join for material benefits - they get stuff for joining. For example, if you join the National Rifle Association, you get a card, a magazine, and discounts at several hunting stores. If you join AARP, you get a card that entitles you to discounts at many restaurants and hotels.

• A second reason that people generally join groups is for the social or solidarity benefits – they get to associate with other people they like, admire, or need. For example, many people join a fraternity or a sorority for the parties or the networking or the future connections. Someone may join a particular group not so much because they like the issues they support, but because they like the other people in the group. This is often true of churches, social clubs, or service organizations like the Moose or Lion’s Club.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Finally, there are those who join groups, particularly political groups, because they want to make a difference in public policy - policy benefits. We join a group that believes in what we believe in, with the hope that by joining together, we can implement or influence policies relative to that issue. For example, if I am concerned about the environment, I might join the Sierra Club. If I am opposed to abortion, I may join “Right to Life.” My objective by joining and contributing my time and money is to make a difference in that policy area.

• Material and solidarity benefits can be limited to those who pay dues or actually join the group and can be used to address, at least to some degree, the free rider problem discussed above.

• If you are interested in some of the groups noted above, check out the websites below:

• NAACP

• LULAC

• NOW

• AARP

• League of Women Voters

• Masons

• Lion's Club

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• High Power Groups

• To paraphrase George Orwell's Animal Farm, "All interest groups are equal, but some are more equal than others!" The History of Texas suggests that some types of interest groups have done much better than others. The most successful groups in Texas have traditionally been business groups, religious groups, and Texas Trial Lawyers. Think about why these groups are powerful. First, business groups have traditionally controlled politics in Texas because that is part of the traditionalistic culture-business is assumed to be good. Further, they have a great deal of money and are able to contribute to political campaigns.

• Let's look at four types of groups, relative to power: traditionally strong groups, traditionally weak groups, rising groups, and declining groups.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Traditionally strong groups are those groups that have always, or it seems like they have always, done well in Texas politics. These groups include big businesses (General Business Organizations), professional organizations, andconservative religious groups. Conservative religious organizations and churches are strong because of the strong conservative bent of the state and the large numbers of active church members who vote, and vote regularly. Religion permeates society in Texas and throughout the South. Professional organizations are those groups that represent professional occupations (trial lawyers, doctors, insurance agents, etc.). These traditionally strong groups have access, money, and a very active (and large) membership. The Texas Trial Lawyers benefit also from significant money. But, also, they benefit from a large number of lawyers who hold office in the legislature.

• Your Text notes several Interest Groups that wield significant power in the state:

• Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) - Formed in 1994 by key business leaders, this group has focused its efforts on making it more difficult for individuals to sue companies by altering the state's "tort" laws. Working closely with then Governor George W. Bush, the TLR got the legislature to pass and the governor to sign limits on "frivolous" law suits and limits on damages that companies would have to pay to victims. Since 2000, TLR has contributed more than $20 million to candidates for office in Texas.

• Texas Medical Association (TMA)- While most of us don't think of Doctors as business men and women, the health care industry makes up more than fifteen percent of the Texas economy. Regulations regarding care and lawsuits have a significant impact on what doctors can do and earn, so doctors try to have significant influence over those laws. It contributed almost $2 million in the 2008 election cycle alone, mostly to Republican candidates who wanted to limit the amount of money that doctors would have to pay to harmed patients.

• The Christian Right/ Texas Tea Party- Social conservatives who dominate the Bible belt of the Southern United States have played a significant role in the rise of the Republican Party in Texas. They began to organize in the early 1980s to support Ronald Regan and made their presence known in Texas in 1994 by helping to elect Governor George W. Bush. They promote a strong social "family values" agenda that includes restricting abortion, opposing gay marriage and supporting prayers and vouchers in the schools. In 2009, a national movement arose to oppose the "liberal agenda" of newly elected President Obama that fit nicely with the Texas Christian Right- the Texas Tea Party has flexed its muscles in recent years and may continue to do so- time will tell!

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Low Power, Rising and Declining Groups

• Just as the balance of power changes in sports leagues, the balance of power among types of interest groups is not stagnant. While business groups and religious groups have tended to remain strong (much like certain sports teams tend to remain competitive over time), other have generally risen and fallen over time. What factors change over time that will alter this balance of power?

• On the other hand, some groups have historically been weak and continue to be so. These traditionally weak groupsare those that have limited influence or power. I would note two types of groups that have historically had little power in Texas: labor unions, environmental groups and public interest groups. Labor unions are groups that organize to represent the interest of the workers (textile workers, dishwashers, auto workers, etc.). Texas is one of the least unionized states in the country and these groups have limited access, funding or membership. Environmental groups often clash with economic and business interests which tend to be very important in Texas. Public Interest Groups are those groups that lobby on behalf of some group or cause they beleive is underrepresented or that would benefit everyone. They are interested in the public good. This may include groups like League of Women Voters, Common Cause or groups that try to make sure politicians don't screw up. While teachers are powerful players in most states that does not seem to be the case in Texas, where teachers tend to be much less organized than in other states, with several major unions all declining in membership. The largest Teachers union (Association of Texas Professional Educators) has just over 100,000 members.

• Next is those groups who have historically had limited power in Texas, but now are increasing in power - those that have traditionally not done well, but seem to be getting stronger. I would suggest that two such groups are racial/ ethnic minorities and single-issue groups. Minority groups have become more important because of 1) of their growing proportion in the population (esp. Latinos); 2) they have gotten more organized; and, 3) we are more aware of minority-oriented issues (affirmative action, ballot access, etc.). The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is an increasingly powerful political force in Texas as Latinos increase in number they will become an increasingly important economic and political force in the state. While most Latinos tend to vote Democratic (especially in 2012), the election of Republican Ted Cruz as the state's first Latino US Senator might help the Republican party make inroads into this group. LULAC may not have lot of money, but they do have large numbers of active and organized members across the state.

• Single-issue groups refer to those groups that care about one issue-abortion, homosexual rights, gun control, etc. Those groups are becoming more important as our politics becomes more divisive and the Internet has given them a way to build, organize and coordinate their membership. One group noted in your book as strong in Texas, The Christian Right, would fit into that category.

• Finally, there is one group that I think is clearly on the decline in Texas: agricultural groups. For much of its history, agriculture (cotton, cattle, etc.) dominated the Texas economy. However, as that has changed, so has the power of agricultural groups. Historically, many of the legislators were from the rural parts of the state, but as the people have moved to the cities, so has political power. One might also include the oil, natural gas industry in this category. It is still important, but not nearly as strong as in the past.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• What Influences a Group's Power?

• As noted above, not all interest groups are equal when it comes to their ability to influence what lawmakers and the governor do. Some clearly have more power than others. Why? What do some groups (the influential ones) have that others (those with little influence) do not?

• Money: Probably the most common difference between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is money. Money matters because it can buy you most of the other things you need to be influential. It can hire the best lobbyist. It can purchase commercials and advertising to motivate folks and influence decision makers. It can hire staff to organize and motivate your members.

• Large Active Membership: An active membership can have a significant influence on policymakers by writing letters, knocking on doors, and visiting the policy makers. It is also a good source for money.

• Organization: It is not enough to have money and members. You must have an organization established to turn those resources into action. It takes organization to get people to write letters, to send e-mails, to send faxes, and to send text messages.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Reputation: Some groups have a lot of money and even a lot of members, but are still not that effective. Consider, for example, those in favor of legalizing prostitution. They could have a lot of money and a lot of members, but folks will not really listen. More seriously, the reputation of groups tends to go up and down-tobacco companies, used car dealers, and televangelists don’t have the best of reputations and that will affect their ability to influence policy. On the other hand, such groups as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the League of Women Voters have very good reputations.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• An Effective Lobbyist: An effective lobbyist is one who has access to decision makers. They usually cost a lot of money, but are worth it. Former legislators and former legislative staff members tend to be very effective lobbyists because they have access to policy makers.

• A Geographically Diverse Membership: While a large membership is important, it is even more important that the membership be spread across the state. A large membership limited to the Dallas or Houston areas will have little influence on policy makers from the rest of the state.

• It is not necessary that a group have all of these assets, but you do need to have some of them if you want to have influence.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Methods of Influencing Policy

• When most people think of interest groups trying to influence policy, they get one of two pictures. First they may think of a lobbyist "buying" a legislator with an expensive dinner or a trip to the Bahamas to "talk politics." The second picture is of some political action committee giving millions of dollars to a political campaign, usually under the table with little public knowledge.

• The reality is much different from this fairytale. First, in Texas, as in most other states now, lobbyists are very restricted in the kinds of gifts they can give politicians. The Texas house rules provide a good example of these limitations. Further, with all of the investigative media running around (a politician's worst nightmare is Mike Wallace of "60 Minutes" showing up at your office!), most politicians are scared to accept even legal gifts.

• Further, all campaign contributions must be reported to the Texas Ethics Commission and violations of those rules can result in severe penalties for the group and the candidate. Any group that intends to lobby the legislature must sign with the Texas Ethics Commission and report its activity. The days of lobbyists controlling the legislature with liquor and money are, for the most part, gone. Today's lobbyists must rely on other techniques, such as grassroots lobbying and public relations campaigns to influence politics.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Methods of Influencing Policy, continued

• Let’s look at the four primary methods that interest groups use to influence public policy:

• Direct Lobbying: This method is just what its name implies. The lobbyist works directly with the policymaker in an effort to influence what he or she does. This is what you traditionally think of when you think of lobbying - a lobbyist takes a policy maker to lunch or dinner or to a ballgame or to the races. It involves the relationship between the lobbyist and the legislator. While the short-term objective here is to get the legislator to do what he or she wants, the more significant objective of direct lobbying is to establish a friendly yet professional rapport with the policy makers such that they will automatically support the lobbyist's position unless given a compelling reason not to do so. To do this, the lobbyist must be willing to lose a vote if it is not in the best interest of the policymaker-they will repay that trust in kind.

• According to a recent study found that during the 2013-2014 Legislative Session, lobbyists spent more than $6 million on direct lobbying activities. Not suprisingly, the biggest chunk of that ($4.7 million) went toward providing wining and dining legislators either individually or at receptions for groups of legislators. Another $850,000 was spent on "entertainment." and more than $500,000 on gifts for legislators. While these expenditures may not buy votes, they do buy access- while dining with a legislator, a lobbyist has his or her undivided attention for an extended period of time.

• Lobby Spending, 2013-2014

• Who did they spend it on?	Total
  Senators	$396,314.34
  Representatives	$1,531,748.08
  Other elected/appointed state officers	$83,144.16
  Legislative branch employees	$2,476,216.08
  Executive agency employees	$475,318.33
  Immediate family of legislative and executive branch members	$441,781.75
  All legislators invited	$1,602,818.50
  Guests	$446,508.45
  Total	$7,453,849.69*
  What did they spend it on?	Total
  Transportation and lodging	$264,115.21
  Food and Beverage	$4,703,298.96
  Entertainment	$846,001.04
  Gifts	$564,508.92
  Awards & Mementos	$38,964.92
  Political chairities & fundraisers	$136,864.75
  Mass media communications	$477,689.86
  	$7,031,443.66*

• * Difference in totals reflects different queries of the online TEC database.

• Indirect (Grassroots) Lobbying: This method involves the lobbyist organizing the members of the interest group and having them contact the policy maker. It is called indirect lobbying because the lobbyist contacts the policy maker indirectly, through the members of the interest group. The lobbyist has them write letters, send e-mails, visit hearings, stop by legislative offices-anything to try to get them to move in the direction that he or she wants. This approach is most useful for groups that have a large number of active members. The lobbyist's goal with indirect lobbying is to get the members of his or her group to exert influence on the policy makers.

• Public Relations: If the other two methods have not worked, the lobbyist may turn to public relations-efforts to move the public to like, or at least not hate him or her. The lobbyist is not trying to get members of the public to all call their legislators, but rather to alter public perception about his or her cause. This is particularly useful for wealthy companies or industries that have a negative image (oil and gas industry, tobacco, alcohol, etc.).

• Campaign Activity: Finally, when most of us think of efforts to influence public policy, we think of campaign activity: offering support (time, money, resources) to the efforts of a candidate or a political party to get elected to an office. Interest groups and their political action committees do take a very active role in supporting the campaigns of candidates they believe will be supportive of their causes.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Types of Lobbyists

• Lobbyists, those people who represent interest groups in Austin which are charged with monitoring and trying to influence the activities of the government, are one of the most interesting components of the political process in Texas. During the 78th session of the Texas Legislature (2003), there were 1,288 registered lobbyists. While there are a few lobbyists today who meet the old stereotype of the rich, fat white guy with the chains and the three piece suit, more and more lobbyists are trained professionals who are as likely to be female as male.

• Let's look at five different types of lobbyists:

• While many do represent a wide variety of clients (the contract lobbyist), the majority represent a single industry (in-house lobbyist) or a government agency (government lobbyist). However, there are also lobbyists who are not professional (at least in terms of pay), but lobby because they firmly believe in their efforts-we call them hobbyists and cause lobbyists. Let's take a look at all five types.

• In-House Lobbyist. The most common type of lobbyist in the Texas Legislature is the In-House Lobbyist- a person that works for just one company or one industry and no one else. For example, Exxon has several lobbyists in Texas and they only work for Exxon. Likewise, the American Medical Association has one or two lobbyists that work only for them. These lobbyists have the advantage of being recognized as lobbyists for this one cause and they usually have an expertise in their field that makes them effective. Almost half of all lobbyists fall into this category. These are the most effective lobbyists because they have more time to get to know the legislators.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• When most of us think of a lobbyist, we think of the traditional contract lobbyist as someone who is hired by many companies to represent them. Sometimes he or she may be hired to work a particular bill or to work for a particular session. The lobbyist will have many clients and is paid by each one.

• Third, private businesses are not the only groups to hire lobbyists. Government agencies also have people who are hired to make their case to the legislators-these are known as government lobbyists. They are just like an in-house lobbyist, except that they lobby on behalf of government agencies. For example, the Texas Department of education has several people who provide information and support for legislators in hopes of getting favorable treatment for education policy.

• Not all lobbyists are in it for the money-some are in it because they believe deeply in a cause and may even work for free. These are called cause (or single issue) lobbyists. They lobby on behalf of something-often ideological, religious or philosophical-that may not directly benefit them, but they believe is right. Examples of such lobbyists are those who lobby for or against abortion rights, school prayer, homosexual rights or drug legalization. It also will include folks like Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

• Finally, a very small group of people lobby for some cause with little or no support behind them. I call these folks thehobbyists. They are like Don Quixote tilting at windmills-working alone and usually for a lost cause. They tend to like being around the capitol and will often do strange things to bring attention to their cause-like the person who lobbied for seatbelts by wearing a belt made out of a seatbelt!

• Changes in ethical standards and regulations have significantly altered the nature of direct lobbying in the Texas as well as other states. Contract lobbyists are on the decline, while in-house, ideological, and government lobbyists are on the rise. Given their propensity to defy odds, the hobbyist is likely to remain a small but interesting part of the lobbying landscape!

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• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Keys to Effective Lobbying

• The key to effective lobbying is relationships. Effective lobbyists are those who can build a strong, positive relationship with members of the legislature. Money does matter. Campaign support does matter. However, nothing is more important for the lobbyist than his or her relationship with the individuals in the legislature. If the legislator or the governor likes the lobbyist and trusts him or her, then it will be much easier to persuade that policy maker to act.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• There are four keys to being an effective lobbyist:

• Be Selective: Don’t try to get something every day. Know that on some issues it is better to walk away than to always be asking for something. If you are always asking for something, the legislators will never know when you really do need something.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Be Honest: You always hear about dishonesty in politics. While this may be true in campaigns, it is not true in the halls of the legislature. Lobbyists must be honest and tell legislators the true facts about the consequences of his or her position or the lobbyist will find themselves out of a job, or at least without any influence.

• Be Brief: Policymakers are busy people and don’t have a lot of time to sit around and chat. It is very important for lobbyists to recognize the value of a legislator's time and be prepared to make their case and get out. If the legislator wants to spend more time, it is up to that legislator.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Be Understanding: Understand and accept when a legislator cannot support you on a particular issue. Harass the legislator when it is clear that voting as you wish will cause the legislator significant personal or political harm.

• As noted earlier, some interest groups are more effective and more influential than others. One of the biggest factors in the success or failure of an interest group is the quality and experience of the lobbyist. During 2016, there were 1,639 individuals registered as lobbyists with the Texas Ethics Commission. It is safe to assume that some of those lobbyists were more effective than the others. The most effective lobbyists are those who have learned the informal rules discussed in this lecture.

• Rather than go over the informal rules for success, think about some of the people who might possess those characteristics. Perhaps the most effective legislative lobbyists are former legislators. Not only do they know the system, they also know the legislators. For example, former House Speaker Gib Lewis was the lobbyist for DFW Airport.

• Another good lobbyist is a former staff person. They will have the knowledge and the contacts, although the contacts will be less important than the knowledge. Finally, experts in a particular policy area make good lobbyists. It is hard for a legislator to argue about the importance of biomedical research with a biomedical researcher, however, make sure that the expert is as well versed in the informal and formal rules of the legislature as he or she is in the finer points of biomedical engineering!

• Lobbyists in Texas can make great money. As you read/listen to this lecture, think about how you might become a lobbyist if that is a career objective in which you might have an interest. What knowledge or skills will you need? How can you get them?

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• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Indirect Lobbying

• As direct lobbying has come under suspicion by the public and the media, indirect or grassroots lobbying has become an increasingly significant part of the lobbying landscape. Grassroots lobbying includes any effort to influence the opinion of the politician by getting members of the public or the interest group to contact them. It may include phones, faxes, e-mails, marches, or personal visits.

• Let's look at three types of grassroots lobbying: coordinated individual contact, coordinated public demonstration, and coordinated civil disobedience.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Coordinated Individual Contact: This is perhaps the most common form of indirect lobbying. The lobbyist contacts the members of the interest group and organizes them to contact the legislator with phone calls, faxes, letters, text messages, or visits. The purpose is to make clear to the legislator just how much support there is for this action and that not doing something might cause them political harm.

