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Pr act ici ng
TEXAS
P O L ITIC S
Enhanced 17e
Lyle C. Brown Baylor University
Joyce A. Langenegger Blinn College
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Robert E. Biles Sam Houston State University
Ryan T. Rynbrandt Collin College
Veronica Vega Reyna Austin Community College
Juan Carlos Huerta Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi
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Printed in the United States of America

Print Number: 01 Print Year: 2019
Brief Contents
CHAPTER 1: The Environment of Texas Politics 1
CHAPTER 2: Federalism and the Texas Constitution 42
CHAPTER 3: Local Governments 80
CHAPTER 4: Political Parties 125
CHAPTER 5: Campaigns and Elections 155
CHAPTER 6: The Media and Politics 192
CHAPTER 7: The Politics of Interest Groups 238
CHAPTER 8: The Legislative Branch 273
CHAPTER 9: The Executive Branch 315
CHAPTER 10: The Judicial Branch 363
CHAPTER 11: Finance and Fiscal Policy 393
CHAPTER 12: Public Policy and Administration 435
CHAPTER 13: The Criminal Justice System 477
iii
Detailed Contents
Chapter 1: State Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Federal-State Relations: An Evolving Process . . 53
The Environment of The Texas Constitution: Politics of
Texas Politics 1 Policymaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Historical Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Everything Is Changing in Texas . . . . . . . 2 Today: After More Than a Century of Usage . . . 62
Texas Politics and Political Culture . . . . . . 3 Constitutional Amendments and Revision . . 66
Government, Politics, and Public Policy in Texas . 3 Constitutional Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Types of Political Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 More Revision Attempts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Texas Political Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Piecemeal Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
A Changing Culture? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Texas Constitution: A Summary . . . . .71
The People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Bill of Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Texans Throughout History: From Conflict The Powers of Government and
Toward Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Separation of Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Texans Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Suffrage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Religious Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Local Governments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
The Land and Population Distribution . . . .17 Other Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Urbanization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Suburbanization and Gentrification . . . . . . . . 18
Rural Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Chapter 3:
The Regions of Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Local Governments 80
The Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Local Politics in Context . . . . . . . . . . .82
The Texas Economy Through History . . . . . . . 24
Local Governments and Federalism . . . . . . . 82
New Economic Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Grassroots Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Meeting New Challenges . . . . . . . . . .31 Municipal Governments . . . . . . . . . . .84
Immigration: Federal and State Problems . . . . 31
Legal Status of Municipalities . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Forms of Municipal Government . . . . . . . . . 86
Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Municipal Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Poverty and Social Problems . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Rules Make a Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Socioeconomic and Demographic Changes . . . 94
Chapter 2: Municipal Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Federalism and the Municipal Government Revenue . . . . . . . . . 97
Texas Constitution 42 Generating Revenue for Economic
Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
The American Federal Structure . . . . . . .43 Counties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Distribution of Constitutional Powers . . . . . . . 44 Structure and Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Interstate Relations and State Immunities . . . . 47 County Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
iv
Detailed Contents v
County Government Reform . . . . . . . . . . .111 Primary, General, and Special Elections . . 183
Border Counties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Primaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Special Districts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 General and Special Elections . . . . . . . . . .187
Public School Districts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Junior or Community College Districts . . . . . .116
Chapter 6:
Noneducation Special Districts . . . . . . . . . .117
Metropolitan Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 The Media and Politics 192
Councils of Governments . . . . . . . . . . . . .119 Where Do We Get Our Information? . . . 193
Municipal Annexation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Print Media: Newspapers and News Magazines . 195
Electronic Media: Radio and Television . . . . . 197
Chapter 4: Digital Media: The Internet and Social Media . . 200
Political Parties 125 The Media’s Roles in Politics . . . . . . . .203
Providing Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203
Role of Political Parties . . . . . . . . . . 126 Maintaining Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Political Ideology . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Setting the Public Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . .211
Conservatism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127 Shaping Our Views? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Libertarianism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127 Campaigns and Citizen Participation . . . 215
Liberalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128 Campaigns and the Traditional Media . . . . . .216
Electoral Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Digital Campaigning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217
Third Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129 Citizen Participation in the Digital Age . . . . . .218
Independents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131 Bias? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
An Overview of Texas Political History . . 132 Media Bias and the News . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
1840s to 1870s: The Origin of the Party System 132 What Research Finds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
1870s to 1970s: A One-Party Dominant System . 133 Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
1970s to 1990s: An Emerging Two-Party System . 134 Regulation of Print and Broadcast Media . . . . 222
2000 to 2016: Republican Dominance . . . . . .135 Internet Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
2016 and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140 State and Local Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . .223
Party Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Latinos, African Americans, and
Temporary Party Organization . . . . . . . . . .143 Women in Texas Media . . . . . . . . . . 225
Selection of National Convention Delegates . . 147 Change in the Media: More Participation,
Permanent Party Organization . . . . . . . . . .149 More Sources, but Less News? . . . . . . 227
Concentration of Ownership . . . . . . . . . . .227
Chapter 5: For Good and for Bad: The Rise of
the Internet and Social Media . . . . . . . . .232
Campaigns and The Future? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
Elections 155
Political Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Chapter 7:
Conducting Campaigns in the 21st Century . . .156 The Politics of
Campaign Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Campaign Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160 Interest Groups 238
Racial and Ethnic Politics . . . . . . . . . 163 Interest Groups in the
Latinos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Political Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
African Americans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 What Is an Interest Group? . . . . . . . . . . . .239
Women in Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 The Reasons for Interest Groups . . . . . . . . .240
Voting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Characteristics of Interest Groups . . . . . . . . 242
Obstacles to Voting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169 Types of Interest Groups . . . . . . . . . 245
Democratization of the Ballot . . . . . . . . . . 172 Economic Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245
Voter Turnout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173 Professional/Public Employee Groups . . . . . .247
Administering Elections . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Social Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249
vi Detailed Contents
Public Interest Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Executive Powers of the Governor . . . . 328

Texas Power Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Appointive Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329
Interest Group Activities . . . . . . . . . 255 Removal Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330
Lobbying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256 Military Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330
Electioneering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Law Enforcement Power . . . . . . . . . . . . .332
Campaign Financing by Political Action Budgetary Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .332
Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Executive Orders and Proclamations . . . . . . .333
Bribery and Unethical Practices . . . . . . . . . 264 Economic Development . . . . . . . . . . . . .334
Power and Regulation in Legislative Powers of the Governor . . . . 335
Interest Group Politics . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Message Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .335
Regulation of Interest Group Politics . . . . . . .266 Bill Signing Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Interest Group Power and Public Policy . . . . .269 Veto Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .336
Pinpointing Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . .270 Special Sessions Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . .337
Judicial Powers of the Governor . . . . . 338
Chapter 8: Appointment and Removal of Judges and
Justices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .338
The Legislative Branch 273 Acts of Executive Clemency . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Legislative Framework . . . . . . . . . . 276 The Plural Executive . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Election and Terms of Office . . . . . . . . . . .276 The Lieutenant Governor . . . . . . . . . . . . .341
Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277 The Attorney General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Districting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278 The Comptroller of Public Accounts . . . . . . .343
Legislators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 The Commissioner of the General Land Office . .344
Qualifications and Characteristics . . . . . . . . 284 The Commissioner of Agriculture . . . . . . . . 345
Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 The Secretary of State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Legislative Organization . . . . . . . . . . 291 The State Bureaucracy . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Presiding Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291 The Institutional Context . . . . . . . . . . . . .348
Committee System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293 State Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .349
Legislative Caucus System . . . . . . . . . . . .295 Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .352
Legislative Operations . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Health and Human Services . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Powers and Immunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .298 Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Rules and Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300 Economic and Environmental Agencies . . . . .357
How a Bill Becomes a Law . . . . . . . . . . . .301
Influences Within the Legislative Chapter 10:
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Research Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . .310 The Judicial Branch 363
The Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
State Law in Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Sources of Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .365
Chapter 9: Code Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
The Executive Branch 315 Courts, Judges, Lawyers, and Juries . . . 366
Trial and Appellate Courts . . . . . . . . . . . .366
Gubernatorial Elections . . . . . . . . . . 318 Selecting Judges and Justices . . . . . . . . . .375
Gubernatorial Politics: Money Matters . . . . . .318 Disciplining and Removing Judges and
Gubernatorial Politics: Budgetary Influence . . .320 Justices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .377
Overview of the Governorship . . . . . . 321 Lawyers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .379
Compensation and Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . 321 Juries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .382
Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .324 Judicial Procedures in
Succession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 Civil Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Removal from Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325 Civil Trial Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386
Informal Powers of the Governor . . . . . 326 Trial and Appeal of a Civil Case . . . . . . . . . 387
Detailed Contents vii
Judicial Procedures in Criminal Cases . . . 388 Health and Human Services . . . . . . . . 454
Criminal Justice System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388 Human Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .457
Criminal Trial and Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . .389 Health and Mental Health Services . . . . . . . .458
Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
Chapter 11: Economic and Environmental Policies . . . 462
Finance and Business Promotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .463
Economic Regulatory Policy . . . . . . . . . . . 464
Fiscal Policy 393 Environmental Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . 468
Fiscal Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395 Immigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

