Introduction to GOVT 2306 Texas State and Local Government
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Transcript of Introduction to GOVT 2306 Texas State and Local Government
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Introduction to GOVT 2306Texas State and Local Government
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This section’s topic:
What exactly is this class and why do I have to take it?
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Course Description: This course introduces you to state and local
government, and focuses primarily on the government of Texas and area local governments like Alvin and
Houston, as well as Brazoria and Harris County.
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In this class we detail the development and content of Texas Constitution and area city charters,
as well and the principle institutions they create. We will
also study elections, political parties, interest groups and the
media, in addition to public opinion.
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Special attention will also be given to topical public policy issues.
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Here is a list of the basic subjects we will cover:
The Texas ConstitutionLocal Governments
The LegislatureThe ExecutiveThe JudiciaryFederalism
Civil Liberties and RightsPolitical Parties
ElectionsPublic Policy
Public OpinionThe Media
Interest Groups
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If you took 2305 with me, you’ll notice that this is basically the
same content from that class. The major difference of course is that it
focuses on states and local governments, as well as the
interaction between these two and the national government.
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This set of slides is designed to welcome you to the class and give
you basic information that will allow you to proceed fruitfully.
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Welcome
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I want to do three basic things before we dig deeply into the
subject matter:
(1) explain the role education is meant to play in a democratic
republic, (2) broadly define the word “government, and (3)
broadly define the word “politics.”
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This specific set of slides is focused on the first question.
Since you are required to take this class, why?
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As you know, this is one of two required classes designed to
introduce you to the United States and Texas government. We will at the constitutions of each, the basic
language of government and politics, and the nature of
American political institutions.
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In 2305 we discussed why the founders of the US thought that an
educated public was necessary especially in a democratic republic where sovereignty rested with the
general population.
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I’d suggest a quick review of the introductory slides for GOVT 2305 to remind you of the argument.
In a nutshell:
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The founders of the US were concerned that in establishing a republic, they were
dooming the nation to an unstable governing system.
Why?
Because republics had failed repeatedly in the past, most notably when the Roman Republic became an empire under the
Augustus Caesar.
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But they had committed themselves to a nation based on
the consent of the governed in the Declaration of Independence, so
they were stuck with a republican government of some sort.
The only question was whether such a system could survive.
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Here is the question posed: Is self government really possible?
That is the American Experiment.
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They had no illusions that the process would be difficult. They
knew success was not guaranteed:
Mrs. Powel: "Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"
Benjamin Franklin: "A republic if you can keep it“
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As we know, the nation faced many challenges over its history.
The Civil War being the most serious.
Notice how Abraham Lincoln addressed this issue:
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“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a
new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in
a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so
dedicated, can long endure. …”
Abraham LincolnThe opening of the Gettysburg Address
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In 2305 we spent time detailing how the U.S. Constitution was designed to
compensate for human nature, especially that of the mass public.
We do not like to cooperate.
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“The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under
which popular Governments have everywhere perished”
- James Madison, Federalist #10.
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Notice that Madison thinks the general public is unstable, unjust,
and confused.Thanks Jimmy
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While we on the bottom rungs are deficient, our leaders tend to be
ambitious and must be contained somehow:
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“Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.”
- Federalist #51
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The very existence of government is a consequence of human
deficiency.
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“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If
angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal
controls on government would be necessary.”
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So how can a republic survive?
Two ways: (1) the structure of the governing system must
compensate for these deficiencies, and (2) the general population
must be educated in order to make them more capable to rule
themselves.
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The structure of the constitution is meant to provide the first method
to preserve the republic.
Public education is meant to handle the second.
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"Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private, and public
virtue is the only foundation of republics." - John Adams
Public Virtue
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A good way to ensure public virtue was to make sure they were
educated.
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Thomas Jefferson was an early promoter of civic education. He was a
driving force behind two pieces of legislation that promoted education.
1- A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge
2 – The Northwest Ordinance
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For a good description of the benefits of education, read the
Preamble to a Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge
Here is a link to the entire bill.