• Coordinated Public Demonstrations: Sometimes it is not enough to have members send letters, cards, faxes, etc. The lobbyist needs something bigger. In that case, he or she might organize the group to ascend on the capitol in mass and offer some public demonstration to bring attention to the cause. Perhaps everyone in the group boards a bus and goes, or as farmers all ride tractors, or truckers all ride their eighteen wheelers. The lobbyist is trying to change policy by bringing public attention to that policy.

• Civil Disobedience: A third kind of indirect lobbying is a bit more extreme-coordinated civil disobedience. This means getting people to break the law to bring attention to the law. For example, some groups against the use of animal furs throw paint on those who wear them. Some people against cruelty to animals will trash labs where new products are tested on animals. Obviously, this is a very risky approach! You may make more enemies than friends if you are not careful. One such successful effort was the civil rights movement of the 1960s when African-American's defied clearly racist laws.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Certain types of lobbying groups, particularly those with a large number of active and involved members, are likely to engage in this activity. This method does not require a great deal of money. Almost all groups with a substantial membership encourage their members to contact the legislature to promote their ideas and issues. They will organize members to act, send members packets of information for effective grassroots lobbying, and provide them with links and contacts on their Web site. For a good example, see the Web page of the Latin American League of United Citizens (LULAC) It explains the positions of the group as well as methods by which members can contact public officials. The Web page of the National Rifle Association encourages similar action on its behalf.

• Indirect lobbying has increased for several reasons. First, there are more groups that have a large population base, but limited access or financial resources (ethnic and gender-based groups did not really have much influence until recent years). Second, increased political competition has made politicians more likely to listen to such action. Finally, advances in modern technology (e-mail, cable television, the Internet) have increased the ability of groups to reach their members, and of their members to reach the politicians.

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• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Types of Direct Lobbying

• There are four distinct types of direct lobbying employed by lobbyists: one-one-one visits, speaking at hearings, casework assistance, and wining and dining.

• One-on-One Visits to the Office: The type of direct lobbying we are most familiar with is one-on-one visits to the office of the legislator. Lobbyists are called lobbyists because they spend most of their time hanging out in the lobbies of legislative offices waiting to get in. Once in the door, they have the opportunity to make their case to the legislator on whatever issue is of importance to them. They have the undivided attention of the policy maker.

• Presentations at Hearings and Meetings: While it is preferential to make your case before an individual legislator, time does not always make it possible. Often times lobbyists make their case before an entire group of legislators, usually in a public hearing or committee meeting. Each lobbyist will get a certain amount of time to make his or her case and, perhaps, answer some questions.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Constituent Casework: As noted above, the primary objective of a lobbyist is to build a good relationship with the policy maker and one very good way to do that is to help him or her with a problem. Constituents, people who live in a legislator's district, are always having problems with companies or government agencies and if a lobbyist can help take care of that, then the legislator will owe him or her for the favor.

• Wining and Dining. The mental image that many of you have of a lobbyist is someone who is sitting at a table with a legislator, plying them with wine and expensive food. This does take place-lobbyists do take legislators out to eat in some states and even take them on trips. However, due to new regulations, this does not take place nearly as much as it did in the past.

• The nature of direct lobbying has changed dramatically over the last few decades. While lobbyists do still take legislators out to dinner and wine and dine them, there are so many restrictions on such activity, and the public has grown so disgusted with it, that most politicians and lobbyists alike are scared to engage in it on a grand scale. Indeed, to avoid even the appearance of undue influence by lobbyists, Texas leaders have banned interest group parties and functions during the last few weeks of the session when most of the legislative business is being conducted.

• Now, most of direct, or personal, lobbying is done out in the open, rather than behind the closed door of a bar or restaurant. Every bill in the legislature is required to have a public hearing and lobbyists are wise to make their case at that hearing. This allows them to make their case to the legislators, but also to show the members of their interest group that they are actively working. Smart lobbyists are also willing to help legislators with problems on behalf of constituents, but again, many legislators are becoming wary of such help because it may give the appearance of favoritism ("you help me and I will help you").

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Public Relations

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Only in the last few years have interest groups learned what advertisers have known for a long time: the public can be persuaded by commercials and public relations campaigns. Further, if people like an organization or a group, they are less likely to let the government place negative laws, regulations, or taxes on that group. Some groups are so popular that they have to engage in very little PR (public relations) activity.

• For example, Mothers Against Drunk Driving does not need to advertise to gain public support. However, public relations campaigns are imperative for the survival of other groups. For example, in light of recent outbreaks of violence in the public schools, the National Rifle Association is having to mount a vigorous campaign about its education and training programs in order to fend off significant action in Congress and the state legislatures. Why else would they hire a national figure like Charleton Heston as their spokesperson and emphasize their educational programs, efforts to protect women and children, and support of the Special Olympics?

• There are really three types of public relations activities: advertising campaigns, sponsored research, andsponsoring events.

• With advertising campaigns, various industries are trying to make their image more positive so that the policy makers won't attack them or tax them. This is particularly true of products or industries that are unpopular (tobacco, insurance, energy, etc.). The intent of the public relations campaigns is to make it clear that a particular industry or product is not one of the bad guys and make it less likely that they will be targeted by politicians.

• Provide Studies or Publications. Another way that groups try to persuade the public is by providing data and information that supports their cause. The insurance industry provides studies that show that they are not to blame for rising medical costs; the tobacco industry releases studies minimizing the evidence that smoking causes cancer; and energy companies release studies suggesting global warming is not a significant problem or, if it is, they did not cause it. Finally, many companies also get a great deal of popular support by sponsoring events.

• For example, for centuries, RJ Reynolds sponsored Winston Cup Racing and Virginia Slims cigarettes sponsored women’s tennis tournaments. More recently, groups like the National Rifle Association have been sponsoring the Special Olympics. All of these sponsorships place the product or the industry in a more positive light, which is the objective of PR.

• Efforts to engage in such activity require a great deal of money. The money is necessary to buy media time and space to get the industry's message out. Further, it is necessary to hire a PR firm to develop and market the message, and to hire actors or directors to put together commercials. Recent successful efforts to shift public opinion on a particular matter include the health care debate in Washington (remember Louise and what's his name?) and the debate over telephone competition in Texas.

• Remember the objective of such campaigns: you don’t have to love us, just don’t hate us!

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Campaign Assistance

• Not surprisingly, assisting a politician in gaining his or her office is a very good way to influence the political process. No matter how popular, a politician cannot get elected without campaign assistance, including money and hands to put up signs and stuff envelopes. There are basically three types of campaign assistance: money, organization, and people.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Money is critically important for political campaigns, especially in races where candidates need to reach a significant number of voters. Campaign contributions are necessary if candidates are going to be successful in terms of organizing their campaigns, getting their message out, and reaching the voters. One of the most effective ways of getting money to candidates is via a process called bundling. Money has always been important in politics, but it has become even moreso in recent years as campaigns and elections have become more expensive. More than $80 million was spent by the two candidates for Texas Governor in 2014!

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Money is not the only resource that interest groups can provide. They can also provide organization - helping the candidate understand the district and run an effective campaign organization. This is particularly true of labor unions that often have worked a particular district or precinct for years. They can give you, especially if you are a new candidate, the benefit of their knowledge and experience.

• Finally, successful campaigns need people. While many statewide and Congressional campaigns rely on radio and television advertisements to get much of their message out, most legislative and local campaigns rely on people to make phone calls, put up yard signs, knock on doors, and stuff envelopes. This is particularly useful for interest groups with a large number of members.

• Financial contributions are a significant part of politics in Texas, especially for political action committees (PAC's; the financial arm of an interest group). While PAC's are limited as to how much they can give to candidates for national office (President, US Senate and Congress), there are no such limits on PAC's in Texas.

• The view in Texas is that rather than regulate campaign contributions, the people are better served if all contributions are made public and the voters can decide if a contribution is inappropriate or not. There are two problems with this approach. First, the final reports are not due until well after the election, so it is difficult to see how voters can use the information in making their decisions. Second, many PAC's fail to report and are seldom, if ever, punished, except that their names are made public. The role of money can be seen in the number of registered PAC's in Texas and the amount that some of them contributed.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Interest Groups- What Groups Matter?

• Number of Groups per Legislator and Most Influential Groups By State.

• As noted above,not all interest groups are created equal- by virtue of the number and geographic diversity of their members, the money they can spend, the experience of their lobbyist(s) and the nature of their issue, some groups are more powerful than others. The table below reveals the most important (influential) groups by state for all fifty states. Recall earlier in the notes when we talked about the types of groups likely to be influential in Texas, the first mentioned was "Business Groups." That is clearly indicated in the table below. According to the list below, compiled by The Center for Public Integrity, four of the five most influential interest groups in Texas are corporations, with the Texas Medical Association being the "lone man out." Perhaps even more telling is the fact that two of the four corporations are energy related- reminding us once again how important the energy industry is to the state of Texas. Further, this list of corporations makes it clear that money remains an important asset in influencing policy makers in the state- you will notice that all five of these groups are well funded! Money not only matters in Texas, but also in other states. You will note in the chart below that with the exception of a few Universities and Education Associations (who have large and geographically diverse memberships), all of these influential interest groups are well funded corporations who employ lot of people in their states.

• In addition to indicating which groups matter in the states, this study also ranks the states by the number of groups per legislator- sort of an indicator of where the groups spend their time effort and money. Not surprisingly, the top states (California New York, Florida, New Jersey and Texas) are all highly populated states. Interest groups tend to invest their resources where they will have the most impact and the states with the most people would obviously fit that bill!

• As you look at the data below, think about how the list of important and influential groups might be different if all of the states had publicly funded elections so that campaign contributions were not so important.

• State	Avg. entity to lawmaker ratio (2010-2014)	Top five entities (2010-2014)
  California	30	AT&T INC. EDISON INTERNATIONAL LOS ANGELES COUNTY COMCAST CORP. CITY OF LOS ANGELES
  Florida	25	AT&T INC. TECO ENERGY INC. THE WALT DISNEY CO. DOSAL TOBACCO CORP.FLORIDA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
  New York	21	KPMG INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK UNIVERSITY NEW YORK PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC.
  New Jersey	19	COVANTA HOLDING CORP. FIRSTENERGY CORP. VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC.PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL INC. CABLEVISION SYSTEMS CORP.
  Texas	16	ENERGY FUTURE HOLDINGS CORP. AT&T INC. VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC.TEXAS MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ENTERGY CORP.
  Arizona	16	MARANA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT MARICOPA COUNTY PINNACLE WEST CAPITAL CORP. FREEPORT-MCMORAN INC. ARIZONA ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE
  Colorado	14	COLORADO CENTER ON LAW & POLICY CENTURYLINK INC. BROWNSTEIN HYATT FARBER & SCHRECK LLP COMCAST CORP. MILE HIGH RACING
  Ohio	13	AT&T INC. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR WHOLESALE BEER & WINE ASSOCIATION OF OHIO FIRSTENERGY CORP. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
  Nebraska	11	AARP NEBRASKA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION LEAGUE OF NEBRASKA MUNICIPALITIES MUELLER ROBAK LLC CENTER FOR RURAL AFFAIRS
  Missouri	11	AMEREN CORP. AT&T INC. MISSOURI HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION MISSOURI INSURANCE COALITION MISSOURI COUNCIL OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
  Illinois	11	AMEREN CORP. AT&T INC. EXELON CORP. SEIU HEALTHCARE ILLINOIS & INDIANACABLE TELEVISION & COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION OF ILLINOIS
  Utah	10	INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE INC. UTAH PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' ASSOCIATIONSANDY CITY BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY ENERGY UTAH BANKERS ASSOCIATION
  Michigan	10	HONIGMAN MILLER SCHWARTZ AND COHN LLP DTE ENERGY AT&T INC. BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MICHIGAN BANK OF AMERICA CORP.
  Louisiana	10	AT&T INC. BATON ROUGE AREA CHAMBER LOUISIANA OIL & GAS ASSOCIATIONCOALITION FOR COMMON SENSE CENTERPOINT ENERGY INC.
  Washington	9	WASHINGTON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION WASHINGTON STATE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION COLUMBIA LEGAL SERVICES WASHINGTON STATE HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION NORTHWEST OPEN ACCESS NETWORK
  Oregon	9	OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR OREGON UNIVERSITY SYSTEM ASSOCIATION OF OREGON COUNTIES DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES OREGON ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL
  Delaware	9	ARTESIAN RESOURCES CORP. LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF DELAWARE FIDELITY INVESTMENTS COMCAST CORP. REYBOLD GROUP
  Virginia	7	VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. VIRGINIA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION VIRGINIA HOSPITAL & HEALTHCARE ASSOCIATION AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER CO. VIRGINIA URANIUM INC.
  Minnesota	7	EDUCATION MINNESOTA XCEL ENERGY INC. ALLETE INC. AFSCME LEADERSHIP COUNCIL 5 FLINT HILLS RESOURCES
  Georgia	7	SOUTHERN CO. AT&T INC. METRO ATLANTA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AGL RESOURCES INC. GEORGIA MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION
  Alaska	7	NORTHWEST ARCTIC BOROUGH GENERAL COMMUNICATION INC. PEBBLE LIMITED PARTNERSHIP ALASKA PRIMARY CARE ASSOCIATION CONOCOPHILLIPS
  Wisconsin	6	AT&T INC. WISCONSIN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION COUNCIL WEC ENERGY GROUP INC. WISCONSIN MANUFACTURERS & COMMERCE MILWAUKEE METROPOLITAN SEWERAGE DISTRICT
  Tennessee	6	AT&T INC. TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION AARP TENNESSEE GROCERS & CONVENIENCE STORE ASSOCIATION TENNESSEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
  Oklahoma	6	AT&T INC. STATE CHAMBER OF OKLAHOMA TARRANT REGIONAL WATER DISTRICTOKLAHOMA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION ZURICH INSURANCE GROUP LTD.
  New Mexico	6	NEW MEXICO ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATIONAL RETIREES AARP NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION - NEW MEXICO LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF NEW MEXICO REALTORS ASSOCIATION OF NEW MEXICO
  Maryland	6	VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. PEPCO HOLDINGS INC. EXELON CORP.MARYLAND ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS XEROX CORP.
  Iowa	6	CITY OF DES MOINES IOWA ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRUSTEESIOWA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IOWA CITIZENS FOR COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT IOWA HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATION - IOWA CENTER FOR ASSISTED LIVING
  Alabama	6	ALABAMA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION SOUTHERN CO. AT&T INC. BUSINESS COUNCIL OF ALABAMA BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF ALABAMA
  Pennsylvania	5	VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. FIRSTENERGY CORP. UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MEDICAL CENTER UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA COMCAST CORP.
  North Carolina	5	WELLS FARGO & CO. NORTH CAROLINA JUSTICE CENTER NORTH CAROLINA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION FIDELITY INVESTMENTS AT&T INC.
  Kentucky	5	KENTUCKIANS FOR THE COMMONWEALTH AT&T INC. KENTUCKY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION KENTUCKY ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERSCHURCHILL DOWNS INC.
  Kansas	5	KANSAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS KANSAS HOSPITAL ASSOCIATIONKANSAS DENTAL ASSOCIATION KANSAS CABLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION AT&T INC.
  Indiana	5	BOSE MCKINNEY & EVANS LLP ICE MILLER LLP BARNES & THORNBURG LLP INDIANA FARM BUREAU AT&T INC.
  Idaho	5	WELLS FARGO & CO. FIDELITY INVESTMENTS BLUE CROSS OF IDAHO IDAHO FARM BUREAU FEDERATION IDAHO SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION
  Hawaii	5	HEALTHCARE ASSOCIATION OF HAWAII HAWAII ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS CASTLE & COOK INC. LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF HAWAII MONSANTO CO.
  Connecticut	5	UIL HOLDINGS CORP. AT&T INC. CONNECTICUT HOSPITAL ASSOCIATIONCONNECTICUT BUSINESS & INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION CONNECTICUT FUND FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
  West Virginia	4	INDEPENDENT OIL & GAS ASSOCIATION OF WEST VIRGINIA WEST VIRGINIA COAL ASSOCIATION WEST VIRGINIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WEST VIRGINIA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION WEST VIRGINIA OLD AND NATURAL GAS ASSOCIATION
  Rhode Island	4	RHODE ISLAND STATE POLICE LIFESPAN CORP. RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE CARE NEW ENGLAND HEALTH SYSTEM BLUE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD OF RHODE ISLAND
  Mississippi	4	SOUTHERN CO. CAPITOL RESOURCES LLC AT&T INC. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNORBANK OF AMERICA CORP.
  Arkansas	4	ARKANSAS BLUE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD USABLE CORP. ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION PINNACLE BUSINESS SYSTEMS INC. THE STEPHENS GROUP
  Wyoming	3	FREMONT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT #24 AARP ALTRIA GROUP INC. COLORADO WYOMING PETROLEUM MARKETERS ASSOCIATION QEP RESOURCES INC.
  South Carolina	3	AT&T INC. SOUTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA DUKE ENERGY CORP. SCANA CORP.
  Montana	3	CITY OF BOZEMAN PLUM CREEK TIMBER CO. MONTANA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATIONYELLOWSTONE ENERGY LP ROSEBUD OPERATING SERVICES INC.
  Massachusetts	3	MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS ASSOCIATION FIDELITY INVESTMENTS MASSACHUSETTS HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION OF HEALTH PLANSGREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES
  Vermont	2	GAZ METRO VERMONT PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP VERMONT ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY INC. VERMONT STATE DENTAL SOCIETY VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC.
  South Dakota	2	SOUTH DAKOTA BOARD OF REGENTS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE SOUTH DAKOTA STATE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION DEPARTMENT OF LABOR & REGULATION
  Nevada	2	NEVADA JUSTICE ASSOCIATION LAS VEGAS METRO CHAMBER OF COMMERCENEVADA RESORT ASSOCIATION NEVADA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION NEVADA LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
  North Dakota	2	ALTRIA GROUP INC. NORTH DAKOTA VETERANS COORDINATING COUNCIL NORTH DAKOTA ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES NORTH DAKOTA GRAIN DEALERS ASSOCIATION LINCOLN MUTUAL LIFE & CASUALTY INSURANCE CO.
  Maine	2	MAINE STATE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION LOCAL 1989 MAINE PULP & PAPER ASSOCIATION PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURERS OF AMERICAMAINE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION CASELLA WASTE SYSTEMS INC.
  New Hampshire	1	NORTHEAST UTILITIES PLC COMCAST CORP. NEW HAMPSHIRE HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION SELECT MANAGEMENT RESOURCES REYNOLDS AMERICAN INC.