Taxing Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
Budget Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .398 Chapter 13:
Spending Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .400
The Criminal
Revenue Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
The Politics of Taxation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .401 Justice System 477
Revenue from Gambling . . . . . . . . . . . . .407
Elements of the Criminal Justice
Other Nontax Revenues . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
The Public Debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .412 Criminal Justice Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
Budgeting and Fiscal Management . . . . 414 Criminal Justice Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Budgeting Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .414 The Death Penalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
Budget Expenditures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .418 Reinstitution of the Death Penalty . . . . . . . .483
Budget Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .419 Reviewing the Death Penalty . . . . . . . . . . .485
Purchasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Correction and Rehabilitation . . . . . . . 489
Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .419
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice . . . .490
Accounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .419
Local Government Jails . . . . . . . . . . . . . .498
Auditing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .420
Private Prisons and Jails . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
Future Demands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
Juvenile Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
Public Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
State and Local Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . .501
Public Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
Public Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .430
Infrastructure Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431 Problems and Reforms: Implications
for Public Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Overcrowding and Mental Illness in Prison . . . 503
Chapter 12: Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .504
Public Policy and Exoneration Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506
Administration 435 Racial Bias in the Criminal Justice System . . . .507
Misconduct by District Attorneys and
Making Public Policy in Texas . . . . . . . 436 Prosecutors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .508
Models of Policymaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
The Institutional Context . . . . . . . . . . . . .440
Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442 Glossary 513
Public Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442 Endnotes 526
Colleges and Universities . . . . . . . . . . . . .448 Index 559
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State Learning Outcomes
Practicing Texas Politics helps you meet the State Learning

Outcomes for GOVT 2306:
1. Explain the origin and development of the 5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest
Texas constitution. groups, and political parties in Texas.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of state and 6. Analyze the state and local election process.
local political systems and their relationship 7. Describe the rights and responsibilities of
with the federal government. citizens.
3. Describe separation of powers and checks 8. Analyze issues, policies, and political cul-
and balances in both theory and practice ture of Texas.
in Texas.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative,
executive, and judicial branches of Texas
government.
Chapter in Practicing GOVT 2306 State Learning Outcomes (SLO) that are specifically
Texas Politics addressed in the chapter
1: The Environment of SLO 8 Analyze issues, policies, and political culture of Texas.
Texas Politics With some attention to
SLO 1 Explain the origin and development of the Texas constitution.
SLO 2 Demonstrate an understanding of state and local political systems and their
relationship with the federal government.
SLO 3 Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and practice
in Texas.
SLO 4 Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of Texas
government.
SLO 7 Describe the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
2: Federalism and the SLO 1 Explain the origin and development of the Texas constitution.
Texas Constitution SLO 2 Demonstrate an understanding of state and local political systems and their
SLO 3 Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and practice
in Texas.
government.
(Continued)
ix
x State Learning Outcomes
3: Local Governments SLO 2 Demonstrate an understanding of state and local political systems and their
SLO 6 Analyze the state and local election process.
SLO 8 Analyze issues, policies, and political culture of Texas.
4: Political Parties SLO 2 Demonstrate an understanding of state and local political systems and their
SLO 5 Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.
5: Campaigns and SLO 2 Demonstrate an understanding of state and local political systems and their
Elections relationship with the federal government.
SLO 5 Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.
6: The Media and SLO 5 Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.
Politics SLO 8 Analyze issues, policies, and political culture of Texas.
7: The Politics of SLO 5 Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.
Interest Groups SLO 8 Analyze issues, policies, and political culture of Texas.
8: The Legislative SLO 3 Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and
Branch practice in Texas.
government.
9: The Executive SLO 3 Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and
government.
10: The Judicial SLO 3 Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and
government.
11: Finance and Fiscal SLO 2 Demonstrate an understanding of state and local political systems and their
Policy relationship with the federal government.
SLO 3 Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and
practice in Texas.
State Learning Outcomes xi
12: Public Policy and SLO 8 Analyze issues, policies, and political culture of Texas.
Administration
13: The Criminal Justice SLO 2 Demonstrate an understanding of state and local political systems and their relation-
System ship with the federal government.
government.
A Letter to Instructors
Dear Texas Government Instructor:

Texas politics is a dynamic enterprise. As Texas moves from being a majority-minority state to
becoming a majority-Latino state, the changing demographics will alter election outcomes and
public policy decisions. An economy that fluctuates with the rise and fall of oil and gas prices
results in a surplus of funds in one legislative session and a scarcity in the next session. Reliance
on money from the federal government, especially for funding social-welfare programs, regularly
brings state officials into conflict with federal authorities and conditions placed on use of those
funds. Limited water resources and a decaying infrastructure require innovative government solu-
tions before these problems erode the state’s economic success and growth. Government officials
play an active role in negotiating and resolving policy issues in the context of an ever-changing
demographic, economic, and ideological environment. Students in our classrooms will be the ones
who select policymakers and policies to deal with a multiplicity of concerns that face the Lone Star
State in the 21st century. Understanding their government and appreciating its dynamism is criti-
cal to our students’ future role as active, informed citizens.
## Practicing Texas Politics analyzes the practices and policies of the Lone Star State by giving
students a realistic introduction to how public policymaking is conducted in Texas. The state’s
individualistic and traditionalistic political culture, together with the role of Texas’s rapidly
changing demographics, are referenced throughout to aid students in placing policy decisions
in a historical and cultural context. Students are introduced to current policymakers, their
decisions, and the impact of the resulting policies. Roles of political parties, special interest
groups, voters, and the media in influencing public policy are also explored. Policymaking
and process are integrated within each chapter throughout the book with a special emphasis
on public education, higher education, social services, and infrastructure needs both from
a budgetary perspective in Chapter 11, “Finance and Fiscal Policy,” and as policy issues in
Chapter 12, “Public Policy and Administration.”
## Through learning outcomes, learning checks, and other pedagogical features, students are
given an organizational structure that helps them learn, understand, and remember the material.
New to This Edition