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And here is a key part of the preamble:
“Whereas it appeareth that however certain forms of government are better calculated than others to protect
individuals in the free exercise of their natural rights, and are at the same time themselves better guarded against degeneracy,
yet experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow
operations, perverted it into tyranny; and it is believed that the most effectual means of preventing this would be, to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people at large, and more especially to give them knowledge of those facts, which history exhibiteth, that, possessed thereby of the experience of other ages and countries, they may be enabled to know ambition
under all its shapes, and prompt to exert their natural powers to defeat its purposes.” – From the Preamble.
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In a sense, that is what this class is about.
An educated republic is supposed to be able to recognize attempts to
establish tyranny, and how to adequately respond to it.
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For additional information, here’s some interesting commentary in
that vein:
Education for Civitas: The Lessons Americans Must Learn
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A Few Lessons from History
Remember that the very idea of a liberal education was originally linked with the practice and preparation for free citizenship--in the polis of democratic Athens and in the civitas of republican Rome. Each generation was
to acquire the civic knowledge and commitments of "civitas." This was also the view of discerning founders of the American Republic and of their successors who
decided that the responsibilities and the rights of American citizenship in a democratic republic should be
defined by law and nourished by a common civic education and civic culture rather than by kinship, ethnicity, race, religion, class, or hereditary status.
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So the purpose of this class – in addition to other things we’ve
mentioned - is to prepare you to participate in government.
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The Northwest Ordinance was an early attempt to guarantee that this would occur as the nation
began to move westward.
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The Northwest Ordinance (1787) established the rules regarding the development of the territory that
would become Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin (
click here for background from the Library of Congress
).
It encouraged the development of schools.
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Art. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to
good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and
the means of education shall forever be encouraged.
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This is one of the reasons why, coast to coast, there is compulsory
K-12 education as well as a comprehensive state sponsored
system of colleges and universities.
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This leads to an important question:
Is the general public up to the task of self government? Do polls demonstrate that the general population has the knowledge
necessary to rule competently?
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Some links to some disturbing poll results:
- PEW Research- How Dumb Are We?-
Is voter ignorance killing democracy?
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And here is a link to a variety of blog posts I’ve compiled on the
subject:
Is the American Public Rational?
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The founders had a low opinion of the capabilities of the general
population. The one’s they referred to as “the mob.”
Click here for an extensive essay on the founder’s attitude towards
democracy.
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Here is an extended quote from Alexander Hamilton reflecting his
view of the general population and their capacity to govern:
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“For my part, I am not much attached to the majesty of the multitude, and therefore waive all pretensions (founded on such conduct), to
their countenance. I consider them in general as very ill qualified to judge for themselves what
government will best suit their peculiar situations; nor is this to be wondered at. The
science of government is not easily understood. Cato will admit, I presume, that men of good
education and deep reflection, only, are judges of the form of a government” - Caesar #2
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As with Hamilton, many founders expected that the mass public would be incapable of self-government and purposely limited participation to a
ruling class that would have the ability to govern effectively.
Cato Institute: Why Policymakers Should Ignore Public Opinion Polls
.
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This was one of the reasons why participation was limited to
property owners for much of American history. Here’s an
instructive quote:
Those who own America ought to govern it.
- John Jay
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So early restrictions on participation were intended to restrict political participation
to those with sufficient education to provide a solid foundation for the republic.
But circumstances of the time allowed those who were unable to participate in
the original state an option.
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They could move west, including those who moved to Texas.
This is an important observation, those who migrated westward did so in part
because they were shut off from opportunities in eastern states due to the
property requirements necessary to participate.
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This helps explain a point we will expound on throughout this semester, Texas
government has far more democratic features than the national government. All
major positions are elected to office, for example; terms are short; institutions are
split; professionalism discouraged.
As a result. the majority is far better able to control the actions of government in the
state of Texas than they can nationally.
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But the founders of the state of Texas agreed with those of the U.S.
that a republican system was the preferred system of government
and that education played an important role in the preservation
of republics.
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The Texas Constitution contained a grievance against the Mexican Government that:
It has failed to establish any public system of education, although possessed of almost
boundless resources, (the public domain,) and although it is an axiom in political science, that
unless a people are educated and enlightened, it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty,
or the capacity for self government.
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While the Constitution of the Republic of Texas did not establish an educational system, the 1845 Constitution – which was written
after statehood was granted – did: Article Ten.