• Ashley Balcerzak, Liz Essley Whyte and Kytja Weir contributed reporting.

• Sources: Center for Public Integrity analysis of data from National Institute on Money in State Politics, National Conference of State Legislatures and state records.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Determinants of Group Power

• Interest groups are more important in Texas than in most other states. They play very significant roles in the election of politicians to office and then in the way those politicians decide their political positions on significant issues. There are four reasons that interest groups tend to be more important in Texas than other states.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• First, they influence elections a great deal because elections in Texas are expensive. Even a seat for the Texas Senate, which pays less than $8,000 a year, may cost in excess of a million dollars to win! Candidates have to get this money from somewhere and interest group PAC's are a legal, willing, and able source.

• Second, because pay is so little for legislators in Texas, they must work other jobs to make ends meet. They do not, therefore, have time to do a great deal of research or study the issues. The lobbyists become a convenient and natural source of information for legislators when they are deciding how to vote. Further, this limited pay may make legislators more susceptible to taking bribes.

• Third, because business and conservative groups tend to dominate Texas politics, the other groups do not get much opportunity to challenge them. Without true competition among groups, these groups control the process. Therefore, there are very few limits on what interest groups in Texas can do and they are not very highly regulated.

• Fourth, the state has historically not been very economically diverse. One or two industries have dominated the state’s economy and the state’s politics. If one group dominates everything, that group is very powerful.

• Finally, because the Texas government is so decentralized and fragmented across the three branches of government as well as state and local government, lobbyists can stop a bill at almost any stage, giving individual groups significant powers. There are so many places that a group or lobbyist can influence laws.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Are Interest Groups Good or Bad?

• Like most anything, from chocolate to physical exercise, interest groups in moderation and in a controlled setting are very good, but too many interest groups can be detrimental to democracy. Interest groups are positive when the system meets the four qualifications of pluralism (democracy by groups):

• There is a large number of active and organized interest groups.
  
  

• All sides of the debate are adequately represented, for example, if there is an abortion group, there needs to be an anti-abortion group.
  
  

• All groups have equal access to policy makers. This is where we have a problem. I don’t think all groups have equal access. Groups with more money, larger membership, better organization, and a better lobbyist, are likely to have more access.
  
  

• The leaders and lobbyists of those groups must operate in a democratic fashion, accepting the demands of their supporters, If they don’t listen to us, the system falls apart.
  
  

• The political leaders must respond to what the leaders of the group demand. If you have all of these things, but the political leaders don’t listen, none of this matters.

• To evaluate groups in Texas, let's look at how the state meets these five criteria. First, all sides are not adequately represented in most debates. Business groups are well represented, while labor groups have almost no voice. Wealthy groups have a voice, while poor groups seldom do.

• Second, the staff of the Texas legislature and the executive office are pretty good and can provide a strong counter to the information provided by biased groups.

• Third, the reporting requirements in Texas are pretty strong, although lobbyists must merely report their presence or intent to lobby in the legislature, not the specific bills which they seek to influence. The problems with the financial reporting requirements were outlined earlier.

• Finally, as a result of history and practice, some groups do tend to dominate debate in Texas and all groups do not start on a level playing field.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Are Interest Groups Good or Bad? continued

• This would suggest that our system is not pluralist. It is rather, an elitist system:

• There is a small, identifiable group of elites with common interests and characteristics.

• The attitudes and positions of this group consistently run contrary to the interests and positions of the general public.

• This group of elites wins the vast majority of the time.

• The elites will fake or allow “losses” every once in a while in order to stay in power.

• This approach suggests that while we have multiple and active interest groups, they do not really run the system. Instead, the political system is determined and controlled by an elite group of leaders, ignoring the will of most people-a few small interest groups, controlled by white, wealthy males tend to control the system. Historically, in Texas, this has been very true. It may be changing, but historically, it was clearly true. If you agree with this theory, then interest groups are not good.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• In short, interest groups may not be the devil of the system that many tend to believe today. In fact, they provide some good services. However, in Texas, the tendency of certain types of groups to have better resources and access does raise some concerns about their ability to influence the political system contrary to public opinion.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Interest Groups

• Comparison of Interest Groups and Political Parties

• In many ways, interest groups and political parties are very similar. They each are made up of citizens, usually voters, who are interested in trying to influence politics. They also provide an outlet for people to join others with similar positions. However, in the United States and Texas, there are significant differences between the two, particularly in terms of their objectives and structure.

• While both interest groups and political parties are active in trying to influence policy, their purpose and means of doing so are different. Interest groups are primarily interested in influencing the policy outcome important to their group. For example, members of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) want the Texas Legislature to protect the rights of a woman to have an abortion, and they don't really care which legislators do it or which party those legislators are in. On the other hand, while the Democratic Party of Texas may oppose limitations on abortion,they are more concerned with winning offices and controlling government-if that means electing a Democrat who is pro-life, then so be it.

• In short, the primary objective of most interest groups is to influence public policy in their direction, even if that means supporting candidates who may lose, but who agree with you. Political parties, however, are more interested in controlling the positions and powers of government, which means electing the most people, even if they do not really agree with the party's political position.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties

• Political Parties: Definition

• Every country that holds elections, even unfair or undemocratic elections, has political parties. These groups, as noted earlier, are how we are organized to select our political leaders. Every country has political parties and a political party system. However, those political parties or political party systems vary considerably across countries. As noted in the lecture, parties in the United States and Texas are pragmatic, decentralized, two-party, and relatively powerless.

• On the other hand, parties in other countries may be very ideological, concerned much more with getting candidates who have their position then they are with winning. In most developed democratic countries, the central party controls everything that happens in the parties. While we have only two parties, many countries have ten, fifteen, etc., parties. Italy has more than a dozen parties in the government. Why are US parties so different?

• First, historically, we have had only two parties since the inception of parties in the early 1800's and it is hard to break that habit. Second, the parties are limited in power because we in the US, and particularly in Texas, believe that the individual is more important than a group. No political party will tell us what to do! Third, our rules are set up to discourage centralized parties or third parties. The two major parties (Democrats and Republicans) have all kinds of advantages that young third parties don't have. Other countries give votes to minor parties, but here, you only get power if you win, not if you come close.

• As you listen to this lecture, think about how things might be different in Texas or the United States if we had multiple parties (more than Democrats or Republicans) or strong political parties which control the election and nomination.

• See the next page to see how Texas compares!

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties

• Three Components of Political Parties

• What is a political party? The answer to that question might be much like the three blindfolded men asked to describe an elephant by touch. One says it is like a tree, another like a wall, and the third like a long rope! What you find depends on where you look! Political parties are many things to many people, but political scientist V.O. Key, Jr., a famous scholar who died in the 1960s, suggested that political parties could be divided into three distinct, but interrelated parts: party in the electorate, party organization, and party in government.

• Party in the Electorate. When most folks think about political parties, such as Republican and Democratic parties, they generally think about the identification of members of the public with each party. Party in the electorate is the party in the minds, hearts, and votes of the public-the psychological attachment that you do or do not have toward a political party. People generally identify with one of the two political parties and their votes usually reflect that identification. Party in the electorate is not nearly so strong now in the United States as it has been in the past, with more than a third of the voters not identifying with either party. In Texas, party in the electorate has historically been quite strong, especially for Democrats (who controlled everything for so long), but it is weakening here as well.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• The second component is the party organization. This refers to the party officials (state chairman, state committee, precinct and district chairs, as well as hired staff) who are dedicated to the daily existence and operation of the political party. These folks, some paid and some not, are dedicated to seeing that the members of their party who are recruited to run for office are elected to office.

• The party organization is the party machine-it is made up of the most loyal and dedicated members of the party who want to see their candidates in office. This represents the linkage between the voters and the government. Interestingly, while the parties in Texas were strong in the electorate, they were traditionally weak in organization.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties

• Three Components of Political Parties, continued

• Finally, the third perspective, party in government is related to what the elected officials of each party do once in office. If the party in government is strong, Democratic elected officials will vote together on one side and Republican elected officials will vote together on the other side. Historically in Texas, party in government has been weak.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• This was true when the Democrats controlled everything (1880s to 1950s)--- because everyone was a Democrat, party did not really matter. Once in office, elected officials voted according to ideology (conservative vs. moderate), region (West Texas vs. East Texas), or population density (city vs. country) rather than by party. I want to discuss the interaction of the three parts and how they work together when the party system acts responsibly.

• In theory, party in the electorate refers to the political party in the minds and attitudes of the voters. If individuals strongly identify with the positions and candidates of one of the two parties, then their vote for office will be based on those convictions. Party organizations, both permanent and temporary, will manage elections by appealing to those voters based on the positions they support. Finally, if the campaigns are run on issues and the voters vote based on issues, party officials in office (party in government) will be careful to keep those campaign promises and be expected to be rewarded for doing so.

• However, in Texas and the United States, these three components do not work together effectively. More voters are independents than Democrats or Republicans. Campaigns are run on personalities, not issues, and officials vote based on their current whims and needs rather than campaign promises. If you could get one of the three components (perhaps the party in government) to work responsibly, would it alter the other two? Would it change politics? Would it change policy?

• Historically, Democrats were strong in the electorate and weak in organization and government. Republicans were weak in all three. In the 1960s, Republicans began to gain strength in organization, which eventually led to strength in the electorate and government. Now, while both parties are relatively weak in the electorate, Republicans are in better shape than Democrats. Look at the 2006 election for governor-the winner was a Republican (Rick Perry), but his closest challenger was a Republican running as an independent (Rylander), not a Democrat (Bell). The Democratic candidate for governor has not gotten more than 45% of the vote in more than two decades.

• Currently, I would say that the Republican Party is strong in the electorate, strong in organization and relatively weak in government. When it comes to governing, the Republican party seems to be split between Bedroom Republicans/ Tea Party Republicans and Boardroom Republicans, so they don't hold together too well. On the other hand, I would say Texas Democrats are moderate in organization, weak in the electorate and a strong in government. While they are the minority party in governing, the do tend to stick together on key issues.

• Interestingly, the 2012 election showed some weakness in the Republican Party organization in Texas with Ted Cruz, a Tea Party candidate, defeating Lt. Governor David Dewhurst who was supported by the state party organization, to get the party nomination for the US Senate. The same split played out in the Repubican Priamary where Dewhurst was again defeated by Tea Party Candidate Dan Patrick.

• Summary of Party Strength in Texas:

• Pre 1960s 1960s-1990s 2000-Present

• Democrats Republicans Democrats Republicans Democrats Republicans

• Party in the Electorate Strong Weak Strong Moderate Weak Strong

• Party Organization Strong Weak Strong Strong Weak Strong

• Party in Government Weak Weak Weak Strong Strong Weak

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties

• Characteristics of Political Parties

• Political parties in the United States and Texas are significantly different from political parties in the rest of the world. Let’s look at the characteristics of those parties to examine those differences. We will talk about four characteristics of political parties in Texas and the United States:

• Lecture: AUDIO

• First, they are pragmatic (practical) - as noted above, political parties in Texas and the US are more concerned about winning than they are about maintaining some type of ideological or philosophical purity. They would rather win with a candidate that believes half of the party's issues than lose with a candidate that believes all of them.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Second, they are decentralized - contrary to popular belief, America is not a two-party system. Instead, we are a 102-party system! There are the national Republican and Democratic parties, then Republican and Democratic parties in each of the fifty states. Each state party organization is organized separately and passes its one-party agenda and platform. A Republican in Texas is likely to be very different from a Republican in Massachusetts. Likewise, an Alabama Democrat may have more in common with a California Republican than a California Democrat. The national party cannot make a state or local political party do anything. A state party may nominate a candidate to run for office that party members in the rest of the country hate.

• Third, political parties in this country are generally very weak. The parties cannot control who gets the party’s nomination. They cannot control who wins the election and they cannot control what a candidate does when he or she gets elected to party office. If a member of the US Senate votes the opposite of the rest of his party, the party cannot kick him or her out. It can try to influence that person, but nothing more.

• Finally, we do have a two-party system. In Texas and the rest of the nation, there are just two political parties (Democrats and Republicans) which have a realistic chance of winning a given office. Of course, there are other parties and, once in a very great while, a third party will win a governorship, a Senate seat or a seat in the United States Congress. However, that is very rare. We are a two-party system, which is unique among most democracies in the world.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties

• Characteristics of Political Parties, continued

• While the average person in this country, as well as many journalists and politicians, believes that political parties are not necessary, many political scientists suggest that our system would work much better with strong and "responsible" political parties. However, the key idea behind responsible parties is that candidates make promises, elected officials try to keep those promises, and voters hold officials responsible for trying to keep those promises during the next election. Clearly, this is not the case in Texas or the U.S. However, what if it were?

• Why do some people think we would be better off with stronger political parties? First, it would get us away from the politics and campaigns of personality. With truly responsible parties, campaigns and campaign commercials would be about issue positions rather than personalities. Second, if candidates actually kept their promises, voters might regain faith in the political process. Third, government officials would work together to help solve the problems of the country. If they do not solve the problems, the voters would kick out one party and replace it with the other one.

• Is this likely to happen? Probably not, because we tend to dislike the political parties and the rules are not set up for political parties to have the kind of control it would take to make this happen. Do you agree or disagree with the responsible political party's perspective? Are political parties good or bad?

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties

• Functions of Political Parties (and the Component Most Responsible for it)

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 1. Candidate Recruitment (Party Organization): Political parties are primarily responsible for helping either recruit candidates for office or weeding out candidates so that when it comes time to hold the general election in the fall there are not 100 candidates, but one from each party. If there is no candidate from one of the major parties, it is up to the party leaders to find a candidate. This is done by the party organization.

• 2. Aggregate Interests (party in the Electorate): The two parties pull together the various opinions and attitudes of their voters. They take a variety of views on a variety of issues and merge them together into a general party ideology, instead of there being numerous coalitions of different groups trying to govern. Republicans generally hold a conservative philosophy and Democrats generally hold a more moderate philosophy-you can put yourself in one or the other of those camps. You may not agree with everything, but you can accept their philosophy. This is done by party in the electorate and party in government.

• 3. Mobilizing the Voters (Party Organizaton): One of the main reasons that people vote is that they trust and identify with one of the parties instead of the others. Parties, particularly the party organization, work very hard to mobilize voters and get them to go to the polls. They do this by running advertisements, sending letters, making phone calls, and even offering to take voters to the polls. Most people vote not because they know the candidates, but because they know they support one party and want it to win, or oppose the other party and don’t want it to win.

• 4. Contest the elections (party organization): Not only do political parties make sure there is a party candidate by managing the nomination process, they also make sure their candidate is able to run competitively in the general election. They provide for candidates by offering money, support, people, direction, and anything else that will help them be effective candidates. This includes the distribution of soft money from the parties to the candidates. There is no limit on how much soft money the parties can provide for the candidates, so interest groups and individuals will give money to the parties who will then provide unlimited money and support to the candidates.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties

• Functions of Political Parties, continued

• 5. Organize Government (Party in Government): Once party candidates are elected to office, they are expected to organize government along party lines. The party that gets me most votes gets to organize the office. A Democratic governor gets to appoint Democrats to boards and commissions. If the Republicans gain a majority in the House and Senate, they get to elect the leader and run the committees. Voting on issues in government also tend to be organized around parties- Republicans tend to side with Republicans and Democrats tend to side with other Democrats.

• 6. Parties Coordinate Policy (Party in Government): Because we have three distinct branches of government, there needs to be some mechanism by which those branches can coordinate and, at least in theory, work together. Political parties can provide this mechanism. For example, Republicans in the state legislature may not always work with a Republican governor, but they will be predisposed to do that. The same is true for Republican judges and bureaucrats. On the other hand, Democrats in each branch will also tend to coordinate their activities so that there is some continuity across the three branches of government. When different parties control the branches of government, it makes for a more difficult time. This often leads to gridlock- where there is more conflict than cooperation.

• 7. Parties Provide Accountability (Party in the Electorate): Imagine how difficult it would be to decide who to blame if things go bad if there were no political parties. Do you blame the governor? The lieutenant governor? The Senate? The House? If they are all of the same party, you just blame that party and vote them out, expecting the other party to do better. This is a combination of party in government and party in the electorate.

• This list of functions is the ideal, however, we don’t always do them well. Historically, we have done almost none of them well. Now, we are doing pretty well on all of them except organizing government and coordinating policy, but these are improving as well.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: How We Become Democrats or Republicans- Political Socialization

• Contrary to what you might hear on talk radio or Fox News or MSNBC, people are not born Republicans or Democrats, Liberals or Conservatives. Those belief systems are learned through a process called political socialization, "the process by which we teach or learn our political knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and habits of behavior." There are several means, called "Agents of Socialization," by which this socialization occurs, two dominate our early life (family and schools) and two tend to have more influence on us as adults (media and evaluation/ experiences).

• Four Agents of Socialization

• Family is the first and most important agent of socialization because so much of our formative years are spent with our parents, our grandparents and our brothers and sisters. Parents in particular transfer their belief systems to their children by conversations, actions, etc. What we learn at our dinner table, as we ride with our parents in the car or on the bus or as we talk before going to bed sticks with us for a very long time. It is often said that "what is learned first is learned best" and this is very true for a basic attitude about the role of government. Therefore, it is very difficult to change those attitudes.