In this edition, we have continued to focus on aligning our narrative with the state learning
outcomes for GOVT 2306. New to this edition, we have introduced a strategy for addressing the
skills-based core objectives required of the discipline, as defined by the Undergraduate Education
Advisory Committee (UEAC) of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB).
xii
A Letter to Instructors xiii
## The enhanced edition has been designed to support students’ development of these core objec-
tives, with the expansion of core objective questions that prompt students to engage in criti-
cal thinking, develop communication skills, evaluate social responsibility, and reflect on their
own sense of personal responsibility.
## The role of the emerging Latino majority in reshaping Texas politics is addressed in several
areas, including political party dominance, representation in all branches of state government,
the media, and public policy.
## “Keeping Current: The Impact on Texas” analyzes the outcome and effect of both the national
and state 2016 and 2018 elections on aspects of Texas politics and the 86th legislative session.
## The text has been updated to include the effects of recent court decisions such as South Dakota
v. Wayfair, Inc., and other changes in laws and procedures.
## Updates highlighting new laws enacted by the 86th regular session are included.
## All images are now numbered, which will enhance navigation in the electronic version of
the book.
MindTap
As an instructor, MindTap is here to simplify your workload, organize, and immediately grade your
students’ assignments, and allow you to customize your course as you see fit. Through deep-seated
integration with your Learning Management System, grades are easily exported and analytics are
pulled with just the click of a button. MindTap provides you with a platform for easily adding cur-
rent events, videos, and RSS feeds from national or local news sources.
Our goal, first and foremost, is to help you engage your students in the dynamic process of pol-
itics and develop them into active, informed participants in their democracy. We have attempted
to present a realistic and up-to-date picture of how Texas politics is practiced in all branches and
at both local and state levels of government. We welcome your feedback on any material or feature
in this book.
Sincerely,
The Practicing Texas Politics Author Team
A Letter to Students
Dear Student:
Welcome to Texas government. Whether you’re a native-born Texan or a newly arrived Texan,
you can feel the energy of change all around you. You live in a state that no longer has a major-
ity population from any race or ethnic group and in a few short years will have a majority Latino
population. Despite the economic downturn that affected the rest of the world, you’re in a state
that consistently created more new jobs than any other state for most of the last decade. By 2019,
the Texas economy more closely resembled the US economy in job creation and unemployment
rates. Even with the erratic nature of the energy sector and related job losses, the number of new
Texans continued to increase. Four of the 11 largest metropolitan areas in the nation are in Texas:
Houston, San Antonio, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Austin. All were projected to experience significant
population growth through 2019 and beyond. This same state, however, has the most uninsured
children in the nation, the highest dropout rate in the country, and one of the greatest gaps in
earnings between the wealthy and the poor in the United States. A decaying transportation infra-
structure and depleted water resources will require multibillion-dollar solutions. And who will
solve these problems? You, the future voters and taxpayers of Texas, will have that responsibility.
That’s why you need to understand your role and how the system works so you can keep Texas the
vibrant state we all want it to be. Helping you become an effective participant in that system is why
we wrote Practicing Texas Politics.
In this book, you’ll be introduced to today’s important policymakers and learn what we all
have a right to expect of them. You’ll meet students just like you, who have chosen to get involved
and make a difference at their colleges and universities, in their communities, and in this state.
You’ll learn about ways you can become involved through internships and other programs, as
well as by voting and through political campaigns. You’ll see how Texas compares to other states,
and you’ll be exposed to the diversity and uniqueness of the Lone Star State—home to the only
State Tweeter Laureate in the nation (Supreme Court Justice Don Willett), a host of musicians
from Los Lonely Boys to Chingo Bling to Willie Nelson, and four former U.S. presidents (Dwight
Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush). You’ll come to under-
stand what this state could be in the future and how you can shape the outcome.
## Updated “Students in Action” features in each chapter help you make a personal connection
to the content. The features highlight how Texas students like you have participated in the com-
munity or provide information on internships and other opportunities for interested students.
## “Point/Counterpoint” examines a key controversial issue in Texas politics from both sides of
the controversy and asks you to take a stand on each issue.
## “Learning Checks” provide a few factual questions at the end of major sections for you to use
in checking your knowledge. Answers are provided at the end of the chapter.
xiv
A Letter to Students xv
## “How Do We Compare?” boxes compare Texas with other states.

## A Marginal Glossary allows you to access terms as they are needed for easier understanding
of the text.
## End-of-chapter materials include a conclusion that wraps up the chapter and offers final
thoughts for you to consider, a chapter summary organized by learning outcome, Key Terms,
and Learning Check answers.
## Skills-based, core objective questions with all images ask you to engage in critical think-
ing, develop communication skills, evaluate social responsibility, and reflect on your personal
responsibility by thinking about your political opinion and beliefs on a variety of important
issues in this state.
## Charts, graphs, and maps are used to give you a visual image for understanding concepts.
## Keeping Current: The Impact on Texas provides insight into what recent state and national
elections and legislative decisions mean for the Lone Star State.
## Social media icons mark explanations of the ways social media is influencing government,
affecting political campaigns, and transforming the media.
The Benefits of Using Mindtap as a Student

As a student, the benefits of using MindTap with this book are endless. With automatically graded
practice quizzes and activities, an easily navigated learning path, and an interactive eBook, you
will be able to test yourself in and outside of the classroom. Accessibility of current events coupled
with interactive media makes the content fun and engaging. On your computer, phone, or tablet,
MindTap is there when you need it, giving you easy access to flashcards, quizzes, readings, and
assignments.
You will guide Texas through the 21st century. It is our hope that when you understand how
to get involved in Texas politics, you will choose to do so. And that once you are involved, you will
use your vote and influence to create the kind of Texas in which you want to live. It is to you, the
students of Texas, that we dedicate this book.
Sincerely,
The Practicing Texas Politics Author Team
Resources
Students
Access your Practicing Texas Politics resources by visiting www.cengage.com.
If you purchased MindTap access with your book, click on “Register a Product” and then enter
your access code.
Cengage Unlimited
Cengage Unlimited is the first-of-its-kind digital subscription that empowers students to learn
more for less. One student subscription includes total access to every Cengage online textbook,
platform, career and college success centers, and more—in one place. Learn across courses and
disciplines with confidence that you won’t pay more to access more. Available now in bookstores
and online.
*Available only in select markets. Details at www.cengage.com/unlimited.
Instructors
Access your Practicing Texas Politics resources via www.cengage.com/login.
Log in using your Cengage Learning single sign-on user name and password, or create a new in-
structor account by clicking on “New Faculty User” and following the instructions.
MindTap for Practicing Texas Politics

ISBN for Instant Access Code: 9780357132494
MindTap for Practicing Texas Politics is a highly personalized, fully online learning experience
built upon Cengage content and correlating to a core set of learning outcomes. MindTap guides
students through the course curriculum via an innovative Learning Path Navigator where they
will complete reading assignments, challenge themselves with focus activities, and engage with
interactive quizzes. Through a variety of gradable activities, MindTap provides students with op-
portunities to check themselves for where they need extra help, as well as allowing faculty to mea-
sure and assess student progress. Integration with programs like YouTube and Google Drive allows
instructors to add and remove content of their choosing with ease, keeping their course current
while tracking local and global events through RSS feeds. The product can be used fully online
with its interactive eBook for Practicing Texas Politics, Enhanced 17e, or in conjunction with the
printed text.
xvi
Resources xvii
MindTap Resource Center

Thousands of primary and secondary sources at your fingertips!
Access to Gale’s authoritative library reference content is now available in every Political Science
MindTap. Gale, part of Cengage, has been providing research and education resources for libraries
for over 60 years.
Instructors have the option to choose from thousands of primary and secondary sources, im-
ages, and videos to enhance their MindTap course with the click of a button. This capability can
replace a separate reader and conveniently keeps all course materials in one place. The selections
are curated by experts, designed specifically for introductory courses, and can be accessed through
MindTap’s Activity Builder feature.
Instructor Companion Website for Practicing Texas