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Article VII of the Texas Constitution of 1876 also provides for free public
schools:
SECTION 1. A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of
public free schools.
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As a republic, bills establishing a public education system were
passed in 1839 and 1840 under the presidency of
Mirabeau Buonoparte Lamar.
Here’s a well know quote from him:
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“Cultivated mind is the guardian genius of Democracy, and while guided and controlled by virtue, the noblest attribute of man. It is
the only dictator that freemen acknowledge, and the only security
which freemen desire.”
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Lamar is known as the Father of Texas Education.
But so was Ezekiel Cullen, and A.M. Aikin.
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Here’s a quote about Lamar which emphasized his role in establishing public education in the state, both
K-12 and higher ed.
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“When a public school was a novelty and the Republic’s treasury
and credit were at their lowest, only a daring mind and a champion of enlightened liberty could have
conceived the idea for insuring the education of the future Texas
generations.”
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For what its worth, here’s a quote from Sam Houston regarding
education:
“The benefits of education and of useful knowledge, generally
diffused through a community, are essential to the preservation of a
free government.”
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Sam Houston also had this to say:
“I would not be gotten into a schoolhouse until I was eight years
old. Nor did I accomplish much after I started. I doubt if I had gone
to school six months in all when my father died. I was fourteen at
the time.”
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So its an open question whether education is something best
handled by the public or private sector.
This battle is commonly fought in the state and has been especially heated in recent years – but more
eon that later.
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This debate aside, public education – which we will investigate more
fully later this semester – is a huge component of government both on
the state and local level.
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For background on education in the state, click on this site on
education in the Texas Almanac, as well as the education page on the
website of the Texas State Historical Association.
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Public schools in the state – as you well know – have a curriculum that contains the basic classes that are meant to ensure students have a
well rounded education.
In Texas, this includes a classes in government, one in high school
and two in college.
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Not all states have this requirement.
lucky you!
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A major related controversy is the content of the high school
curriculum.
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In 2010, the Texas State Board of Education reviews the K-12
curriculum for each required subject every few years. It’s recent
rewriting of the history and government curriculum was highly controversial and received nation
wide media coverage.
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Some stories from that time detailing the conflict:
- Ignoring Experts' Pleas, Texas Board Approves Controversial Curriculum Standards
- Politics of Education: New Texas Social Sciences Curriculum Standards Fraught with Ideology, Critics Say
- Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change- SBOE Conservatives Rewrite American History Books
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From the Texas Tribune: “ . . . beneath such spats lie far deeper ideological tussles, over
disputed Biblical underpinnings of the nation’s founding; the notion of America as uniquely superior, even divinely ordained;
and the proper context and credit in exploring the struggles of oppressed
minority groups.”
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Political groups believe that dominating the curriculum helps their cause. Schools are argued to be “agents of socialization” which help people form political opinions.
Actual proof that this matters is lacking, but it is assumed that schools determine
how people are likely to be oriented towards political questions, so fights are
ongoing attempting to do so.
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To look at the current content of social science education in K-12 in
Texas click here for the TEKS Social Studies Standards.
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An additional controversy: Should there be a national standard or should leach state have its own
requirements.
If states teach government as they see fit, is there enough in common among the people of the nation to have a national
dialogue on public matters?
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From the Center for Civic Education:
National Standards for Civics and Government
.
From the Atlantic: Should States Let the Federal Government Set Education Standards for Schools?
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The decision to require you to take two government classes was
delegated by the Texas Legislature to the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
(Wikipedia).
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A recent decision was made to ensure that all students take separate classes in the U.S. Constitution and the Texas
Constitution.
Wonder why? Background: Recommendation: Rationale:
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There’s a substantive reason: not enough time is spent looking specifically at Texas and local
government.
There’s also a practical reason: A class on strictly U.S. Government is more likely to transfer in and out
of a private or out-of-state institution.
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This overview should explain why the Texas legislature wants you to
takes this class.
If you want to file a grievance about it – that’s where you should take it. . . . Just sayin’
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This completes my take on why you are made to take this class.
Look on the wiki for hints about what kinds of questions you should
be prepared to answer on the assessment.
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In the next section we will look at terminology useful for us to go
forward fruitfully.