• Schools. While families have significant influence on who and what we become, they are not the only people that influence our early development (unless they home school you apart from others until your teenage years). Most of us spend a significant amount of our early years in schools (and child care centers and pre-school programs). Because we are involved in these institutions for extended periods of time (each day and over the years) during our formative years, they can have a significant impact on our views. While most children are in schools that hold views similar to those they hold, it is likely that schools may introduce children to alternative views of the world that will require the children rethink those initial approaches.

• If family and schools have such a significant influence on our political views, why is it that some siblings seem to be so different. I suspect we all know families where one sibling is conservative and the other liberal and perhaps you are part of such a family. The reason siblings can differ even if they have the same family members and attended the same schools is that political socialization does not stop when one turns eighteen. While family may be the most important agent of socialization, we do not stop learning once we leave home or schools. Two agents of socialization that tend to influence our adult lives are the media and evaluations based on our experiences.

• Media. It is often said that "we are what we eat." I would suggest a similar approach for our belief systems: "we are what we watch or listen to." The vast majority of people choose to consume sources of media that reinforce their belief systems. Conservatives tend to watch Fox News, listen to Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones and read Breitbart, the Washington Times and the Wall Street Journal. The Daily Wire. On the other hand, those with liberal views tend to watch MSNBC or CNN, listen to National Public Radio (NPR) and read the Daily Kos, Huffington Post and the New York Times.

• Evaluation/ Experiences. Finally, sometimes our deeply held beliefs as to how the world works maybe challenged when we have experiences that do not match with those deeply held beliefs. For example, if you are raised to believe that gays or lesbians are bad people and you go to college where you meet a lesbian who is smart, friendly and not a threat to you, you have to figure out how to deal with these contradictions. Likewise, if you are raised to believe that a woman should have the right to choose whether she should have an abortion or not, but meet someone who has had and regrets an abortion, that may change the way you view the world. If you are taught all conservatives are selfish and uncaring or that all liberals are evil, but meet individuals who contradict those stereotypes, you have to figure out how to deal with them.

• Let me serve as a real world example. I and a cousin were both raised in very similar families and went to the same primary, middle and high schools and held very similar views when we were eighteen. However, thirty years later, our world views could not be more different. I attribute this to our adult experiences. I went to college in North Carolina and then graduate school outside the state. I have traveled to almost every state and four contents. My cousin went to a local community college, has traveled little and still lives in the same community in which we were raised.

• What agents of political socialization have influenced you to this point and how will those be changed by your experiences in the future?

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties

• Permanent Party Organization

• Both political parties in Texas are now organized across the entire state. There is a Democratic chair in each of the 254 counties. There is a Republican chairperson in each of the 254 counties. Further they have an executive committee and full-time staffs designed to help keep the party strong, recruit and train candidates, and get the party's message out to the voters. To see all that the modern political parties in Texas offer and do, take a look at the Web page of the Republican Party of Texas and the Democratic Party of Texas.

• Their purpose is to maintain the political party between elections so that during those elections, it will be viable. The permanent organization has staff people in charge of providing information to the party faithful throughout the state. They also have people in charge of raising money to keep the party going. Further, some people are in positions expressly in order to recruit potential candidates. Finally, others are mostly interested in recruiting potential supporters for votes or campaign contributions. The permanent party organization is always working to prepare the party for the next election. They work to see that there are candidates to run, money to campaign with, and voters to support the party come the next election.

• For the most part, these are volunteer positions – almost none of those who hold party positions (state chair, executive committee, etc.) are paid for their time and effort. Let's look at those positions now. You can view the party organization here as a pyramid. At the top of that pyramid is the state party chairperson (and vice-chair) – the man or woman elected by his or her respective party to be the main voice and face of the political party.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• He or she is responsible for speaking on behalf of the party, raising money for the party, recruiting candidates for the party, and generally getting the voters fired up about the party’s chances of winning elections. Just below the state chairperson and vice-chair, is the state executive committee. There is not a lot of power in this position and it is usually given to people who have been active in the political party. There are sixty-four men and women on the executive committee of each of the political parties. They do help select the chair and develop the state party platform and issue positions.

• Below the committee is the county party chair. This job can be very important and it is only as important as you make it. Democrats have had chairs in all 254 counties, but Republicans did not meet that level of organization until 1994. The county chair can do all of the things that the state chair in his or her county does for the state–the amount of effort the county chair puts into this job is really up to him or her. Again, it is voluntary. The county chair presides over meetings of the party and other things, but that is up to each chair. His or her job is to keep the party alive between elections.

• Finally, at the very bottom of the pyramid is the precinct chair. Each county is divided into electoral precincts, and county chairs try to recruit chairs in each precinct. Again, this position is what the chair makes of it. There are many precincts with no chairs and some in which chairs do absolutely nothing.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties in the Electorate

• Historical Distribution of Parties in the Electorate in Texas

• Lecture: AUDIO

• The history of party politics in Texas can be divided into four periods- one party Democratic (1870s–1950s), modified one-party Democrat (1960s – 1970s), two party balance (1970s–1990s) and one-party Republican control (Late 1990- Present).

• 1870s - 1950s: One Party Democratic Control

• During the first era, for more than eighty years following the Civil War (1870s to 1950s), politics in Texas could be described in one word: Democrat. Every elected official and almost all white voters claimed an affiliation with the Democratic Party. The reasons for this were many, but initially were rooted in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Texans and other Southerners associated all of the bad aspects of the Civil War and its aftermath with the national Republican administration of Abraham Lincoln and the Texas administration of Governor E.J. Davis.

• For decades to come, Democratic leaders would fuel those fires to help keep the Republican Party small and ineffective. By the 1930s, the democratic hold was beginning to loosen. However, the Depression and the efforts of Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt increased the loyalty of many to the Democratic Party.

• Did this one-party status among the electorate hurt the state? Hurt the voters? Most would argue that a state with one party does not serve the needs of the voters very well. Think about it in the same manner that you would a town with only one grocery store. If there is only one store, that store can provide very poor service, very high prices, and very low quality goods because the "consumers" have nowhere else to go. Likewise, in a state with only one political party, that party can provide limited services or corrupt government because the voters have no alternative. Further, in a one-party state, voters lose interest in politics and quit voting because with only one party, their votes make no difference anyway!

• The one party status of the Texas electorate in the early part of the century resulted in very poor government services, very high government corruption, and very low political participation. Now that we have two active and viable parties, do you see changes in these things?

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties in the Electorate

• Historical Distribution of Political Parties in Texas, continued

• 1950s-1960s: Modified One-Party Democratic

• The election of 1952 began to signal that democratic dominance might be weakening in Texas with the creation ofShivercrats – supporters of Democratic governor Alan Shivers who supported Republican Presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower for President. These folks maintained their loyalty to the Democratic party for state and local office, but voted Republican in the national election for President.

• In 1961, John Tower was elected as a Republican to replace Lyndon Johnson in the United States Senate-the first statewide elected Republican since 1874. This election set in motion the second era, modified one-party Democrat. Democrats won most of the time, but Republicans could win under the right conditions or with the right candidate.

• 1970s to 1990s: Two Party Balance

• Finally, the election of Republican Bill Clements as governor in 1978 signaled the end of the second era and the beginning of a period where either party could (and did) win office on a regular basis. This era is one of two-party balance or competitive two party system and lasted from 1978 until the late 1990s. During this period, Republicans held the governorship for twelve years and Democrats for eight. Democrats controlled the Texas House and Senate, but their majorities were increasingly smaller.

• Late 1990s to Present: One-Party Republican

• Since the early 2000's, the balance has shifted even further to the Republican party and the state might be rightly classified as One-Party Republican. Republicans now hold all statewide offices, except a few judicial positions, as well as majorities in the Texas Legislature and the Texas Congressional delegation. In 2010, no Democrat for statewide executive offices got more than 45% of the vote. 2014 results were even worse for Democrats who thought that ticket with a female candidate for Governor (Wendy Davis) and a Hispanic female for Lt. Governor (Leticia van de Putte) might improve their chances. Instead, no Democratic candidate for statewide office got more than 40 percent of the vote. However, Demographic trends and the growing Latino population suggest Democratic prospects may be looking up in the future with the Republican Party becoming increasingly white and the state increasingly diverse. Let's wait and see what happens!!

• 

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties

• Temporary Party Organization

• Every other year, the party organization gets much larger and much more active for a few months as the general election approaches. The temporary party organizations, namely precinct, district, state, and national party conventions, exist to get the party voters organized and fired up for the coming election.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• The precinct convention is held on the evening of the party primary. If you voted in the party primary and got your registration stamped to show you voted, you can attend your party precinct convention that night. At the precinct convention, you elect folks to go to the county/ district convention and you propose ideas for the party platform (party agenda). One week after the precinct convention, the county/district convention is held. At this convention, you elect people to go to the state convention, then you decide which of the issue proposals from the precinct conventions are good enough to go to the state convention.

• Finally, the state convention meets to write party platform and, in presidential years, determine who will go the national party convention. The state party writes the state party platform, a list of proposals and ideas that the party generally supports. However, many candidates will ignore the party platform if they do not agree with key parts of it. The platforms generally play little role in the elections.

• Party conventions were once much more than large, partisan, media orchestrated pep rallies. Before candidates were chosen in primaries, they were chosen at conventions. The party leaders would get together and discuss who the party's nominee for a particular office would be. Then, they would vote and choose that nominee, considering the likelihood that they would win the election, as well as the loyalty of the person to the party leaders and the party views. The convention also wrote the party platform and established the principles on which the campaigns would be conducted.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• The modern conventions are little more than media-orchestrated cheerleading sessions. The party nominees are known long before the convention. The party principles and platforms are written by the convention then generally ignored by the candidates. The speakers make their speeches to the television audience rather than the convention delegates. These conventions are designed to get campaign volunteers fired up for the election.

• Party organizations, both temporary and permanent, are now stronger then they have ever been. While the chairs and committee members are not paid, each party has more than two dozen paid staff persons and that number swells during the election season.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation - Political Parties

• Party in Government

• Lecture: AUDIO

• The final component of political parties is the party in government. Once the voters have cast their ballots and the candidates have been elected to office, those winners become part of the party in government. How do they behave once in office? To refresh your memory, in responsible parties, candidates once elected would support the party positions and support other members of their party on key issues. But historically, they did not. Legislators were more likely to vote because of where they were from (region of the state) or what beliefs they held (ideology) than because of party. There are several reasons for this:

• First, the separation of powers: The executive branch, the judicial branch, and the legislative branch (both chambers) have their own power base. The leaders of each are elected by the voters and are NOT answerable to leaders of the other branches. Texas Senators would be more likely to work with leaders of the Senate than with the governor, even if they are of the same party, for example. A second reason for this was that Democrats controlled all of the offices so that party competition meant nothing.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Therefore, there was no incentive for members of the party to work together. Even if Democrats did not work together, they still won. Even if Republicans did work together, they still lost. Finally, the role and influence of lobbyists, interest groups, and political consultants in campaigns contributes to limited party government. It is difficult for the party to instill loyalty in its members by threatening to keep them out of office because interest groups and their money control that more than the parties.

• See the next page to see how Texas compares!

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation- Political Parties

• Party in Government: Partisan Distribution of the State Legislatures, 2017

• One of the key elements of political parties is their distribution within governing bodies. It is reasonable to expect different types of policies from a state that has a Democratic majority in both chambers of the legislature than from a Republican controlled state. In 2017, the Texas legislature is unified: the Republicans control the Texas Senate and the Texas House by very large margins. Following the 2016, Republicans controlled both chambers in 33 states Democrats controlled both chambers in 14 states and there was a split in 2 states (remember that Nebraska is nonpartisan). The Republican majority that was elected in 1996 was the first Republican majority in the Texas legislature since 1871!!! However, Republicans have now held both chambers of the Texas Legislature since 2022 and seem in solid control at least until 2020. How does the party balance in the legislature effect what the governor can or cannot do?

• State	House Democrats	House Republicans	Senate Democrats	Senate Republicans
  Alabama	32	72	6	26
  Alaska	17	21	6	14
  Arizona	25	35	13	17
  Arkansas	24	76	9	26
  California	55	25	27	13
  Colorado	37	28	17	18
  Connecticut	79	72	18	18
  Delaware	25	16	11	10
  Florida	41	79	15	25
  Georgia	62	118	18	38
  Hawaii	45	5	25	0
  Idaho	13	57	7	28
  Illinois	67	51	37	22
  Indiana	30	70	9	41
  Iowa	41	59	29	20
  Kansas	40	85	9	31
  Kentucky	36	64	11	27
  Louisiana	41	60	13	25
  Maine	77	72	17	18
  Maryland	90	51	33	14
  Massachusetts	125	35	34	6
  Michigan	47	36	11	27
  Minnesota	57	77	33	34
  Mississippi	48	74	20	32
  Missouri	46	117	9	25
  Montana	41	59	18	32
  Nebraska	N O N P A R T I S A N
  Nevada	27	15	11	10
  New Hampshire	172	222	19	14
  New Jersey	52	28	24	16
  New Mexico	38	32	26	16
  New York	107	43	32	31
  North Carolina	46	74	15	35
  North Dakota	13	81	9	38
  Ohio	33	66	9	24
  Oklahoma	26	75	6	42
  Oregon	35	25	17	13
  Pennsylvania	82	121	16	34
  Rhode Island	64	10	33	5
  South Carolina	44	80	18	28
  South Dakota	10	60	6	29
  Tennessee	25	73	5	28
  Texas	55	95	11	20
  Utah	13	62	5	24
  Vermont	83	53	23	7
  Virginia	34	66	19	21
  Washington	50	48	25	24
  West Virginia	36	63	12	22
  Wisconsin	35	64	13	20
  Wyoming	9	51	3	27

• SOURCE: National Conference of State Legislatures. 2017

• Party in Government: Partisanship of State Governors, 2107

• Probably the most visible, if not influential, person in state politics is the governor. He or she influences the legislature, manages the bureaucracy and appoints hundreds, even thousands of people to positions of influence. For a political party, the governorship is the big prize in a state. Going into the 2010 elections, Democrats controlled a majority of the governorships across the country. However, after the 2010 elections, Republicans controlled 30 of the 50 governorships.The 2010 gains were particularly important as those governors got to play a big role in drawing the election districts for the state legislature and the members of Congress from their state and they helped give the Republicans an advantage. Since that time, Republicans have added to their numbers: following the 2016 elections, 33 Governors were Republican, 16 were Democrats and 1 Independent. Think about how government and politics in Texas might be different now if Ann Richards had beaten George Bush in 1994 or if Tony Sanchez had defeated Rick Perry in 2002 or Democrat Wendy Davis had beaten Greg Abbott in 2014 and we had a Democratic governor? Do you think things in Texas would be different? ? If the answer is yes, then party in government is important!!!

• Alabama Republican Alaska Independent Arizona Republican Arkansas Republican California Democrat Colorado Democrat Connecticut Republican Delaware Democrat Florida Republican Georgia Republican Hawaii Democrat Idaho Republican Illinois Republican Indiana Republican Iowa Republican Kansas Republican Kentucky Republican Louisiana Democrat Maine Republican Maryland Republican Massachusetts Republican Michigan Republican Minnesota Democrat Mississippi Republican Missouri Republican

  Montana Democrat Nebraska Republican Nevada Republican New Hampshire Democrat New Jersey Republican New Mexico Republican New York Democrat North Carolina Democrat North Dakota Republican Ohio Republican Oklahoma Republican Oregon Democrat Pennsylvania Democrat Rhode Island Democrat South Carolina Republican South Dakota Republican Tennessee Republican Texas Republican Utah Republican Vermont Republican Virginia Democrat Washington Democrat West Virginia Democrat Wisconsin Republican Wyoming Republican

• SOURCE: National Conference of State Legislatures, 2017

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Political Parties in 2015 Texas

• Going into the 2014 election, Democrats were hopeful that they would be able to turn around more than a decade of Republican dominance with the nomination of popular state senator Wendy Davis as their nominee or Governor and the nomination of Hispanic state senator Leticia Van de Putte for Lt. Governor. However, it turns out that 2014 was not a good year for Democrats in Texas or across the nation. Davis and Van de Putte lost by almost twenty percent, putting a Republican in the Govenror's office (former Attorney General Greg Abbott) again (the last Democrat won in 1990) and the Lt. Governor's position (Dan Patrick). Further, Republicans picked up seats in both chambers of the state legislature to increase their majorities to well over sixty percent in each and won every other statewide office.

• Clearly, the Republican Party is stronger in the electorate right now than the the Democratic party and the state is becoming very close to being classified as a one-party Republican state. In 2016, Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by nine percent and Republicans maintained super majorities in each chamber of the Texas Legislature.

• When it comes to party organization, both parties are quite strong and can compete for elections, although the Republican results are better. Interestingly, as the Republican party has gotten stronger in the electorate, they have gotten weaker in government, dividing into two factions - Boardroom (traditional) Republicans and Bedroom (Tea Party) Republicans. Although they control all statewide offices and large majorities in each chamber of the legislature, they often need the support of a few Democrats to pass their bills. Democrats, on the other hand, tend to stick together in opposition to the Republican majority. In 2015, the strength of the two parties in Texas along the three dimensions are:

• Party Dimension	Republican Party	Democratic Party
  Party in the Electorate	Strong	Weak
  Party Organization	Strong	Strong
  Party in Government	Somewhat Weak	Somewhat Strong

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Political Parties- Third Parties

• Types of Third Parties

• Like all of the other states in America, Texas is dominated by two parties: The Democratic Party and the Republican Party. However, numerous political parties run for office in Texas and nationally- these are known as "Third Parties." Examples that have been prominent over the years include The Green Party (2000 and 2016 elections), the Reform Party (1992 and 1996), the American Party (1968), the Dixicrats (1948), the Bull Moose Party (1912) and the Populist Party 1896 and 1900). While these parties were prominent in National Politics (Presidential level), they had little impact in Texas. Further, no third party candidate has ever one the Presidential election, but their efforts may have significantly influenced the results in 1896, 1900, 1912 and 2000).