Politics —for instructors only
ISBN: 9780357132470
This Instructor Companion Website is an all-in-one multimedia online resource for class preparation,
presentation, and testing. Accessible through Cengage.com/login with your faculty account, you will
find the following available for download: book-specific Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentations, a Test
Bank compatible with multiple learning management systems, and an Instructor Manual.
The Test Bank, offered in Blackboard, Moodle, Desire2Learn, Canvas, and Angel formats, con-
tains Learning Objective–specific and core competency–specific multiple-choice, critical thinking
short answer questions, and essay questions for each chapter. Import the test bank into your LMS
to edit and manage questions and to create tests.
The Instructor’s Manual contains chapter-specific learning objectives, an outline, key terms
with definitions, and a chapter summary. Additionally, the Instructor’s Manual features a critical
thinking question, lecture launching suggestion, and an in-class activity for each learning objective.
Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentations are ready-to-use, visual outlines of each chapter. These
presentations are easily customized for your lectures. Access the Instructor Companion Website at
www.cengage.com/login.
Cognero for Practicing Texas Politics, Enhanced 17e—for

instructors only
ISBN: 9780357132524
Cengage Learning Testing Powered by Cognero is a flexible, online system that allows you to au-
thor, edit, and manage test bank content from multiple Cengage solutions; create multiple test ver-
sions in an instant; and deliver tests from your LMS, your classroom, or wherever you want. The
test bank for Practicing Texas Politics, Enhanced 17e, contains Learning Objective–specific and
core competency–specific multiple-choice, critical-thinking short answer, and essay questions for
each chapter.
Practicing Texas Politics on Twitter

https://twitter.com/PracTexPol
Follow the Practicing Texas Politics author team’s Twitter feed @PracTexPol for the latest news and
updates that affect politics in the Lone Star State. Twitter feed also regularly posts tips for studying
and thriving in college and engaging in active and informed citizenship.
Acknowledgments
We are indebted to many personal friends, government officials and their staffs, political activists,
lawyers, and journalists who have stimulated our thinking. Likewise, we owe much to librarians
and archivists who located hard-to-obtain facts and photos. We also appreciate the professional as-
sistance rendered by the editorial, production, and marketing staff of Cengage Learning. Without
the benefit of their publishing experience, this textbook and its ancillaries would be of much less
value to students and instructors.
Of course, expressions of appreciation are due to spouses, family members, and others impor-
tant to us who helped to produce this new edition of our book and have learned to cope with the
irregular working hours of authors struggling to meet deadlines. We are especially grateful to the
many students who assisted us in writing Practicing Texas Politics, especially those who willingly
gave of their time and expertise in the production of the Students in Action feature, as well as those
who assisted us by providing input to some of our early drafts. We give special thanks for the as-
sistance and support of Macaella Gray, Lane Fraiser, Denise Alba-Ellington, and Nathaniel Torres
of Austin Community College; and, Maria “Lupita” Partida of St. Mary’s University.
We would also like to thank Jeffrey Goldings, for authoring this edition’s Instructor’s Manual
and PowerPoint, and author Eric Miller of Blinn College and John Osterman of San Jacinto
College, for authoring this edition’s Test Bank. Our hope is that through the efforts of all, this
book will help Texas students better understand the practice of Texas politics and their role as
participants.
Reviewers
We would also like to thank the instructors who have contributed their valuable feedback through
reviews of this text:
New Reviewers Daniel Allen
Eric T Lundin Hardin-Simmons University
Lone Star College—Kingwood Alicia Andreatta
Neal Tannahilll Angelina College
Houston Community College Dorris Robinson
Jamey Crane Texas Southern University
Houston Community College Vida Davoudi
Reisha Beaty Lone Star College—Kingwood
Houston Community College Previous Edition Reviewers
Jennifer Bachan Margaret Richardson
Houston Community College San Antonio College
xviii
Acknowledgments xix
Kevin T. Holton Amy S. Glenn

South Texas College Northeast Lakeview College
Olivia Wilson Jim Startin
Angelina College University of Texas at San Antonio
Dr. Ashley D. Ross Sandra Creech
Texas A&M University Galveston Campus Temple College
Prof. David E. Birch Patrizio Amezcua
Lone Star College—Tomball San Jacinto College—North
Mario Marcel Salas Debra St. John
Northwest Vista College Collin College—Preston Ridge Campus
Brian R. Farmer Evelyn Ballard
Amarillo College Houston Community College—Southeast College
Billy Hathorn Aaron Knight
Laredo Community College Houston Community College—Northeast College
About the Authors
Lyle C. Brown is professor emeritus of political science at Baylor University, where he served as
departmental director of graduate studies and director of Baylor’s Foreign Service Program. His
international academic experience includes teaching at Mexico City College (now University of
the Americas) and postgraduate study at the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico. He
received his M.A. from the University of Oklahoma and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at
Austin. Dr. Brown served as president of the Southwestern Council of Latin American Studies. His
writing experience includes coediting Religion in Latin American Life and Literature and authoring
numerous articles.
Joyce Langenegger teaches government at Blinn College and is the college’s Executive Director
of Academic Success. She received M.A. and J.D. degrees from Baylor University, and an M.A. and
Ph.D. from Fielding Graduate University. Dr. Langenegger has been named to “Who’s Who Among
America’s Teachers” and received a NISOD Award for Teaching Excellence, Teacher of the Year for
Blinn College-Bryan, and “Most Valuable Player” award from San Jacinto College for her work as a
professor and administrator at that institution. She is a frequent workshop presenter on innovative
teaching strategies. Before beginning her teaching career, she practiced law in Houston.
Sonia R. García is a professor of political science, coordinator of the women’s studies pro-
gram, and a pre-law advisor at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. She has also served as
chair and graduate director of the political science department. Dr. García received her mas-
ter’s degree from the University of Arizona and her Ph.D. from the University of California,
Santa Barbara. She has published articles on Latina politics and is a co-author of Mexican
Americans and the Law: El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido and lead author of Políticas:
Latina Public Officials in Texas. Her involvement includes leadership development for various
Latino/a-based organizations.
Robert E. Biles, professor emeritus and former chair of political science at Sam Houston State
University, has taught college students about Texas politics in Texas, Colombia, and Ecuador.
He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University-School of Advanced
International Studies. Dr. Biles is the author of numerous books and articles. His involvement
in politics includes serving as a school board member, county party chair, county election su-
pervisor, and staff member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has advised state
agencies and held leadership positions in statewide lobbying groups and professional organiza-
tions. Dr. Biles has received four Fulbright grants, as well as awards for his research, teaching, and
administrative service.
xx
About the Authors xxi
Ryan T. Rynbrandt is a professor of political science and former director of the Honors Institute
at Collin College in Plano, Texas, where he teaches courses in American government and Texas
Government. Professor Rynbrandt leads campus initiatives that help students improve academic
and life skills, develop mental and emotional resilience, and increase civic engagement. His research
and writing examines the role of the pursuit of happiness in American political history, culture,
and public policy. He earned his master’s degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor,
where he received multiple teaching awards and served as president of the Graduate Association of
Political Scientists. He has been active in politics at the local, state, and national levels.
Veronica Vega Reyna is associate professor of government and assistant dean of Social
and Behavioral Sciences for Austin Community College. She has been faculty advisor to a civil
rights organization at ACC. Professor Reyna earned her M.A. in Political Science from St. Mary’s
University in San Antonio, where she taught as adjunct faculty. Her political involvement has in-
cluded interning for Congressman Ciro Rodriguez, working as a union organizer, and volunteer-
ing in various Texas campaigns. She has also taught Texas politics at colleges and universities in
San Antonio.
Juan Carlos Huerta is a professor of political science at Texas A&M University—Corpus

Christi. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Houston. Dr.
Huerta is active in promoting teaching and learning in political science and has served as president
of the Political Science Education Organized Section of the American Political Science Association
and the Southwestern Political Science Association. He is the founding president of the Learning
Communities Association. His research and writing examines political representation, public
opinion, Latino/a politics, political science education, and learning communities.
Career Opportunities:
Political Science
Introduction
It is no secret that college graduates are facing one of the toughest job markets in the past 50 years.
Despite this challenge, those with a college degree have done much better than those without since
the 2008 recession. One of the most important decisions a student has to make is the choice of
a major; many consider future job possibilities when making that call. A political science degree
is incredibly useful for a successful career in many different fields, from law to policy advocate,
pollster to humanitarian worker. Employer surveys reveal that the skills that most employers value
in successful employees—critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and clarity of verbal and written
communication—are precisely the tools that political science courses should develop. This brief
guide is intended to help spark ideas for what kinds of careers you might pursue with a political
science degree and the types of activities you can engage in now to help you secure one of those
positions after graduation.
Careers in Political Science