• There are several types of third parties:

• Ideological Parties- Unlike personality driven third parties, ideological parties tend to hang around a while. They are based not on a person, but on a certain approach to governing. For example, the Libertarian Party, based on a view that government should be as limited as possible has run candidates for the Office of President for decades. Although they are not popular, the Socialist and the Communist Parties are ideological parties that fielded candidates throughout 20th Century America.

• Single Issue Parties- Some parties are built around support of a single issue. For example, the Constitution Party believes that government powers should be limited to those expressly written in the US Constitution, the Green Party focuses on the environment and Right to Life Party is only concerned with abortion.

• Economic Protest Parties- Some parties are formed in response to real or perceived economic policies that they believe are detrimental to the country or their own well being. The Reform Party (1992 and 1996) sprang out of opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and policies many viewed as harming labor and American manufacturing. The Greenback part of the late 1800s would also fall into this category who opposed the silver standard for backing US currency and the Populist Party (1890s) who opposed tying the dollar to the Gold standard (recall from earlier lectures that some view The Wizard of Oz as a story about Populism- think about "Oz"- abbreviation for Ounce- the standard by which we measure gold!).

• Splinter Parties- Some parties emerge as they break off from one of the established parties. For example, Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party (1912) splintered off of the Republican party, giving that election to Democrat Woodrow Wilson and the 1948 Dixicrat split from the Democratic Party over the party's position on civil rights. However, Democrat Harry Truman won that election despite loosing five Southern states to Dixicrat Strom Thurmond.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Political Parties- Why Third Parties Fail

• Why Third Parties Fail

• Third parties are interesting and fun to talk about (I still laugh when I think of Reform Party candidate Ross Perot), but in reality, they are little more than a side show in American Politics. While they win a few seats in state politics (there are always a handful of Progressive Party members in the Vermont General Assembly and a few Conservative Party members in the New York General Assembly), they seldom make a splash on the national scene (except for Socialist Bernie Sanders who had to run as a Democrat to have any shot at the Presidency).

• So, if there are so many Third Parties, why do they seldom get many votes?

• 1) Ballot Access- It is obvious that election rules were written by members of the two dominant political parties. Republican and Democratic candidates are automatically on the balot in states, but third parties must get signatures to earn their way onto the ballots.

• 2) Winner-Take-All Elections - In most democracies, legislative seats are distributed by the percentage of votes. For example, if a party gets ten percent of the vote they get ten percent of the seats in government. Therefore, smaller parties get a stake in the game. In the US winner-take-all system, parties only get seats if they win a majority of the votes in a district. You win or you lose- there is no place for smaller parties.

• 3) Winner-Take-All Culture - Americans in general and Texans in particular don't like losing and they don't like sharing. We are not going to give power to those who don't get a majority of the votes or finish second. Think about corporate America and ad campaigns: MacDonalds vs. Burger King; Coke vs. Pepsi; Hertz vs. Avis Rental cars. Aerica is all about two competing entities and that rolls over into our elections.

• 4) The Wasted Vote- Because third parties so seldom do well in American elections, most voters will not cast a vote for them even if they agree with or like their candidate the most because it is perceived as a wasted vote. Why "throw your vote away" on a candidate that you know cannot win.

• Given the high level of frustration aimed at the Democratic and republican parties right now, many feel the time is right for the rise of a third party in American politics. While anything is possible, I believe that the rules and culture are just too strong for a third party to overcome. We will see!

• So, in light of all of this, is there any chance that at third party could challenge the Democrats and Republicans in the near future? What about Tea Party voters- could they turn into a legitimate third party in the future? Given the low approval rating of both parties (in a mid 2017, the unfavorable rate for Republicans was almost fifty percent and for Democrats almost forty percent) right now, the time might be right for a third party. If the Republican majority cannot deliver on repealing Obamacare, reforming taxes and cutting entitlement programs, could Trump voters and Tea Party supporters form their own party? Maybe, but given the history and challenges noted above, it seems unlikely unless Trump decides to lead the charge and walk away from the Republican Party.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Aggregate Participation: Summary

• Aggregate Participation refers to participation done in a group, where individuals act in a group or at the recommendation of a group. It allows for individuals to have more power, working together than they would working alone. There are two agents of Aggregate Participation in Texas: Interest Groups and Political Parties. Interest groups are groups of organized indivuals who are united by a common characteristics, interest or position that are dedicated to influencing public policy, usually to their own benefit. Interest groups try to influence public policy using direct influence, indirect influence, public relations and the provision of campaign resources. In Texas, business groups, conservative groups and religious groups tend to have the most influence.

• Political Parties are like Interest Groups except that political parties are focused on winning elections and they, unlike interest groups, tend to run candidates under their own labels. In Texas, like the rest of the US, the Democratic and Republican Parties tend to dominate the system. Presently, Republicans are in control of the state, but historically, Texas was a Democratic state. For a variety of reasons (history, rules, money, etc.), third parties tend to not do well in Texas. There are three components of political parties: party in the electorate, party organization and party in government. These components are to perform, seperately and sometimes together, seven functions: recruit candidates, mobilize voters, aggregate interests, contest elections, organize government, coordinate policy and provide accountability.

Unit 4

• Required Written Lecture: Branches of Government

• The government of Texas (and the United States) was founded on several principles. One of the most significant, and most unique in the 1700s when the United States Constitution was written, was the idea of separation of powers: different powers of government should be housed in separate and distinct branches (to read James Madison's defense of this arrangement, read Federalist Paper #47.

• To understand why the authors of the United States Constitution chose such an arrangement, consider the context in which they were writing. They had been under a unitary government in Great Britain in which all governmental power was with the King. That power had been abused. They had tried the Articles of Confederation, where the national government had no real power. The alternative was to give the national government power, but control that power by distributing it among the branches. Our government is divided into three distinct and separate branches of government. This refers to the separation of powers-each branch of government is responsible for a certain function of governing:

• Legislative Branch: The legislative branch was designed to make the laws. They write, debate and pass legislation that will govern the state of Texas.

• The Executive Branch: The executive branch, including the governor and other executive offices (Attorney General, Comptroller, Secretary of State, etc.) was designated as the branch to execute the laws as passed by the legislature.

• While it was not one of the original three branches of government, we will also talk about the bureaucracy, the lower level officials who are dedicated to delivering the laws and implementing them, as passed by the legislature, signed by the governor, and interpreted by the courts. You can consider the bureaucracy to be the face, hands or feet of the government-its delivery mechanism.The Judicial Branch: The judicial branch was dedicated as the branch of government assigned to interpret the laws and apply them to specific situations.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch

• When the authors of the Texas Constitution sat down in 1874 to establish the new government, they had to make many difficult decisions. However, one decision that was not difficult was to invest most of the power of the new government in the hands of the legislative branch of government rather than the executive branch. History had taught them that an unchecked executive was detrimental to the freedoms that Texans had come to demand from government. Two recent experiences with a strong executive were fresh on their minds. First, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, had basically suspended the law and made himself a virtual dictator. Following the war, Texas was governed by Edmund J. Davis, who ruled over the most corrupt administration in the history of Texas and tried to stay in office after defeat by force! Is it any wonder that they decided to give most of the power to the legislative branch?

• Another reason to invest power in this branch was more pragmatic from their perspective. While most of them would never be governor, most would likely be elected to the new legislature. So, by giving power to the legislature, they were giving power to themselves. While the legislature is more white, more male, more educated, and wealthier than the rest of the state, it is still most representative of the people of Texas. It has a more diverse membership than either the executive branch or the judicial branch. Therefore, many argue that it can better represent the people of Texas. Do you agree or disagree with that logic?

• Lecture: AUDIO

• The legislative branch in Texas is called the Texas Legislature. In Washington, the national legislative branch is called the United States Congress. In some states it is called the General Assembly. Let me clarify a few terms:

• Legislature: a group of elected officials who write, debate and pass the laws that govern a state.

• Legislator: an individual member of the legislature. A legislator is a person, not a group or body.

• Legislation: an idea that is introduced in the legislature and called a bill - if a majority of the members of the legislature like it and the governor signs it, it can become a Law.

• In the rest of this section, we will talk about the characteristics and functions of the legislative branch. I want you to know these things because they are important.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch

• The Texas Legislature: Bicameral

• Like all state legislatures in the United States, with the exception of Nebraska, the Texas legislature is bicameral, meaning that there is a house and a senate. No piece of legislation can become law without the support of each chamber. In order to become law, a bill must go through the committee and floor action in the house, and committee and floor action in the senate.

• The presence of two chambers would not really matter except for the fact that they are each very different. These differences mean they function differently and politics varies in each. They differ in the following dimensions:

• Difference	House	Senate
  Membership	150	31
  Length of Term	Two Years	Four Years
  Size of District	*167,000	*811,000
  Rules	Strict	Loose
  Leaders	Speaker of the House	Lt. Governor
  Committees	Forty -Two Standing Committees	Fourteen Standing Committees

• * District populations is based on 2010 census data.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch

• The Texas Legislature: Bicameralism, continued

• Let's take a look at how each of these differences affects behavior (think of how the environment is different in large and small classrooms to get an idea of what we are talking about).

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Membership. A large chamber (Texas House -150 members) must be more organized and have much stronger rules and limitations on debate. Members of the Texas House cannot talk indefinitely on a bill and are limited in how many bills they can introduce. On the other hand, smaller bodies are less formal, with fewer rules, less dominant leadership, and fewer limits on debate. Indeed, in the Texas Senate, members can engage in unlimited debate, known as a filibuster, with the hopes of "talking a bill to death." This is often used by the minority party to try and stop a bill pushed by the majority party. Also, in the smaller body, members serve on more committees and have more individual influence than do members in a larger body.

• Length of Term. While members of the Texas House must run for re-election every two years, members of TheTexas Senate serve four-year terms. Half of the Senate is up for re-election every two years. For those legislators facing the voters every two years, they must always be running and must be very aware of what the voters in their district (their constituents) want. On the other hand, senators who serve for four years can be a little less concerned in the first two years of their term and then “kick it in” during the last two years before the election.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Size of District. A Texas Senate District is almost five times the size of Texas House district. This means that senators have to represent more people and likely represent a district that is more diverse (different) in terms of race, ideology, income, and issues. This gives the senators a little more freedom to make decisions based on what they believe is best than their colleagues have in the House. Smaller districts (Texas House) tend to be more homogeneous (alike) in terms of party, ideology, income, and issues. Also, the district size means that it is muchmore expensive to run for a position in the Texas Senate than the Texas House - it can cost more than a million dollars to run for the Texas Senate!

• Rules. Because of the size difference, the House of Representatives has a much stricter and formal set of rules than the Senate. The House has a calendar committee, appointed by the house speaker, that determines if a bill gets voted on for how long, and if members can debate it on the floor. House members are also limited in how many bills they can introduce. Such restrictions are not present in the Texas Senate. In the Senate, it is possible for a single Senator to stop a bill from being heard on the floor of the Senate by introducing a Blocking BIll- a bill that will never be heard, keeping any bill after it on the Calendar from being heard.

• Leader. While both chambers have a leader at the top of their chamber, they are quite different. Leadership in the House is headed by the speaker of the house who is elected by the members of the House from the 150 members. He or she (no women have served in this post as of 2007) is usually a member of the majority party (party with the most members) and has significant control over the chamber (assigns bills, appoints committees and committee chairs, etc.). Because of the size difference, the House has a much larger leadership team, including floor leaders, whips, and other leaders.

• On the other hand, the president of the Senate is the lt. governor, who is elected by the voters statewide and may or may not be a member of the majority party of the Senate. His (again, there have yet to be any women holding this post) powers are similar to those of the Speaker, but he is not selected by the membership, so they may remove his powers if it becomes necessary.

• Committees. Because of its size, the Texas House has more than twice as many standing committees as the Senate and its members serve on fewer committees than do the senators. What that means is that House members may have more power in their little committee, but less influence over the body as a whole, than does a member of the Senate. Because most of the work is done in committees, a senator on five committees has more influence than a House member serving on two.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- House and Senate Differences

• Summary: Differences Between the House and Senate

• The Texas House. Because of these differences, members of the Texas House tend to be more concerned about what their voters want and are much less likely to think about the long-term effects of a bill. It is also likely to be easier to accurately represent a House district because such districts are smaller-they are more likely to be either conservative or liberal, Democratic or Republican, rich or poor, etc. Legislators are more likely to have the characteristics of their districts. That is why there is a higher proportion of women, Hispanics and African-Americans in the House. House members may have more influence on a smaller range of issues (in their committees), but less on a wider range of issues-the leaders have greater control over those.

• The Texas Senate. On the other hand, the Senate is much less formal and members are more likely to think about what is best for the state (rather than their districts) in the long run. Because of their large districts and longer terms, they tend to have more freedom in terms of ideology and party. They also have more freedom because of the lax leadership and organization in the Senate. Because Senators serve on more committees and have greater freedom to debate on the floor, they have more influence on the final outcome of a wide range of bills than do their counterparts in the House. The Senate is much more of an informal “club” than the House.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch

• The Texas Legislature: Other Characteristics

• While the focus of this lecture is the things that make the Texas Legislature unique and set it a part from legislative bodies in other states, there are many things that it has in common with those other chambers. Before focusing on the differences as expressed in the lecture, let's look at what the Texas Legislature has in common with other state legislatures.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• First, as noted above, it is bicameral, just like all state legislatures except Nebraska's.

• Second, the Texas Legislature has biennial sessions - they meet once every two years. Only five states, including Texas, have bienniel sessions. The sessions are limited to 140 days every odd-numbered year. That means they have to write budgets looking two-and-a-half years down the road. That is difficult to do, because the economy may change a great deal in two years. This means that they often have to come back in special sessions between the regular sessions to adapt the budget.

• Third, the members of the Texas Legislature sit by political party with Republicans gathered on one side of the floor, Democrats on the other. This makes it difficult to make friendships and build coalitions across party lines. That is one reason party is so important. In the past, members sat by seniority (who had been there the longest), but that has changed as the two parties became more balanced.

• Fourth, the Texas Legislature is considered to be semi-professional. This means that it is not a full-time job like being in Congress, but the salary is large enough and the demands high enough that legislators cannot work another full-time job. Legislators do, however, need another source of income to supplement the approximately $20,000 they receive annually ($7,200 salary, plus additional money for housing and travel). The staff support is pretty good (above average during session) and turnover is about fifteen percent a year. A fully professional legislature has a higher salary, more staff and less turnover. A legislature that is not professional is often more prone to the influence of lobbyists and bribes.

• Fifth, both chambers have very centralized leadership. The speaker of the House and the lt. governor have a great deal of control over their chambers, including assigning members to committee, assigning bills to committee, deciding who will speak on the floor, and determining who will chair or lead each committee.

• Finally, while party has historically mattered little in the Texas Legislature (everyone was a Democrat), party is now becoming increasingly important. Historically, party was less important than region, urban/rural splits, and ideology. However, as the two parties have become more balanced and distinct (Democrats more urban and liberal, Republicans more conservative and rural), party has become more important. Interestingly, as the Republican majority has grown larger, party may once again be becoming less important as Bedroom Republicans fight as much with Boardroom Republicans as Republicans do with Democrats. Right now, Democrats are pretty much irrelevant.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- Functions of the Legislature

• The Texas Legislature: Functions

• Although each state legislature across the country is unique, they each are expected to perform similar functions that contribute to the successful governing of that state. As you will hear in the lecture, they are to make laws, write and pass a budget, represent the people, educate the public, and oversee the bureaucracy. Listen to the lectures and read your text to learn more about these functions. However, before doing that, think about why the legislature is the best branch of the three to undertake these activities.

• First, it is the largest branch of elected officials. At the state level there are only a handful of elected officials in the executive branch (governor, lt. governor, comptroller, land use commissioner, attorney general, and commissioner of agriculture). While there are a lot of judges elected throughout the state, there are only a few judges elected at the state level. On the other hand, there are 181 legislators, so they are more likely to be representative of the diversity of the state.

• Second, the members of the legislature are elected from districts all across the state. They are the only branch that must represent the geographic diversity of the state.

• Third, the members of the House of Representatives are elected to two-year terms, giving them more of a reason to adequately represent the interests of the citizens than any other branch (the governor is elected to four-year terms and most state judges to six-year terms).

• Let’s turn now to the five functions performed by the Texas Legislature. We will spend a great deal of time on each of these below, but for now, let me just whet your appetite:

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Lawmaking Function: the most common and most important function of any legislative body in a representative democracy is that of lawmaking. It is the legislature that makes the laws that govern what you do in Texas. The ideas are developed, debated, discussed, changed, and passed in the Texas Legislature. These bills become the laws that govern the state.

• Manage Revenues and Budgets: every two years, the members of the Texas Legislature determine how much money the state will raise through taxes, fees, and other means, and then how that money will be spent. They develop, debate, discuss, and pass a biennial budget.

• Representative Body: Third, the Texas Legislature is designed to represent the interests and desires of the people of Texas. That is why they are elected.

• Bureaucratic Oversight: A major, and often least performed, function of the legislature is oversight- making sure that the bureaucracy is doing what it promises and doing what it says in an effective and efficient manner.

• Public Education: One of the functions that is becoming increasingly important is that of making sure the public knows and understands what its government is doing. The Legislature as an institution and individual members should make sure that the public knows how the legislature works and what bills are being considered and passed. With technology and social media, the public is demanding, and gaining, increased access to the legislative process.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- Organizing for Lawmaking

• Institutional Leadership

• The first function we will examine is that of lawmaking-we will look at the ways the legislature organizes itself to perform that very important function. There are four organizational units that are important to this function:

• Leadership

• Committees

• Parties

• Caucuses

• Leadership is the one centralizing force in the legislature.

• Like any governing institution, the Texas Legislature must have leaders. These are the people with the power to make sure the bills get passed, the budget gets written, and the legislature does its job. The leader of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House. Joe Straus has held that post since 2009. He is elected by the members of the House. The leader of the Senate is the President of the Senate, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst (2005-Present). He is elected statewide and does not have to have the support of the members of the Senate to lead it. Each of these folks is the most important person in each of their chambers.

• While both leaders are important, there are some differences between the speaker and the senate president. First, the speaker is elected by the members of his chamber, while the lt. governor is elected by the people of the State of Texas. Second, the speaker is elected to the House of Representatives by the people of his or her district and then is elected to be speaker by the members. He or she must represent his district while being concerned about the state of Texas at the same time. The speaker must balance between the two while the lt. governor is elected statewide and does not have to represent a district. Finally, the lt. governor is elected to a four-year term, like the governor and other statewide officers (and the members of the Senate), but the speaker is elected to a two-year term by his or her district and to a two year term by the members.

• One thing you must keep in mind is that the formal powers of both the speaker and the lt. governor are granted by the rules that organize that body and are voted on at the beginning of each session by the members of that body. What the members giveth, the members can (but seldom do) taketh away.

• Understand that both the lt. governor and the speaker of the house are more powerful than the governor of Texas. I would suggest as well that the comptroller of the State is also more powerful than the governor.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Lawmaking Function- Organizing for Lawmaking

• Formal Powers

• Lecture: AUDIO

• The offices of the speaker and the lt. governor each have powers associated with them that will be possessed by anyone in these positions. Without these powers, the speaker and lt. governor would have only their personalities and personal skills to rely on to get anything accomplished. Compared to leaders in other states, the formal powers of the leaders of the Texas Legislature are very strong.

• For all intents and purposes, they appoint the members and chairpersons of the committees (although the speaker does have to give some appointments on seniority, he or she can still stack the committees to his advantage). In twelve state chambers, that power of committee assignment and chair assignment does not belong to the leader, but instead to a committee.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• In six others, appointments must be approved by the members. Leaders in Texas also determine who will chair each committee - given the power of the committees to determine the fate of a bill, controlling the fate of a committee chair controls the fate of that bill. This power is a good one, but it is difficult, and if you mess up, it can really look bad for you as the leader.

• Third, the leaders of the Texas Legislature have the power to assign the bills to committee. In a few states, that power belongs to a committee of members or the clerk. Whoever, or whatever, controls the bill assignment process controls the flow of legislation. As presiding officers, all leaders have the power to recognize people to speak on the floor just as the Texas leaders do.

• Fourth, leaders in both chambers have the power to recognize who will speak on the floor, thereby controlling the nature and flow of debate. If the speaker knows that he or she wants a bill to pass and knows that one of the members does not, the speaker may neglect to recognize that person to speak on the bill, thus controlling the bill's fate.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Fifth, both leaders control if and when bills are heard on the floor. In the House, the order of bills is determined by the Calendar’s Committee which is appointed (members and chairs). In the House, this committee, controlled by the speaker, determines the order in which bills will be heard, and if a bill is put at the end of the list, it will not be heard. In the Senate, the rules require that bills be heard in the order they are reported from committee-however, the Senate gets around this by introducing, on the first day, a bill that no one wants to be passed, called a blocking bill. This bill is first on the calendar every day, and someone will move to suspend the rules so that it is not voted on. Once the rules are suspended, the lt. governor can go in whatever order he or she wishes!

• Finally, both the lt. governor and the speaker of the House have the power to appoint members of Conference Committees. If a bill passes both chambers, but with some differences, each chamber appoints some members to find a compromise. The members of these important committees are determined by the speaker (House members) and the lt. governor (senators). What they do will determine the fate of the bill.

• In short, the leader of the Texas Legislature is very powerful. He or she can basically doom any bill to death and virtually guarantee the success of all but the most unpopular bills. Is that a problem? Should one person have that much power? To read more about these formal powers, check out this Web site.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- Organizing for Lawmaking

• Informal Powers

• Not all powers of leadership are formal or associated with the office. In fact, I would argue that the most significant powers are those not associated with the office, but rather associated with the person holding the office. Leadership in a body of elected equals is usually more about personality and personal skills than it is about brute power. While Speaker Laney and lt. governor Perry had very similar formal powers, their informal skills are very different and, will likely render one less effective than the other. Let's look at the informal powers of the two current leaders.

• Speaker Joe Straus came to the position of Speaker after several years in the House, but came to the position initially with more votes from Democrats (he is a Republican) than Republicans - he defeated sitting Speaker Tom Craddick. He is now (2012) in his third term and is getting pretty well established in the job. He was challenged by a more conservative Republican for the position in 2011 and was challenged again by another conservative (Bedroom) Republican in 2013, although the challenge was not considered serious. He is getting more familiar with his members. He knows their abilities, their strengths, their weaknesses, and the kinds of arguments necessary to get their vote. This experience and knowledge are his key informal powers. Straus has indicated that he will retire from the House of Representatives and will not seek re-election in 2018.

• Lt. Governor Dewhurst came to that position from the Office of Land Use and had no experience in the Texas Senate. He did not have a thorough understanding of the rules of the Senate or the members. He served in the position for twelve years and became quite adept at wielding the power and also has developed a strong working knowledge of his members. In 2014, Senator Dan Patrick was elected Lt. Governor after eight years in the Senate. He comes to the position with a good working understanding of the Senate- do you think that will help him as Lt. Governor?

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- Organizing for Lawmaking

• Committees: Types

• The Texas Legislature processes over five thousand bill proposals every session in less than six months. How is that possible? The primary reason is that the legislature divides itself into committees for the sake of completing its lawmaking tasks. Legislative committees are merely subgroups within the legislature dedicated to completing some particular function or task. They are made up of members of the legislature, both House and Senate.

• There are four key types of committees in the Texas Legislature, based on the degree to which they are permanent and whether they include members of both chambers or just one chamber.

• Standing Committees: Standing committees are by far the most important committees in the Texas Legislature. They are permanent (exist from one session to the next) and include members of only one chamber-House standing committees have House members and Senate standing committees include senators. Standing committees cover a general category of bills. Education committees handle all education bills. In 2017, there were forty-two Standing House committees and twenty Standing Senate committees. Every bill introduced in the House or Senate must be assigned to a committee for review. A few of the Standing committees have subcommittees, which are specialized subdivisions of the standing committee.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Interim (Joint) Committees: These committees are relatively permanent, especially those that meet during the interim (the period when the legislature is not in session) and they usually contain members of both chambers. Interestingly, they can also include non-legislators as appointed by the Governor. They usually address particular topics that are of political interest. Interim committees are important because they allow the legislature to continue to work and get things done even when they are not officially in session.

• Ad-Hoc (Select or Special) Committees: Ad hoc, or special / select committees, are temporary, usually existing for one session and containing members of just one chamber. House select committees have House members and Senate select committees have Senators. These committees are usually created to deal with “hot” political topics.

• Conference Committees: As noted earlier, conference committees are formed when each chamber passes different versions of a bill and a compromise needs to be considered. They are temporary (existing only long enough to address that bill), deal only with a specific bill, and contain members of both the House and Senate. Conference Committees are often used as a way to kill a bill that legislators don’t want passed, but the public does. The most significant committees are the standing committees (forty in the House and fifteen in the Senate. Each of the standing committees has a specific jurisdiction and deals with all legislation in that jurisdiction during the regular legislative session. Most standing committees handle about thirty to forty-five bills per session, but others like Business and Industry and Public Education may handle well over one hundred bills. This allows the legislature to deal with numerous bills at the same time.

• Select or Special committees exist to respond to a particular hot topic at a given time. There are presently two special committees in the Senate dealing with Texas border affairs and electric utilities deregulation. There are presently no special committees in the House.

• Finally, the House currently has thirty-nine interim committees, while the Senate has only five! Those committees will deal with a wide variety of legislation during the eighteen months that the legislature is not in its regular session.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- Organizing for Lawmaking

• Standing Committees: Actions

• Standing committees are very powerful in the Texas Legislature because they have the power to dispose of legislation without it ever going to the whole chamber for a vote. If a standing committee recommends that a bill pass the floor, it probably will pass. If a standing committee does not pass a bill out of committee it definitely will die. If a standing committee recommends a bill not go to the floor, it will probably not pass. Once a bill is assigned to a standing committee, that committee has four options:

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 1. Inaction (do nothing): Committees in the Texas Legislature are not required to act on bills or even give them a hearing. If they do nothing, then a bill is dead and never goes to the floor. This is the fate of the vast majority of bills in the Texas Legislature. For example, during the 2007 session, 20, 258 bills were referred to the Senate Finance Committee. Of those, only 88 were reported out (goes to the floor).

• 2. Report Favorably as Amended: If a majority of the members of the committee like the concept of the bill, they may make some minor changes (amendments) and then recommend that it be passed by the entire body. The amendment process allows members to take advantage of the expertise they have developed on the committee.

• 3. Report Favorably As Is: Sometimes, but not too often, a bill is so good as it is that the committee members don’t feel it necessary to make any changes. In such cases, they will vote it out of committee and recommend the members pass it as it is.

• 4. Report Unfavorably: Although it is rare, a committee can send a bill to the floor with an unfavorable report-suggesting that the members of the body vote against the bill. Usually, if the committee does not like a bill, they will just do nothing with it. However, if a minority of the committee members want it voted on by the whole body, this step might be taken.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• A look at the disposition of bills by one House committee, Agriculture and Livestock, gives you an idea of its power. During the 1997 legislative session, this committee received thirty-one bills to consider. Six of those bills never left the committee. Of the remaining twenty-five bills, nineteen became law, one was vetoed, another died in a second committee and four died on the floor. In other words, the committee prevailed in twenty-five of the thirty-one cases, for a success rate of better than 80%. In another committee, Business and Industry, a full third of the bills never left the committee at all!

• In short, a glance at these two committees indicates just how important the committees are when it comes to controlling the flow of legislation. Can you imagine how congested the whole process would be if the legislature tried to process five thousand bills with no committee system?

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- Organizing for Lawmaking

• Committees: Benefits

• Lecture: AUDIO

• As should be clear by now, standing committees are critical to an effective legislative process. They provide significant benefits to the legislature as a whole and to legislators individually. Let's take a quick look at both sets of benefits.

• First, how does the existence of committees benefit the legislature as a whole?

• It allows for multi-tasking: The presence of numerous subgroups within the legislature means that the institution can consider numerous bills at the same time. While the Committee on Agriculture is considering a bill in hearings, a half-dozen other committees are also considering bills. This is a very efficient process.

• It allows for the killing of bad bills with little effort: Not all bills introduced in the Texas Legislature are good bills or would make good laws. Indeed, I would argue that many are not good at all, and even the person introducing that bill does not want it to pass. If the entire body had to debate and discuss every bill, even the bad ones, their work would never get done. Instead, they can send them to committee, which lets them die with no effort, fuss, or muss.

• It makes Good Bills Better: Because members of the committees often have significant experience in the policy area of the bills they review (i.e., many of the members of the Education Committee are former teachers or school administrators), they can use their expertise to improve bills. The process of informed debate and discussion in the committee can strengthen good bills before they go to the floor for a vote.

• It takes advantage of membership expertise: One reason committees can improve the quality of bills is that the members of a given committee often bring useful expertise to that committee. For example, a former farmer will bring useful knowledge to the Agriculture Committee, as would a banker to the Finance Committee.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- Organizing for Lawmaking

• Committees: Benefits, continued

• Now, let’s turn to how the presence of a committee system benefits individual members of the Legislature.

• It let’s members use their own expertise: The presence of the committee system lets individual members take advantage of their own policy strengths and focus on issues in which they are interested. This allows them to do their best work. While the leaders choose the committee members, members request certain committees based on their own needs and interests and leaders usually try to grant those requests.

• It helps members get re-elected: Not surprisingly, most members of the Texas Legislature want to get re-elected. The committee system helps them meet this goal by allowing them to work on issues that are important to the district and to the constituents who will (or will not) re-elect them. For example, a legislator from a rural district can help his or her district by being on the Agriculture Committee. A legislator from an urban district might choose to serve on the Human Services Committee. Indeed, a look at the committee members for the House Human Services Committee finds most members are from urban districts.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• It is a source of power and influence: In addition to wanting to be re-elected, most legislators like power and influence. The committee system allows them to have some power not only within their committee, but outside it as well. By influencing the outcome of bills in their own committee, the members can influence what goes on elsewhere.

• It is a source of public exposure: It is often said that, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King!” This means that while you may not know everything about something, if you know more than anyone else, then that is enough. By being on a committee, you become a spokesperson regarding the issues that the committee deals with. If those issues become “hot,” you may be able to ride the publicity to higher office.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- Organizing for Lawmaking

• Political Parties

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Like every state legislature except the Nebraska Legislature, the Texas Legislature organizes itself by political party. The party with the most members (currently the Republican Party) is the majority party and gets to organize the chambers. The party with fewer members (currently the Democratic Party) is the minority party and trues to offer an alternative vision to the agenda of the majority party so that they can win enough seats to become the majority party. Leadership is selected and committee assignments made based on the party distribution of the legislature. If the Republicans have a majority, they usually get the key leadership positions and get control of key committees. If the Democrats have a majority, they get them instead.

• Historically, partisan caucuses have not been particularly important in the Texas Legislature. From the end of the Reconstruction (1860s) until the 1990s, the Democratic party so dominated the legislature that factions within the party (conservatives vs. moderate Democrats or rural vs. urban Texans), that Republicans were not strong enough to challenge them. The few Republicans who were elected to the Texas Legislature worked with Democrats instead of against them. Now, while Republicans dominate the Texas Legislature, Democrats tend to unite and oppose them. Political party (democrats vs. Republicans) is the single best predicter of how a member of the Texas Legislature will vote on a controversial bill.

• Historically, party loyalty was drowned out by ideology and regionalism. Conservatives, regardless of party, voted together on ideological issues, and legislators from various regions voted together for whatever was in the interest of their regions, regardless of party.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Caucuses

• Caucuses

• The final method by which the Texas Legislature organizes itself is when legislators with common geographical, ideological or demographic characteristics join to form caucuses. These caucuses often cross party lines- for example, Democratic and Republican women legislators are both members of the Texas Legislature Women's Caucus. These caucuses do not take positions on all (or even most) bills, but focus on bills that are important to their interest (for example, the Rural Caucus takes positions on issues that matter to their rural constituents, but do not take positions on other issues).

• In Texas, legislative caucuses form along three lines: geography, ideology and demographics:

• Geographic Caucuses bring together legislators from similar geographic areas or from districts with common geographic interests. For example, the Rural Caucus of the Texas Legislature is made up of legislators who represent the most rural districts in the state and focus on issues in transportation, agriculture and health care issues that affect those districts. Another such caucus is the Farm-to-Table Caucus which brings together Democratic and Republican Legislators who want to increase access to locally grown foods in rural and urban communities.

• Ideological Caucuses are made up of legislators who are joined by a common ideological view. For example,since 1985, conservative members of the Texas Legislature have joined to form the Texas Conservative Coalition (TCC)to promote pro-business, small government policies. However, in 2017, a dozen or so conservative legislators left the TCC to form the Texas Freedom Caucus to The Texas Freedom Caucus committed to amplifying the voice of liberty-minded, grassroots Texans who want bold action to protect life, strengthen families, defend the U.S. and Texas Bills of Rights, restrain government and revitalize personal and economic freedoms in the Legislature. A few months after its formation, the Texas Freedom Caucus brought the Texas Legislature to a halt by opposing several bills and many credit their opposition for Speaker Joe Straus's decision not to seeking re-election to the legislature or the Speakership.

• Demographic Caucuses. Perhaps the most common caucuses in Texas are those formed when legislators with common demographic characteristics (gender, ethnicity and age) come together. For example, female legislators may join the Texas Women's Political Caucus. African American legislators have come together to form the Texas Black Caucus HYPERLINK "http://txlbc.org/" and Hispanic and Mexican American legislators in Texas may join the Mexican American Legislative Caucus to support issues important to their constituents. In February, 2017, Texas legislators under 40 years of age came together to form the Texas Young Legislators Caucus dedicated to making the legislative process more transparent, collaborative and bipartisan.

• These caucuses serve a valuable purpose in bring legislators together across party lines.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- The Lawmaking Process

• Formal Stages of the Lawmaking Process Part 1

• Not surprisingly, there is a formal process by which a bill becomes a law. While there are many steps to this process, we will narrow it down to seven steps. Your textbook talks about five steps, but I view the process of taking the bill through the second chamber as a step (they do not) and I add the inclusion of a Conference Committee (the textbook does not). Now, let's look at these steps:

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Step 1 (Bill Introduction): Before a bill can become a law, it must be introduced by a member of that chamber and then referred to a committee for discussion. Only members of the House can introduce House bills and only members of the Senate can introduce Senate bills. The governor cannot introduce a bill. The Supreme Court justices cannot introduce a bill. Even God would have to get a member of the chamber to introduce a bill! Further, senators cannot introduce bills in the House and House members cannot introduce bills in the Senate. Legislators get their ideas for bills from a variety of sources, including their own experiences, their constituents, lobbyists, or the governor.

• Step 2 (Bill Referral): Once the bill is introduced, the presiding officer of the given chamber (speaker of the House and president of the Senate) are empowered to assign it to committee. They can assign it to any committee they can justify. If a presiding officer wants a bill to die, he or she will send it to a committee where the presiding officer knows that will happen. If he or she wants it to pass, the presiding officer will send it to a committee that he or she believes will make that happen. Both the House and the Senate have a Committee on State Affairs, which can accept most any bill given that it has to do with the affairs of the state. Take a look at the Web site to see the range of issues that this committee can consider.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Step 3 (Committee Action): Once the bill has been referred to a standing committee by the presiding officer, that committee has the power to act (or not act) on that bill. As noted earlier, the committee can do nothing, report favorably ("as is" or as amended) or not report favorably. Most bills never leave the committee of jurisdiction. This is a critical stage of the process because it is where most bills die. If the bill gets out of committee and to the floor, the members of the House or Senate may or may not accept the recommendation of the committee-they usually do what the committees says, but do not have to.