Law and Criminal Justice
Do you find that your favorite parts of your political science classes are those that deal with the
Constitution, the legal system, and the courts? Then a career in law and criminal justice might
be right for you. Traditional jobs in the field range from attorney or judge to police or parole
officer. Since 9/11, there has also been tremendous growth in the area of homeland security,
which includes jobs in mission support, immigration, travel security, as well as prevention and
response.
Public Administration
The many offices of the federal and state governments combined represent one of the largest em-
ployers in the United States. Flip to the chapter on the executive branch of this textbook and con-
sider that each state department and agency you see looks to political science majors for future
employees. At the federal level, a partial list of such agencies would include the Department of
Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Federal Trade Commission.
Texas offers similar opportunities including the Texas Education Agency and the Health and
Human Services Commission. There are also thousands of staffers who work for members
of Congress or the Congressional Budget Office, and at the state level for legislators and the
Legislative Budget Board. Many of these staffers were political science majors in college. This does
not even begin to account for the multitude of similar jobs in local governments that you might
consider as well.
xxii
Career Opportunities: Political Science xxiii
Campaigns, Elections, and Polling

Are campaigns and elections the most exciting part of political science for you? Then you might
consider a career in the growing industry based around political campaigns. From volunteering
and interning to consulting, marketing, and fundraising, there are many opportunities for those
who enjoy the competitive and high-stakes electoral arena. For those looking for careers that com-
bine political knowledge with statistical skills, there are careers in public opinion polling. Pollsters
work for independent national organizations, such as Gallup and YouGov, or as part of news op-
erations and campaigns. For those who are interested in survey methodology, there are also a wide
variety of nonpolitical career opportunities in marketing and survey design.
Interest Groups, International and Nongovernmental Organizations

Is there a cause that you are especially passionate about? If so, there is a good chance that there
are interest groups out there that are working hard to see some progress made on similar issues.
Many of the positions that one might find in for-profit companies also exist in their nonprofit
interest group and nongovernmental organization counterparts, including lobbying and high-
level strategizing. Do not forget that there are also quite a few major international organizations,
such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the International Monetary
Fund, where a degree in political science could be put to good use. While competition for those
jobs tends to be fierce, your interest and knowledge about politics and policy will give you an
advantage.
Foreign Service
Does a career in diplomacy and foreign affairs, complete with the opportunity to live and work
abroad, sound exciting to you? Tens of thousands of people work for the U.S. State Department,
in Washington D.C. and in consulates and embassies around the world. They represent the diplo-
matic interests of the United States abroad. Entrance into the Foreign Service follows a very spe-
cific process, starting with the Foreign Service Officers Test—an exam given three times a year that
includes sections on American government, history, economics, and world affairs. Being a political
science major is a significant help in taking the FSOT.
Graduate School
While not a career, graduate school may be the appropriate next step for you after completing your
undergraduate degree. Following the academic route, being awarded a Ph.D. or Master’s degree in
political science could open additional doors to a career in academia, as well as many of the pro-
fessions mentioned earlier. If a career as a researcher in political science interests you, you should
speak with your advisors about continuing your education.
Preparing While Still on Campus

Internships
One of the most useful steps you can take while still on campus is to visit your college’s career
center in regard to an internship in your field of interest. Not only does it give you a chance to ex-
perience life in the political science realm, it can lead to job opportunities down the road and add
experience to your resume.
xxiv Career Opportunities: Political Science
Skills
In addition to your political science classes, there are a few skills that will prove useful as a comple-
ment to your degree:
Writing: Like anything else, writing improves with practice. Writing is one of those skills
that is applicable regardless of where your career might take you. Virtually every occupation
relies on an ability to write clearly, concisely, and persuasively.
Public Speaking: An oft-quoted 1977 survey showed that public speaking was the most
commonly cited fear among respondents. And yet oral communication is a vital tool in the
modern economy. You can practice this skill in a formal class setting or through extracur-
ricular activities that get you in front of a group.
Quantitative Analysis: As the Internet aids in the collection of massive amounts of informa-
tion, the nation is facing a drastic shortage of people with basic statistical skills to interpret
and use this data. A political science degree can go hand-in-hand with courses in introduc-
tory statistics.
Foreign Language: One skill that often helps a student or future employee stand out in a
crowded job market is the ability to communicate in a language other than English. Solidify
or set the foundation for your verbal and written foreign language communication skills
while in school.
Student Leadership
One attribute that many employers look for is “leadership potential” which can be quite tricky to
indicate on a resume or cover letter. What can help is a demonstrated record of involvement in
clubs and organizations, preferably in a leadership role. While many people think immediately of
student government, most student clubs allow you the opportunity to demonstrate your leadership
skills.
Conclusion
Hopefully, reading this section has sparked some ideas on potential future careers. As a next step,
visit your college’s career placement office, which is a great place to further explore what you
have read here. You might also visit your college’s alumni office to connect with graduates who
are working in your field of interest. Political science opens the door to a lot of exciting careers.
Have fun exploring the possibilities!
The Environment
1 of Texas Politics
Learning Objectives
1.1 Analyze how political culture has
Image 1.1 Governor Abbott uses social media to
shaped Texas’s politics, govern- attract business to Texas
ment, and public policy.
1.2 Describe the relationship between

the social history of Texas and the
political characteristics of the state’s
diverse population.
1.3 Discuss the political implications of

Texas’s size in both geography and
population, along with the geo-
graphic distribution of its residents.
1.4 Describe the industries that formed
Source: Twitter
the historic basis for the Texas
economy, the diversification of the
modern Texas economy, and the
implications for Texas politics.
1.5 Identify five major policy challenges How can the Texas government most effectively work to
continue the state’s success and address its challenges?
Texas faces in the 21st century.
2 Chapter 1 The Environment of Texas Politics
I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is
a mystique closely approximating a religion. And this is true to the extent that
people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other
religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mys-
tery or paradox. But I think there will be little quarrel with my feeling that
Texas is one thing. For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical
appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings,
Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of
America. Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession,
the proper study and the passionate possession of all Texans.
—John Steinbeck, 1962
Everything Is Changing
in Texas
They say everything is bigger in Texas. Even the stereotypes are big—big trucks, big
belt buckles, big hair—but if that’s all you know about the Lone Star State, you don’t
know today’s Texas. Perhaps the biggest things about Texas are the changes it has
seen and the diversity that has resulted. It’s the land of Willie Nelson, for certain; but
it’s also the land of Selena Gomez, Beyoncé Knowles, Chingo Bling, Leon Bridges,
Chamillionaire, The Mars Volta, Kacey Musgraves, Post Malone, and Mitch Grassi.
It’s still the land of cattle barons and oil tycoons; but it’s also the land of high-tech
pioneers, international traders, defense contractors, manufacturers, and service pro-
viders. Texas’s stunning growth in recent decades has brought massive transforma-
tion and breathtaking variety in its people, economy, and politics.
If you live here, these transformations and the way our political system
handles them have a significant impact on your life. Better understanding Texas
and its political system will help you navigate these changes and contribute to the
development of a better government. If you don’t live here, pay attention anyway;
the Texas experience is a preview of the changes facing the United States as a
whole. The Lone Star State’s successes and failures in negotiating these changes
and balancing diverse interests will provide lessons for the rest of the nation. And
you’ll probably end up moving here anyway—everyone else seems to be. Since
2005, Texas has welcomed nearly twice the number of new arrivals as any other
state. In the past few decades, tens of millions have told their place of origin what
David Crockett allegedly told the people of his Kentucky district: “You may all
go to hell, and I’ll go to Texas.” Because of the sheer size of Texas, what happens
here also has an impact on the direction of the United States as a whole.1 In 2019,
the U.S. Census Bureau ranked Texas second largest among the 50 states, with
a population approaching 29 million. That places the Lone Star State between
California with its 39.5 million residents and Florida with more than 21 million.
Follow Practicing Substantial changes and diverse interests put democratic institutions of gov-
Texas Politics on ernment to the test. The increased population of the Lone Star State includes over
Twitter @PracTexPol 21 million men and women of voting age (18 years or older).2
Chapter 1 The Environment of Texas Politics 3
Our analysis of the politics of Texas’s state and local governments will help you
understand political action and prepare you to be an active and informed partici-
pant in the political life of the state and its counties, cities, and special districts.
As Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan once said, “The stakes are too high
for government to be a spectator sport.” It’s time to suit up and play. To help you
play effectively, we will introduce you to the playing field (government, political
culture, land, and economy of the state), the players (citizens, activists, politicians,
public employees, and opinion leaders), and the rules of the game (constitution,
laws, and political processes).
exas Politics and Political