• Note: In the House, a bill that has gone out of a standing committee must go to the Calendars Committee.This committee determines which calendar the bill will placed on (Emergency Calendar, Major State Calendar, General State Calendar, or Local Consent and Resolution Calendar). This committee exists only in the House and does not have a counterpart in the Senate.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- The Lawmaking Process

• Formal Stages of the Lawmaking Process Part 2

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Step 4 (Floor Action): If a bill survives the Standing Committee (and the Calendar Committee in the House), then it goes to the floor to be heard by all of the members of that chamber. They will usually do what has been recommended by the standing committee. According to the rules of the House and Senate, each bill must be read three times on three different days in each chamber. The first reading occurs when the bill is introduced and assigned to committee. The second reading occurs when the bill is reported out of committee-this reading is the most important one and opens the bill up to debate and discussion. If a bill passes second reading, it is very likely to pass third reading the next day. The second reading is the most important. The reason for the three-reading rule is that no one can ram something through. This can be overruled by a two-thirds vote.

• Once a bill is on the floor, the members of that body have four options to dispose of it:

• Put It So Far Down the Calendar that It Will Not Be Heard: In both the House and the Senate, there are ways of placing bills so far down the legislative calendar that they are unlikely to be heard. If they are not heard, they cannot pass and become law. In the Senate, a single Senator can keep a bill from being heard by placing aBlocking Bill on the calendar, keeping any bill after it from being heard.

• Pass It As It Was Received From the Committee: Unlike the committee, where the most common action is to let the bill die, the most common floor action is to pass it as the committee recommended. The assumption is that the members of the committee did their work and it is now a good bill.

• Pass It with Amendments: A second option is to pass the bill, but with some changes or amendments on the floor. Just as in committee, the members liked the bill, but wanted to add or delete a few things.

• Table (kill) It: Finally, not all bills that come out of committee will be passed on the floor. However, it is very rare that the bill should be defeated on a straight yes or no vote-that would be embarrassing for the leadership and the committee that reported it out. Instead, someone will move that the bill be “laid on the table” for further discussion at a later date- in reality, it means that the bill will not be coming back for a vote and, for all intents and purposes, is dead.

• Step 5 (Repeat in Other Chamber): Once a bill has passed the first three steps to get through the House or Senate, it must then repeat those steps in the other chamber. Bills can go through both chambers in two different fashions:

• Consecutively: The process we are describing here is consecutive passage, going through the two chambers in order. The bill is introduced in one chamber, passes, and then is sent to the other chamber after all steps are completed in the first. The bill as introduced in the second chamber is introduced by the chamber, not a particular member.

• Concurrent Passage: Another process that is less common is to have the bill working its way through the two chambers at the same time (concurrently). At the same time a House member introduces the bill in the House, a Senator introduces the identical bill in the Senate. The bills then work their way through the two chambers at the same time.

• Step 6 (Conference Committee): If the bill gets a majority of the members to vote for it in each of the two chambers in identical form, then it goes to the governor’s desk for his or her signature. However, if it passes both chambers, but in different form (even if the differences are minor), then it must go to a conference committee. Recall that a conference committee has members of both chambers, usually five from each, appointed by the speaker of the House and president of the Senate, dedicated to resolving the differences between the two bills.

• If the members of each chamber like the compromise proposed by the conference committee, they vote to concur in the report, accept the changes, and the bill goes to the governor’s desk. If they do not agree with the changes, they vote not to concur and send it back to the conference committee for another shot. A vote not to concur in either chamber will send it back to the conference committee.

• A vote not to concur in either chamber will send it back to the Conference Committee.

• Step 7 (The Governor): Finally, if a bill survives this rigorous legislative process, it will be sent to the governor of Texas for the final step of the process. This is the only step that is not in the legislature. The governor has three options to respond:

• Sign it Into Law: By far the most common response is to sign the bill into law. The governor signs the bill and it becomes a law.

• Allow it to become Law Without His or Her Signature: The governor may allow the bill to become law without his or her signature-this is often done in cases where the governor opposes a bill but knows the public supports it. Governor Ann Richards allowed the Lottery Bill to become law in Texas, but did not sign it.

• Veto the Legislation: If the governor strongly opposes a bill, he or she will veto it, keeping it from becoming law. If that is the case, the legislature can try to overturn the veto, but that takes a two-thirds vote in each chamber and is almost impossible. The governor of Texas, like forty-three other governors, has a special kind of veto, called the line-item veto, that he or she can use to stop part of a bill from becoming law. There are some vetoes that cannot be overridden. He or she must sign or veto a bill within ten days of getting it from the legislature - if the governor does not, it becomes law (see above). However, if the legislature is not in session at the end of that ten days, the bill dies without his or her signature - that is an override-proof veto.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- The Lawmaking Process

• Informal Rules of Legislative Behavior

• Just as in any aspect of life, certain behaviors are appropriate, and others are not. For example, although it is not written down anywhere as a formal rule or law, belching in public is not acceptable (except among pre-teen and teenage boys!). Certain behaviors, written down or not, are appropriate in certain situations, and others are not. The legislative world is no different. There are certain things that you just do not do if you hope to be successful in a legislature. You can abide by all of the formal rules, but if you neglect to understand or abide by the informal rules, you will have little or no success. How does a new member learn these informal rules if they are not written down anywhere? In the same ways that you learn what is and is not appropriate.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 1. Don’t Lie About what a Bill Does. While you may consider politicians to be dishonest by nature, honesty is expected in debate and discussion among legislators (sort of like honesty among thieves!). If you lie about the potential consequences of a bill and legislators are hurt politically by the real consequences of that bill, then you have lost your credibility and your ability to be effective.

• 2. Don’t Engage in Personal Slander of Members during a Debate. Floor and committee debate should be about the merits of the bill. You may not vote for a bill because of the person who introduces it (you think that person is an idiot), but you don’t say that and you do not call that person an idiot during the debate. In fact, to prevent such face-to-face controversy, legislators address their comments to the presiding officer rather than to the other members.

• 3. Don’t Be an Obnoxious Loser or Winner. Understand that there is always another day and another bill in the legislature. Today’s enemy is tomorrow’s friend, so don’t piss them off. If you lose, don’t snort and stomp around, accusing people of things, and if you win, don’t rub their noses in it. You will want to be able to work with these people on other issues in the future.

• 4. Speak on Topics you Know Something About. By definition, politicians like to hear themselves talk. However, if a legislator speaks on every bill, whether or not he has knowledge of the issue, he or she will get very little respect from their colleagues. Legislators who speak on everything generally influence nothing.

• 5. Don’t Grandstand (Showboat). Legislators who are successful are those who do their jobs whether or not they get publicity. Those who just show up for the cameras and don’t do their jobs well will find themselves getting very little accomplished.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- The Lawmaking Process

• Decision Making Factors in the Lawmaking Process

• Let's assume that you are a member of the Texas Legislature and you are trying to decide whether to vote for or against a bill. What factors are likely to play into your decision?

• What Do Your Constituents think? Perhaps the most common source of guidance is a legislator's constituents. What do the voters in the district think about the bill? However, on most of the issues facing the legislator, the voters have no opinion, are divided, or could care less (for example, they could care less about how you vote on a technical amendment to a water rights bill).

• What Are Your Own Ideology and Views? Often legislators already know what they will do before a bill comes for a vote because they have a set of deeply held views on certain issues. They are liberal or conservative. For example, few legislators have to ask around to determine how they will vote on school prayer, abortion rights, or gay marriage. Those decisions are determined by their ideology.

• What about Trusted Colleagues? One of the best sources for voting cues (how to vote) for legislators is other legislators. This is particularly true for relatively new legislators who turn to trusted and more experienced colleagues for advice. While it may be difficult to find out what constituents want, colleagues are easy to get to and knowledgeable about the issues.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch- The Lawmaking Process

• Decision Making Factors in the Lawmaking Process, cont'd

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Don’t Forget the Lobbyists. While colleagues may know a lot about a variety of issues, no person is more knowledgeable on a given issue than the lobbyist who focuses exclusively on a given issue. For example, if the bill is about health care, the lobbyist from the American Medical Association will be on top of it. Legislators often turn to lobbyists they trust (and usually agree with) on critical issues. This is particularly true in Texas where legislators have to work other jobs.

• Public Opinion? Don’t forget public opinion. Elected officials, especially those who want to run some day for higher statewide office, are keenly aware of public opinion and may defy their own values and the advice of colleagues to avoid going against it.

• Governor or Party Leaders? If you are of the same party as the governor and this bill is important to him or her, you are likely to defer to that person. If you are not of the same party, you may look to other leaders of your party within the legislature or other statewide officeholders. Legislative leaders are very important because of the powers we discussed above.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Understand the degree to which each of these factors matter will vary from issue to issue. On a hot button issue like taxes, constituents will matter. On an issue that is part of the governor’s agenda, he or she will take the lead. On moral issues, ideology will rise to the top. On procedural and technical matters, party leaders will take the lead.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Branch: The Lawmaking Process

• Key Players in the Lawmaking Process

• As you are, I am sure, quite aware of by now, while all legislators are important, some are more important than others! Let's look at those key players:

• Speaker of the House (House) and Lt. Governor (Senate). As discussed earlier, the Speaker of the House is the most important officer in the House and the Lt. Governor is the "top dog" in the Senate. The determine what committees a legislator will serve on, who will chair that committee and what committee a bill will be assigned to. Nothing is likely to pass their respective Chamber without their support.

• Committee Chairs. While Committee Chairs are appointed by the presiding officer of his or her chamber (Speaker in the House and Lt. Governor in the Senate) , the have significant control over the committee they chair. It is very unlikely that a bill will come out of a Committee if the Chairman does not want it to come out, because he or she sets the calendar for what bills will be heard and also has the power to recognize or not recognize committee members to speak.

• Senior Members. Senior members (those who have been in the legislature a long time) have considerable influence for a couple of reasons. First, because they have been around a long time, the generally have more procedural and subject knowledge than other, less experienced legislators. Second, because of that experience and knowledge, they are also more likely to be committee chairs and have the powers associated with those positions.

• Members of Key Committees for your Bills. The Committee Chair may not be the only person on a committee that has influence. While the Committee Chair is usually from the Majority Party (party with more members), each Committee also has Ranking Minority member who is from the party with fewer members, but has some power on the committee. Also, some committee members are important because they possess a lot of subject knowledge on issues important to teh committee. You will need their support to get your bill passed.

• Issue Experts. Finally, there are some members who just know a lot about a particular subject- perhaps because of their education, their work outside the legislature (for example, teachers often carry a lot of clout on education issues) or their years of experience in the legislature. If your issues happen to be in their area of expertise, you need to get their support because people listen to them on that issue.

• The one thing that all of these positions or people have in common is the possession of knowledge. There are two types of knowledge that are important in the legislative arena and different leaders possess these types in different quantities.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• First, people in formal positions of power, such as the speaker of the House and the lt. governor, as well as very senior members of the legislature, are likely to possess a great deal of procedural knowledge, that is the knowledge of how things get done and how to make the legislative process work. This knowledge can be used to gain support or success on a variety of issues, because all issues must pass the legislative process to become law.

• A second type of knowledge normally possessed by members of the committee, committee chairs, and policy experts issubject knowledge, that is, the information about education, public safety, insurance or whatever the particular piece of legislation is about. Some people develop policy expertise or subject knowledge because of their occupations outside of the legislature (for example, teachers generally know a great deal about education, lawyers understand the law). Others gain this knowledge via years of service on a particular committee or in the legislature. This kind of knowledge is usually possessed by the committee chairs, committee members, and policy experts. Knowledge of a particular issue can be translated into influence because you can trade that knowledge for support on other legislation.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Function 2- The Budgtary Process

• The Texas Legislature makes public policy in two primary ways: By Passing a Budget and by passing Laws. Let's look first at the budgetary process.

• Overview of the Budget Process

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Government exists for the purpose of providing the services that people demand. The major outcome of that demand and the major product of government is the budget-the programs and services that the government chooses to provide to its citizens from police to education. The budget of Texas is nothing more and nothing less than a list of priorities for the state of Texas. The amount of revenue available to the state to spend is fixed at a certain amount based on the predictions of the Comptroller of Texas.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• Therefore, it is not possible for the government of Texas to do everything the people want, or even everything the politicians want. So, they prioritize things by saying given the amount of money we have, we will spend this much on each public safety, education, transportation ,etc.. This budget reflects the values, economic times (economic gains or losses or crisis), the legislative priorities (particularly the speaker of the House and the lt. Governor), and the political priorities of the Governor.

• There are three stages to the budget development process in Texas: planning and preparation, authorization and appropriation, and execution (spending).

• Planning and Preparation: As noted earlier in the semester, most of the heavy lifting on the budget in Texas is done by the Legislative Budget Board. However, the governor of Texas, with the help of the Budget, Planning and Policy Division, develops his or her own budget. This means Texas has a dual-budgeting system. However, the LBB budget tends to carry considerably more weight than that of the governor's. This process usually takes place in the spring of even-numbered years, before the legislature meets in its regular session the following spring. Recall that the budget covers two years.

• Authorization and Appropriations: Once requests have been made and a budget developed, it is up to the legislature to authorize (say it is okay) the money and the give it out (appropriate). While the whole legislature (House and Senate) votes on it, it relies heavily on the money committees (Ways and Means, and Appropriations in the House, and Finance in the Senate). Once both chamber's (House and Senate) have put their stamps on it, a conference committee works out the differences. The governor then gets the bill – he can veto all or parts (line-item veto) of the bill.
  
  

• Execution (Spending): This step is also taken by the legislature. However, the governor has more control over it when the legislature is not in session and when there is a crisis.

• How might things be different if the governor controlled the budget? One thing about a budget by committee is it looks like a budget by committee! There is little underlying philosophy because each committee member wants something of his or her own in it. Second, research suggests that legislative budgets are larger than budgets written by an executive. Finally, without a strong budget power, governors find it very difficult to fulfill campaign pledges.

• This does not mean that the governor has no influence on the budget as both Rick Perry and George W. Bush showed. However, their influence came from their abilities to get the public behind them and to work with the legislature, rather than their ability to use formal budget powers.

• What are the chances of giving the governor more budget power so that he or she might set the direction for the state? Slim to none, because the legislature would be giving up power to do that and politicians do not like to give up power!

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Function 2- Budget and Taxation

• Function 2: Budget and Taxation

• In the eyes of many, the most significant thing that the legislature does every two years is pass the budget for the state. If they do not pass this budget, then state officials don't get paid, the roads are not maintained, and schools don't open. Compared to almost any other state, the budget powers of the Texas Legislature are strong and the powers of the governor are weak. The key players in the Texas budget process are the members of theLegislative Budget Board, the members of the House Appropriations Committee, and the members of the Senate Finance Committee. These men and women are responsible for writing the budget that will pay for state activities for the following two years.

• The Legislative Budget Board includes the speaker of the House and the lt. governor as well as the house chairs of Appropriations and Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees. The lt. governor appoints three more members and the speaker of the House two for a total of ten members, all of them state legislators (5 Senators and 5 House members).

• Once the LBB has prepared a budget, it is submitted to the legislature which almost always passes it. The Legislative Budget Board is responsible for preparing and monitoring the state’s budget. The governor also can, and usually does, present a separate budget, but it is often ignored in favor of the one proposed by the LBB.

• One additional responsibility of the Legislative Budget Board is to conduct agency performance reviews. At least every seven years, they review the activities and performance of bureaucratic agencies. However, they do not really happen very much nor are they very rigorous. To get a good feel for the range of responsibilities of the Legislative Budget Board, check out the Web site Legislative Budget Board Responsibilities.

• What about the role of the governor? He or she can veto the entire budget, or parts of it. In cutting out parts of the budget, he or she uses something called the line-item veto. The governor can use this only on the budget and cannot increase spending, but only cut it.

• What factors contribute to the writing of the budget? First, members of these committees must consider the basic level of services that the government must provide. Government cannot quit funding roads, education, or public safety. Second, they must consider current economic conditions. Good economic times free up more money for the legislature to use for a variety of purposes. Third, they must consider the needs and desires of the people. Childcare assistance may not be a basic function, like education or roads, but if the voters demand it, legislators generally find a way to fund it. Finally, each member must consider his or her basic philosophy of governing-should government spend all it has on programs or should it return some to the voters to use however they wish?

• The budget for the 2016-17 is almost $200 Billion! If you were on the budget committee, how would you allocate that money?

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Function 3- Representation

• Representational Roles

• The Texas Legislature is considered to be a representational body. In fact, the legislative branch is often called the representative branch of government. What exactly does that mean? What does it mean to represent someone?

• Generally, legislators may define representation in one of three ways:

• Trustee Roles: First, some, most often senators, define representation in terms of their responsibility to dowhat they think is best, regardless of what the members of their district believe or want. These people rely on their knowledge, their experience, and their understanding of the issues to do what they believe is best and hope the voters trust their judgment. Because the longer terms and larger districts, senators are more likely to do this.
  
  

• Delegate Role: Another member, more than likely a member of the House, tends to view representation as doing what the voters from your district want, even if you disagree with them. The delegate says I was sent here to do what the voters want me to do, even if I might disagree. It is my job to do what they want. Members of the Texas House are more likely to take this approach.
  
  

• Politico Role: Finally, a third approach is to view representation in terms of a combination of the first two, sometimes playing the role of trustee and other times playing the role of delegate. On issues that are very important to me, I will take the Trustee role. On issues that are very important to the district, I will take the delegate role. The type of issue being considered will in part determine the balance between the two roles.

• Which do you think is right? Is a person being arrogant if he or she believes that he or she knows better than the voters from that person's district, or is that person really in a better position to make an informed, educated decision because he or she is in the legislature? Is it any more noble to abdicate your responsibility in the name of doing what the voter wants even if you know that what he or she wants is not best for him or her? Is the person who takes one role, then the other, just copping out on the hard decisions? What do you think? Which approach to representation is the best?