T
Culture
LO 1.1 Analyze how political culture has shaped Texas’s politics,
government, and public policy.
There has never been full agreement in democratic societies about the proper
size and role of government. Views on that question vary widely and are held
deeply. Yet aside from a handful of anarchists, there is agreement that society
needs rules, or public policies, by which to live. Making, implementing, and
enforcing these policies is the job of government. The government of the state
of Texas is modeled on that of the United States, with the power to make policy
divided among legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Each branch has its
own powers, and each has some ability to limit or check the power of the others.
The state government also delegates some policymaking power to local govern-
ments, including counties, cities, and special districts. As a result, public policies
take different forms.
Government, Politics, and Public Policy in Texas

Many policies are laws passed by the legislature, approved by the governor,
implemented by an executive department, and interpreted by the courts. Others
are constitutional amendments proposed by the legislature and ratified by the government
voters of Texas. Some policies derive from rules promulgated by state agencies A public institution with
and ordinances passed by local governments. What all of these efforts share in authority to formulate,
common is that they are attempts to meet a public need or reach a public goal. adopt, implement, and
Government tries to meet public needs by allocating resources. For example, state enforce public policies for
a society.
or local government may formulate, adopt, and implement a public policy, such
as raising taxes to pay for more police protection or better streets and highways. public policy
Government tries to meet public goals by using policy to encourage or discourage What government does
to or for its citizens to
specific behaviors. The state can encourage some behaviors using incentives—for
meet a public need or
example, establishing scholarships or student loan programs to encourage getting goal as determined by a
an education. It can discourage other conduct with punishments, such as impos- legislative body or other
ing prison time for selling drugs. In addition, the government can encourage or authorized officials.
4 Chapter 1 The Environment of Texas Politics
discourage behaviors through public relations and information campaigns, such

as the famous “Don’t Mess with Texas” campaign against littering.
In the political realm, you may think of public policy as the product and
government as the factory in which policy is made. If that’s the case, then politics
is the process that produces public policy. In fact, the government has at times
been compared to a sausage factory—even if you like the product it produces, the
process isn’t always very pleasant to watch. The politics of policymaking often
involves conflict among government officials, political parties, interest groups,
media figures, citizens, noncitizen residents, and other groups that seek to influ-
ence how policies in Texas are enacted and implemented. Conflict over power
and resources can encourage the worst behavior in people, and opportunities for
corruption and greed abound. Yet politics also requires cooperation and can
inspire noble and courageous action. In sum, politics is the moving force by
which government produces public policy, which in turn determines whether
and how we use the power of the state to address our challenges and take advan-
tage of our opportunities.
Types of Political Culture

We may not all agree on the proper role of government or what makes good
public policy. Yet when certain widely shared values, attitudes, traditions, habits,
and general behavioral patterns develop over time, they shape the politics and
public policy of a particular region. We call this political culture. According to
political scientist Daniel Elazar (1934–1999), “Culture patterns give each state its
particular character and help determine the tone of its fundamental relationship,
as a state, to the nation.”3 Based on the settlers in the original colonies, Elazar
identified three distinct cultures that exist in the United States: moralistic, indi-
vidualistic, and traditionalistic.
In the moralistic culture that originated in Puritan New England, citizens
view government as a public service. They expect government to improve condi-
politics tions for the people through economic regulation and to advance the public good
The process of to create a just society. Citizens see it as their duty to become active in govern-
policymaking that mental decision making through participation in politics and government, and
involves conflict and
they hold the government accountable to their high expectations.
cooperation between
political parties and other The individualistic culture grew out of the focus on individual opportunity,
groups that seek to elect especially in business, in the mid-Atlantic colonies. The business community
government officials advanced the individualistic culture, often viewing government as an adver-
or to influence those sary that taxed and regulated them; therefore, they wanted to limit its size and
officials when they make scope. Individualistic culture believes government activity, because it restricts
public policy.
individual economic freedom, is mostly negative and should be limited. Today,
political culture the individualistic culture is dominant in a majority of the midwestern and
Widely shared attitudes, western states.
habits, and general
The traditionalistic culture grew out of the Old South and is rooted in
behavior patterns that
develop over time and feudal-like notions of society and government that developed in the context of
affect the political life of a the slave states, where property and income were unequally dispersed. Govern-
state or region. mental policymaking fell to a few powerful families or influential social groups
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Seven, so imprudently signed by Marshal de Richelieu on
September 8, 1757, was the signal for unnumbered catastrophes.
“One does not die of grief,” wrote Bernis to Choiseul, December 13
of the same year, “for I am still alive after September 8. Since that
epoch, faults have been accumulated in a fashion one can hardly
explain, without supposing bad intentions. I have spoken with the
greatest force to God and His saints. I excite pulses a little, and then
the lethargy recommences; people open big eyes, and that is all
there is about it.... It seems to me as if I were minister of foreign
affairs in Limbo. Try, my dear count, if you can excite more than I the
spirit of life which is becoming extinct in us; for my part, I have dealt
all my great blows, and have concluded to be in an apoplexy like the
others over sentiment, without ceasing to do my duty like a good
citizen and an honest man.” The former abbé of the court become a
minister, the once superficial man whom Voltaire used to call “Babet,
the-bouquet-holder,” was indignant at the general apathy and
carelessness. “It is unexampled,” wrote this friend of Madame de
Pompadour, “that so great a game should be played with the same
indifference as a game of checkers.... Sensitive, and, if I dare say it,
sensible as I am, I am dying on the wheel, and my martyrdom is
useless to France.... May God send us some will or other, or some
one who will have one for us! I would be his valet de chambre if they
liked, and with all my heart.”
As soon as the struggle began, unfortunate France was amazed
at the illusions she had cherished. The truth appeared to her. Bernis
comprehended that the shortest follies are the best. January 6, 1758,
he wrote to Choiseul, then Ambassador to Vienna: “My advice would
be to make peace, and to begin by a truce on land and sea. When I
shall know what the King thinks of this idea, which I have not found
in my manner of thinking, but which has been presented to me by
good sense, reason, and necessity, I will inform you. Meanwhile, try
to make M. de Kaunitz certain of two things that are equally true;
namely, that the King will never abandon the Empress, but that it will
never do for him to be ruined with her. Our respective faults have
made a hopeless wreck of a great project which was infallible in the
first days of September. It is a beautiful dream which it would be
dangerous to carry further, but which it might some day be possible
to resume with better actors and better combined military plans. The
more directly I have been charged with this grand alliance, the more
ought people to credit me when I counsel peace.”
Unfortunately, Madame de Pompadour was headstrong, which is
one of the attributes of mediocrity of mind. Confounding heroism with
obstinacy, she thought that to struggle indefinitely against ill fortune,
was to display greatness of soul. The more faults a general of her
choice committed, the more inveterately did she uphold him. She
was like those gamesters who are checked by no ill luck, and who
never give up playing until they are ruined. Public opinion
condemned such obstinacy. The French do not know how to support
reverses. They overwhelmed Soubise, defeated at Rossbach, with
sarcasms, and appeared to be infatuated with the victor. People took
the fashion of exalting Frederick the Great and of cursing his enemy,
Madame de Pompadour, Cotillion IV., as she was called. Soubise
was the scape-goat on whom rained all the jests, chansons, and
satires:—
“Soubise dit, la lanterne à la main,
J’ai beau chercher, où diable est mon armée?
Elle était là pourtant hier matin,
Me l’a-t-on prise où l’aurais-je égarée?
Ah! je perds tout, je suis un étourdi;
Mais attendons au grand jour, à midi.
Que vois-je? O ciel! Que mon âme est ravie!
Prodige heureux, la voilà, la voilà!—
Ah! ventre bleu! Qu’est-ce donc que cela?
Je me trompais, c’est l’armée ennemie.”[51]
It is not by means of chansons that France can retrieve herself.