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Function 3: Representation

• Members

• A different view of representation is known as mirror representation. By this definition, a body is representative of a state or country if its members have the same characteristics of the population, only in smaller numbers. This is the same as saying a model ship is a representation of a full-sized ship if it looks the same, has the same number of guns, and is the same color. By this definition of representation, the Texas Legislature does not do very well. Women, Hispanics, African-Americans, and young people are all under-represented in the Texas Legislature, while old people, attorneys, businessmen, wealthy people, and educated voters are all over-represented.

• The 84th (2015-2016) Texas Legislature reflects this disparity:

• Women	36 legislators (20 %)
  Hispanics	41 legislators (23%)
  African Americans	19 legislators (11%)
  College Educated	167 legislators (91%)

• Lecture: AUDIO

• This view of representation makes some assumptions about the meaning of representation and human behavior. It assumes first that representation requires having someone like you to represent your interests. Second, it assumes that people from the same group (women, Hispanics, etc.) all act the same and that the only person who can adequately represent a woman is a women, etc. Do you believe this? Can a man adequately represent the needs and views of a woman? Can a middle-aged white guy adequately represent the views of a twenty year old minority female?

• Finally, this approach also assumes that we want a legislative body that mirrors us. Just because Texas has a low education level, does that mean we want our legislators to be uneducated? Just because Texas has a higher proportion of poor people than most states, does this mean we want 30% of our legislators to be below the poverty line? As you listen to this lecture think about why mirror representation is not apparent in Texas and decide if that is a good or bad thing.

• Percent of Legislators that are Women, 2017

• Women are more likely to be elected to office in some states than in others. This is true for election to the legislature. This difference is important, because we know that women legislators support different issues than men, represent their constituents differently than men and make decisions differently than their male counterparts. In Colorado, Nevada and Vermont almost four in ten legislators are women. Women make up more than thirty percent in thirteen states. On the other hand, they make up less than fifteen percent of the legislature in 5 states. At 20.4 percent, the percentage of women in the Texas Legislature is almost five percent lower than the national percentage: 24.8 percent. Generally, women are less likely to be elected in Southern states, conservative states and states with more professional legislatures. Why do you think women do not do as well in Texas as some other states? Does this matter? How might we change that?

  State	Number of Women Legislators in the House / Assembly	Number of Women Legislators in the Senate	Total Number of Women Legislators	Total Seats in the Legislature	Percentage of Women in the Legislature
  Alabama	16	4	20	140	14.3%
  Alaska	12	6	18	60	30.0%
  Arizona	21	14	35	90	38.9%
  Arkansas	18	7	25	135	18.5%
  California	17	9	26	120	21.7%
  Colorado	28	11	39	100	39.0%
  Connecticut	42	9	51	187	27.3%
  Delaware	9	3	12	62	19.4%
  Florida	28	12	40	160	25.0%
  Georgia	51	10	61	236	25.8%
  Hawaii	14	7	21	76	27.6%
  Idaho	23	9	32	105	30.5%
  Illinois	46	18	64	177	36.2%
  Indiana	22	7	29	150	19.3%
  Iowa	27	6	33	150	22.0%
  Kansas	32	15	47	165	28.5%
  Kentucky	19	4	23	138	16.7%
  Louisiana	17	5	22	144	15.3%
  Maine	54	10	64	186	34.4%
  Maryland	48	11	59	188	31.4%
  Massachusetts	40	12	52	200	26.0%
  Michigan	30	4	34	148	23.0%
  Minnesota	48	16	64	201	31.8%
  Mississippi	15	9	24	174	13.8%
  Missouri	38	6	44	197	22.3%
  Montana	29	14	43	150	28.7%
  Nebraska	Unicameral	13	13	49	26.5%
  Nevada	17	8	25	63	39.7%
  New Hampshire	114	7	121	424	28.5%
  New Jersey	25	11	36	120	30.0%
  New Mexico	27	7	34	112	30.4%
  New York	44	14	58	213	27.2%
  North Carolina	28	13	41	170	24.1%
  North Dakota	17	9	26	141	18.4%
  Ohio	25	7	32	132	24.2%
  Oklahoma	13	6	19	149	12.8%
  Oregon	22	8	30	90	33.3%
  Pennsylvania	39	7	46	253	18.2%
  Rhode Island	23	11	34	113	30.1%
  South Carolina	19	4	23	170	13.5%
  South Dakota	16	5	21	105	20.0%
  Tennessee	16	6	22	132	16.7%
  Texas	29	8	37	181	20.4%
  Utah	14	6	20	104	19.2%
  Vermont	61	10	71	180	39.4%
  Virginia	17	10	27	140	19.3%
  Washington	36	17	53	147	36.1%
  West Virginia	15	3	18	134	13.4%
  Wisconsin	22	9	31	132	23.5%
  Wyoming	7	3	10	90	11.1%
  TOTAL	1,390	440	1,830	7,383	24.8%

• Source: NCSL.ORG

• Number of African American State Legislators

• 2009

• Just as it is expected that a legislature with, more female members will do a better job of representing the needs of women in a state, it is likely that an all-white legislature would not be effective at representing Hispanic or African American citizens as legislators who came from their community. A look at the tables below reveals that the proportion of African American legislators in the state (9%) is lower than some (esp. Southern) states, but a pretty accurate reflection of their proportion of the state’s population (11.8 percent). Why do you think that is? Does it matter?

• 

• Latino Legislators by State and Chamber for the 2015 Legislative Session

• Not surprisingly, the number of Hispanic legislators in the state legislature is not nearly as evenly distributed as the number of African American legislators or female legislators. In fact, eleven states have no Hispanic or Latino legislators and another eleven with just one. On the other hand, almost a quarter of the legislators in Texas are Hispanic or Latino, second only to New Mexico. Ever wonder why Texas has not passed the kind of anti-immigration laws passed by so many other Republican states? I think we may have found the answer!

  STATE	TOTAL LEGISLATIVE SEATS	TOTAL LATINO STATE LEGISLATORS	% OF TOTAL SEATS	TOTA: HOUSE SEATS	LLATINO HOUSE SEATS	% OF HOUSE SEATS	TOTA SENATE SEATS	LATINO SENATORS	% OF SENATE SEATS
  Alabama	140	0	0%	105	0	0%	35	0	0%
  Alaska	60	2	3%	40	2	5%	20	0	0%
  Arizona	90	19	21%	60	14	23%	30	5	17%
  Arkansas	135	0	0%	100	0	0%	35	0	0%
  California	120	23	19%	80	18	23%	40	5	13%
  Colorado	100	9	9%	65	4	6%	35	5	14%
  Connecticut	187	13	7%	151	12	8%	36	1	3%
  Delaware	62	2	3%	41	1	2%	21	1	5%
  Florida	160	21	13%	120	17	14%	40	4	10%
  Georgia	236	2	1%	180	2	1%	56	0	0%
  Hawaii	76	1	1%	51	0	0%	25	1	4%
  Idaho	105	0	0%	70	0	0%	35	0	0%
  Illinois	177	13	7%	118	9	8%	59	4	7%
  Indiana	150	1	1%	100	1	1%	50	0	0%
  Iowa	150	0	0%	100	0	0%	50	0	0%
  Kansas	165	5	3%	125	5	4%	40	0	0%
  Kentucky	138	1	1%	100	0	0%	38	1	3%
  Louisiana	144	1	1%	105	1	1%	39	0	0%
  Maine	186	0	0%	151	0	0%	35	0	0%
  Maryland	188	6	3%	141	5	4%	47	1	2%
  Massachusetts	200	5	3%	160	5	3%	40	0	0%
  Michigan	148	5	3%	110	5	5%	38	0	0%
  Minnesota	201	5	2%	134	3	2%	67	2	3%
  Mississippi	174	0	0%	122	0	0%	52	0	0%
  Missouri	197	1	1%	163	1	1%	34	0	0%
  Montana	150	1	1%	100	1	1%	50	0	0%
  Nebraska	49	0	0%				49	0	0%
  Nevada	63	9	14%	42	7	17%	21	2	10%
  New Hampshire	424	1	0%	400	1	0%	24	0	0%
  New Jersey	120	11	9%	80	8	10%	40	3	8%
  New Mexico	112	41	37%	70	26	37%	42	15	36%
  New York	213	17	8%	150	12	8%	63	5	8%
  North Carolina	170	1	1%	120	0	0%	50	1	2%
  North Dakota	141	0	0%	94	0	0%	47	0	0%
  Ohio	132	2	2%	99	2	2%	33	0	0%
  Oklahoma	149	1	1%	101	1	1%	48	0	0%
  Oregon	90	3	3%	60	3	5%	30	0	0%
  Pennsylvania	253	2	1%	203	2	1%	50	0	0%
  Rhode Island	113	3	3%	75	2	3%	38	1	3%
  South Carolina	170	0	0%	124	0	0%	46	0	0%
  South Dakota	105	0	0%	70	0	0%	35	0	0%
  Tennessee	132	0	0%	99	0	0%	33	0	0%
  Texas	181	41	23%	150	34	23%	31	7	23%
  Utah	104	3	3%	75	2	3%	29	1	3%
  Vermont	180	1	1%	150	1	1%	30	0	0%
  Virginia	140	1	1%	100	1	1%	40	0	0%
  Washington	147	2	1%	98	2	2%	49	0	0%
  West Virginia	134	0	0%	100	0	0%	34	0	0%
  Wisconsin	132	2	2%	99	2	2%	33	0	0%
  Wyoming	90	2	2%	60	1	2%	30	1	3%
  Totals	7383	279	4%	5411	213	4%	1972	66	3%

• Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, 2015 Survey

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Function 3: Representation

• Function 3: Elections to Ensure Representation

• How do we ensure that our representatives do indeed represent us? Elections!

• Members of the state house must face the voters every two years and members of the Texas Senate run for four-year terms. At this time, legislators either choose to seek another term and face the evaluation of the voters, or they step aside and let someone else seek the position. For those seeking to return, the election is expected to be an evaluation of the way they are representing their voters. If they are doing a good job, they will be returned, if not, they will be defeated.

• What is necessary for representation to take place via elections? First, the voters must have a real choice between the candidate in office and another, different candidate. A look at the 2006 election results suggests that elections in Texas could not instill representative tendencies: 80 of the 150 House seats had only 1 candidate from a major party (Libertarians ran candidates in several districts, but got no more than 20% of the vote anywhere)! In only 11 of the 150 races did the challenger win or even have a serious chance. In short, in over 80% of the cases, the voter really did not have an alternative if his or her legislator was failing to represent him or her adequately. In 8 of 15 Senate Seats (over half), the legislator in office did not have an opponent.

• Why is competition so low?

• Incumbent advantage: The incumbent is the person already holding the office. Because the incumbent has an advantage in name recognition (folks already know who he or she is) and the ability to raise money (lobbyists will take care of them), an incumbent is hard to beat, so he or she is seldom challenged.

• Partisan Gerrymandering: More than three-quarters of the Texas Legislative seats are considered to be safe for one party or the other because of gerrymandering (drawing a district to advantage or disadvantage of one group). Democrats do not have a realistic shot of winning about forty percent of the seats and Republicans cannot win about a quarter of them, therefore, they seldom field a serious candidate.
  
  

• Racial Gerrymandering: As was noted earlier in the course (under elections), the Supreme Court now requires that the districts include a certain proportion of seats that can be won by a candidate who is African-American or Hispanic. This has created many districts that are so heavily Democratic (minority districts) or so heavily Republican (non-minority districts) that competition is nonexistent.
  
  

• High Cost of Running: If a candidate who is not the incumbent is to have a realistic shot at winning a seat in the Texas House, he or she must be able to raise several hundred thousand dollars. To be competitive in the Senate you may need to spend close to or above $1 million! For a job that pays $7,200 a year! This discourages many qualified candidates from running. Besides the financial cost, there is also the time commitment of running for office.

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Function 4: Oversight

• Legislative Function 4: Bureaucratic Oversight

• One of the least understood, least appreciated, but potentially most significant functions of the legislature, is its role in overseeing the activities of the bureaucracy, or the executive branch offices. The legislature is supposed to make sure that the bureaucratic agencies charged with putting its laws into action actually are doing that.However, this may be the least performed of the five legislative functions for a variety of reasons.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• First and foremost, there is not political reward in doing oversight (unless you discover a $1,200 hammer or $20,000 toilet seat). Voters may pay attention when a legislator passes a bill or when he or she gets a grant for the district or has a bridge built in the district. However, they seldom pay attention when a legislator makes sure the bureaucrats are doing their job.

• Second, effective oversight takes a great deal of work, time and effort. Members of the Texas Legislature do not possess the time or staff to engage in such comprehensive work where the rewards are likely to be so small.

• Third, the Iron (Cozy) Triangle. While the legislature is supposed to be overseeing the government agencies, the two often become part of the Iron (Cozy) Triangle where the Legislative Committee, the Government (Bureaucratic) Agency and an Interest Group work together to keep spending high and oversight low. For example, the Agriculture Committee, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers would be more interested in keeping government spending high than in making sure the money is spent efficiently because the Farmers get money, the Department of Agriculture gets power and the members of Agriculture Committee of the legislature gets votes.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• When legislators do engage in oversight, it can generally take one of three forms: casework, performance review hearings, or the budget process.

• 1) Casework: This occurs when you respond to a concern or question by a constituent. A constituent calls and is having a problem with the bureaucracy. You solve these problems, but only one at a time. It has a very limited effect.

• 2) Performance Review Hearings: As noted above under the budget process, members of the Texas Legislature (namely the Legislative Budget Board) are supposed to hold performance review hearings for bureaucratic agencies at least every seven years. At these hearings, they can perform comprehensive oversight.

• However, this does not happen very often-rather than every seven years, the reviews occur about every twelve years and they are seldom effective because the people doing the reviews (the legislators) are seldom as prepared as the bureaucrats-remember the Texas Legislature is not professional and has relatively limited staff.

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 3) Budget Process: Every two years, each agency must go before the appropriate standing committee and the appropriate budget subcommittee and request its budget money for the next two years. At this time, these committees are supposed to explain why they need the money they are asking for and defend their spending practices. The committees are supposed to analyze these requests critically and make sure each agency is being efficient and effective. However, this often does not happen because of the relationship between the agency, the committee, and the interest group, called the cozy triangle or iron triangle.

• Why does this role make sense for the legislature to perform as opposed to the courts or executive branch?

• First, as the author of the laws, the legislature understands the intent of those laws and, obviously, would be the best institution to evaluate if that intent is being met by the agency.

• Second, bureaucratic agencies are technically part of the executive branch so asking that branch to evaluate performance is somewhat akin to asking the fox to watch the hen house!

• Third, the legislature is structured most effectively to oversee the agency-for every major agency, there is a matching and experienced legislative committee. There is a Department of Education and a Committee on Education. There is a Department of Public Safety and a House Committee on Public Safety. Finally, with its stable structure and membership, the legislative branch is the only institution that can build up seniority and experience to compete with the senior members of the bureaucracy. Long-time members of the legislature can remember the promises, kept and unkept, made by bureaucrats over the years!

• Given these advantages that the legislature has in oversight, why is it so seldom done?

• 

• Required Written Lecture: Legislative Function 5- Education

• Function 5: Educating the Public

• What do we mean by "educating the public"? What kind of information can the legislators and the legislative institution provide to voters? First, they can educate the public on the activities of the legislature regarding issues pertinent to them, such as taxes, education, public safety, health care, etc. Second, they should educate the public on the intricacies of the legislative process and how the process works. Few people have a good understanding of the legislative process and therefore often have a negative image of the legislative institution that is not unwarranted. Third, legislators can use technology to explain the pros and cons of various issues and let the voters get a feel for the debate over issues. Finally, legislators can use modern technology to get their constituents involved in the political process. They can provide voters with schedules of votes, committee hearings, etc., and other opportunities for input, as well as giving them access via e-mail.

• If you are a Legislator, there are three methods for doing this:

• Personal Meetings with Constituents: When constituents come to see you or call you or you go out into the district, you have the opportunity to educate them about what you are doing, what is going on in the legislature and how the legislature works.

• Traditional Media: Historically, this has meant doing radio and television interviews and sending out monthly or quarterly newsletters. However, with the rise of the cable television and segmented audiences, you can now take advantage of public access television or purchase relatively cheap time on cable networks. This will allow you to target your audience (i.e., tailor your message for the Home and Garden Network or Spike TV).

• Modern Media: With the rise of the Internet, state legislators have a convenient and cheap way to keep voters informed about what they are doing with e-mails, Web pages, list-servs, and blogs. All Texas legislators have public Web sites and many run blogs and try to answer their own e-mails. The Texas Legislature has long been a leader in providing information via the Internet.

• While legislators can use modern technology for these noble purposes, they can also use it to build support for their own positions or political ambitions. Take a look at some political Web pages and decide how they are being used!

• Lecture: AUDIO

• 

• Required Written Lecture: The Legislative Branch: Summary

• Historically, the legislative branch of government in Texas has been considered the most significant branch of Texas government. It is considered the people's branch because its members are selected to represent individual districts across the state (unlike the Governor and Judges who are elected statewide), because its members generally live among their constituents and hold "regular jobs" outside the legislature and it is made up of men and women from all races, education levels and ages. In other words, it acts and looks more like the whole state than do the Executive or Judicial branches.

• In the Separation of Powers defined in the Texas Constitution, the Legislative Branch is primarily responsible to Make Laws and it is organized in order to do that using political parties, leadership, committees and caucuses. However, it is also responsible to pass a state budget, represent the people of Texas (via elections), educate the public about politics and policies and oversee the bureaucracy.

• Historically, the Texas Legislature has been relatively nonpartisan, with most decisions decided more aling regional lines or urban-rural lines. However, dominant control by the Republican party in recent years suggests that the House and Senate are likely to become mpre partisan, especially as the Democratic party becomes increasingly defined by urban members.