She plays into the enemy’s hand by showing herself more Prussian
than Prussia. Bernis finds himself submerged by this deluge of
criticisms and assaults. “I am threatened by anonymous letters,” he
wrote again to Choiseul in 1758, “with being presently torn to pieces
by the people, and though I do not greatly fear such menaces, it is
certain that approaching misfortunes which cannot be foreseen,
could easily realize them. Our friend runs at least as much risk.” Ill in
body and mind, Bernis could hold out no longer; he handed in his
resignation. Louis XV accepted it in a letter dated October 9, 1758,
which opened thus: “I am sorry, Monsieur the Abbé-Count, that the
affairs you are charged with affect your health to such a point that
you can no longer support the burden of the work.... I consent with
regret to your turning over the foreign affairs to the hands of the
Duke de Choiseul, whom I think to be at present the only suitable
person, as I am disinclined to make an absolute change in the
system I have adopted, or even to be spoken to about it.”
The three women in coalition against Frederick,—Maria Theresa,
Empress of Austria, Elisabeth, Empress of Russia, and Madame, the
Marquise de Pompadour—carried the war as far as possible. France
experienced nothing but reverses in every quarter of the globe. As
Voltaire remarked, it seemed more exhausted of men and money by
its union with Austria than it had been by two centuries of war
against that country.[52] It must be admitted, however, that Madame
de Pompadour’s obstinacy was very near succeeding. It is incredible
that the King of Prussia, who stood alone on the continent against
the forces of Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, and half of the
Empire, could long have maintained so gigantic a struggle. An
unforeseen event, the death of the Empress Elisabeth of Russia,
January 6, 1762, saved him. Madame de Pompadour felt that her
vengeance was eluding her. It was necessary to renounce all ideas
of glory and conquest, and to sign the disastrous treaties of Paris
and Hubertsburg (February 10 and 15, 1763). Louis XV. gave up the
cities he still possessed in Germany. He restored Minorca to
England, and ceded to it Acadia, Canada, Cape Breton, the gulf and
river of Saint Lawrence, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Dominique,
Tobago, and the Senegal River with its factories. He only regained
his Indian colonies on condition of not fortifying or garrisoning them.
Finally he undertook to demolish anew the harbor of Dunkirk. The
ruin of military prestige, commerce, the navy, and public credit, the
loss of two hundred thousand men, several millions of money, and
nearly all the colonies,—such is the balance sheet of the fatal war so
ardently desired by the Marquise.
Voltaire had good reason to exclaim: “What was the result of this
innumerable multitude of combats the tale of which now wearies
even those conspicuous in them? What remains from all these
efforts? Nothing but blood shed vainly in waste and desolate lands,
villages in ruins, families reduced to beggary, and rarely does even a
dull rumor of these calamities reach as far as Paris, always
profoundly occupied with pleasures or equally frivolous disputes.”
Then, returning to the cause or rather to the pretext of the strife, the
author of the Siècle de Louis XV. says again: “It has been thought
that it would have been very easy to prevent such misfortunes by
coming to terms with the English concerning a small contested
ground near Canada. But certain ambitious persons, to maintain
their dignity and render themselves necessary, precipitated France
into this fatal war. The same thing had occurred in 1741. The self-
love of two or three persons was enough to lay all Europe waste.
France needed peace so greatly that she regarded those who
concluded it as benefactors of the country.” The Duke de Choiseul
remained popular because he had been able to palliate somewhat
the impression caused by such reverses by concluding, in August,
1761, the family pact between the Bourbons of France, Spain, and
Italy, and had also had tact enough to win the support of the
fashionable literary men, the arbiters of renown. But his friend,
Madame de Pompadour, was the object of public vindictiveness.
Wounded in her ambition, her vanity, and her pride, she could not be
consoled.
XII
MADAME DE POMPADOUR AND THE PHILOSOPHERS
O ne day some one cited in presence of Louis XV. the example of

Frederick the Great, who admitted the philosophers in vogue
and famous men of letters to his intimate acquaintance. “That is
not the way in France,” said the King, “and as there are a few more
wits and great noblemen here than there are in Prussia, I should
want a very big table to gather them all around it.” And then he
counted on his fingers: “Maupertuis, Fontenelle, La Motte, Voltaire,
Piron, Destouches, Montesquieu, Cardinal de Polignac.” His
attention was called to the fact that he had forgotten D’Alembert and
Clairant.—“And Crébillon,” said he, “and La Chaussée!”—“And
Crébillon the younger,” cried some one; “he ought to be more
amiable than his father; and then there are the Abbé Prevost, the
Abbé d’Olivet.”—“Very well,” replied Louis XV., “for twenty-five years
all of that crowd would have dined or supped with me.”
Madame de Pompadour, who was acquainted with the master’s
dispositions, would not have made advances to the philosophers had
she not been possessed by the passion for flattery. But how was she
to resist compliments so well turned as those of Voltaire? This man,
who in speaking of the Christian religion cried: “Crush the wretch!”
kneeled to a royal mistress while enlarging the boundaries of the
most insipid flattery. The censer which he wanted to banish from the
churches he seized in order to wave it respectfully before the alcove
of a Pompadour!
The Marquise had in her intimacy a man who never quitted her;
this was Doctor Quesnay, her familiar, her guest, her confident, her
physician, whom she had lodged just above her in an entresol of the
château of Versailles. This little entresol, rendezvous of the boldest
innovators, the most determined free-thinkers, the most ardent
materialists, was the secret workshop of the future Revolution, the
laboratory of disorder and destruction. There, talking, dining,
declaiming, conspiring together, one met men such as D’Alembert,
the chief of the Encyclopedists; Duclos, who said of the nobles who
flattered him: “They are afraid of us as robbers are of street lamps
with reflectors”; Helvetius, whose whole doctrine is summed up in
this monstrous maxim, last word of egotism and immorality: “Man
being merely a sensitive being should have but one object: the
pleasure of the senses.” Marmontel relates that the Marquise de
Pompadour, unable to induce this troop of philosophers to come
down to her salon, came to their table instead and chatted with them.
Doctor Quesnay, her physician, was one of those peasants of the
Danube, or better, to adopt a happy expression of the De Goncourts,
one of those courtiers of the Danube who cloak a refined cleverness
under an aspect of rudeness, and who live by the monarchy even
while playing to the republicans. Strange Brutuses, contraband
Catos, whose beautiful maxims can deceive none but simpletons!
Rude democrats in appearance, time-servers in reality, who are
proud to dine with great people and whose so-called dignity
provokes a smile! Quesnay, this physical confessor, knew both the
strong and the weak sides of the Marquise. He knew so well how to
take her that he could quietly install in his entresol, just above the
favorite’s apartment, the first club, that which agitated for the first
time the downfall of the Church and the monarchy.
Madame de Pompadour was full of coquetries and amiability for
the most dangerous adversaries of the old régime. La Tour’s pastel,
which is at the Louvre, represents her seated in an armchair, her left
arm resting on a table whereon are a globe and some books. The
largest of these is the fourth volume of the Encyclopedia, that great
arsenal of impiety, the prospectus of which had been launched by
Diderot in 1750. Louis XV., always undecided, at first tolerated the
gigantic collection of writings. Some years later (March, 1759) he
revoked the privileges of the editors. A royal declaration of unwonted
violence appeared at the same time against the authors, printers,
publishers, and colporteurs of writings aimed against religion and
royal authority. Almost every line proclaimed a death penalty. But a
thousand means of eluding these Draconian laws were found, and
most frequently authority closed its eyes.
Voltaire cried enthusiastically: “Long life to the ministry of the
Duke de Choiseul!”
Nevertheless, warnings were not lacking to the favorite. She saw
as clearly as Louis XV. himself the perils which the doctrines of the
Encyclopedia made imminent for all kings. Madame du Hausset
relates that a very curious anonymous letter was one day sent to the
King and his mistress. As the author was bent on accomplishing his
purpose, he had sent one copy to the lieutenant of police, sealed
with this address: For the King; one with these words: To Madame
de Pompadour, and still another to M. de Marigny. This letter, which
greatly affected Louis XV. and his Marquise, struck them all the more
forcibly because it was written in very respectful terms. Among other
remarkable passages it contained the following prediction: “The
Encyclopedists, under pretext of enlightening men, are sapping the
foundations of religion. All sorts of liberty depend upon each other:
the philosophers and the Protestants tend to republicanism as well
as the Jansenists. The philosophers attack the trunk of the tree, the
others some of its branches; but their efforts, without being
concerted, will some day bring it down. Add to these the Economists,
whose object is political liberty, as that of the others is liberty of
worship, and the Government may find itself in twenty or thirty years
undermined throughout and falling tumultuously into ruin.”
These prophecies of the coming Revolution are incessantly
renewed in the writings of one of the ministers of Louis XV., the
Marquis d’Argenson. It is he who writes in January, 1750:
“Republicanism is every day gaining on philosophic minds. People
take an aversion to monarchism through demonstration. In fact, it is
only slaves and eunuchs who aid monarchism by their false
wisdom.” And on December 20 of the same year: “See how many
philosophic writers there are at present. The wind from England
blows over this stuff. It is combustible. Look at the style in which
Parliament remonstrances are written. These procureurs general of
Parliaments, these State syndics, would at need become great men.
All the nation would take fire; the nobility would gain the clergy, and
then the third estate. And if necessity should arise for assembling the
States-General of the realm to regulate the demands for money,
these States would not assemble in vain. One should be careful; all
this is very serious.”
It must be owned that D’Argenson is a true prophet. Every day he
accentuates his sinister predictions. September 11, 1751, he writes:
“We have not, like the Romans, any Visigoths or Saracens who
might invade us; but the Government may experience a revolution.
Consider that it is no longer either esteemed or respected, and,
which is worse, that it is doing all that is needed to ruin itself. The
clergy, the army, the Parliaments, the people high and low, are all
murmuring, all detaching themselves from the Government, and
rightly. Things are going from bad to worse.” He returns to the
charge September 9, 1752: “The bad effects of our government by
absolute monarchy are resulting in persuading France and all
Europe that it is the worst of governments.... A mild but inactive
prince allows the abuses to grow which were commenced by the
pride of Louis XIV.; no reform when it is necessary, no amelioration,
appointments blindly made, prejudices without inquiry; everything
shows an increasing tendency toward national ruin. Everything is
falling into tatters, and private passions are working underhand to
ruin and destroy us.”
Is it not a curious thing to hear, forty years beforehand, the first
mutterings of the formidable tempest which was to engulf everything,
—nobility, clergy, Parliaments, monarchy? We are in the year 1750.
The archers have arrested, as a police measure, certain vagabond
children who were begging in Paris. Suddenly a rumor spreads that
abductions are multiplying and that no family is any longer in
security. Popular imagination is excited, overheated. People say that
in order to restore his wasted forces the kingly debauché takes baths
of children’s blood, like a new Herod. Madame de Pompadour, who
has been imprudent enough to come to Paris, has barely time to
escape from being torn to pieces. The people want to go to
Versailles and burn the château, built, as they say, at their expense.
The exasperated King says that hereafter he will not pass through
Paris when going to Compiègne. “What!” he cries, “shall I show
myself to these villainous people who say I am a Herod!” And to
avoid entering thereafter the capital of which he has conceived a
horror, he establishes outside the walls the road which is now called
the path of the Revolt.
The tide of anger rises—rises incessantly against the favorite. The
people overwhelm her with curses; they call her the King’s hussy.
The daughters of Louis XV. designate her by a still more vulgar
name. In November, 1751, the Dauphin and Dauphiness, on their
way to Notre Dame, cross the bridge of the Tournelle. Some two
thousand women surround them. “We are dying with hunger!” they
say. “Bread! bread!” The Dauphiness trembles like a leaf. The
Dauphin causes several louis to be distributed. “Monseigneur,” say
the women of the people, “we do not want your money. It is bread we
want. We love you much. Let that wretch be sent away who is
governing the kingdom and ruining it! If we had hold of her, there
would soon be nothing left of her but relics.”
If such were popular impressions before the Seven Years’ War, it
is easy to comprehend what they must have been after the national
humiliations which overwhelmed unhappy France. Madame de
Pompadour thought she could remedy the immense unpopularity
which pursued her by flattering still more the philosophers who could
blow the trumpet of Renown for her. These singular patriots, who
had celebrated the glory of the victor of Rossbach as if he had been
a Titus or a Marcus Aurelius, asked only one thing to console them
for the afflictions, shames, and miseries of their country: a regular
persecution against the Jesuits. Madame de Pompadour was ready
to follow Voltaire’s disciples on to this ground. She might have
hesitated if the Jesuits had been her flatterers, if they had made a
pretence of being her dupes, if they had concluded to play a rôle of
complaisance in the comedies of her pretended repentance, if they
had seemed to take her for another Maintenon, for a mother in
Israel. But she did not forget that when, in 1756, she had been
obliged to go to confession in order to be eligible for an appointment
as lady of the Queen’s palace, Père de Sacy had refused her
absolution, and that when the attempt was made on the King, in
1757, Père Desmarets had nearly obliged her to leave the court.
Hence the Jesuits were condemned. A Parliament decree of
February 22, 1764, commanded that within eight days they should
take an oath not to live any longer according to their institute, to
abjure the condemned maxims, and to hold no correspondence with
their former superiors. “When the Jesuits were expelled,” says
Chateaubriand, “their existence was not dangerous to the State; the
past was punished in the present; that often happens among men;
the Provincial Letters had deprived the Company of Jesus of its
moral force. And yet Pascal is merely a calumniator of genius; he
has left us an immortal lie.”
The great crime of the Jesuits was to have displeased the
Marquise de Pompadour. One saw holy missionaries, untiring
apostles, illustrious professors, men who had honored religion and
science, old men surrounded by the esteem of all honest people,
driven from their houses, deprived of all resources, expelled from
France with a rigor and injustice so cruel that certain philosophers
thought they could take up their defence in the name of humanity.
Those Jesuits whom Madame de Pompadour was driving out,
Frederick the Great was to shelter in his dominions. “They are the
best priests I have ever known,” said he. Catherine II. was to
welcome them to her vast states and make use of them in founding
educational establishments.
Voltaire triumphed. “Ferney was the European court,” says
Chateaubriand again in his Analyse raisonnée de l’Histoire de
France; “this universal homage rendered to the genius who was
sapping by redoubled blows the foundations of society as it then
existed, is characteristic of the approaching transformation of that
society. And nevertheless it is true that if Louis XV. had caressed
ever so slightly the flatterer of Madame de Pompadour, if he had
treated him as Louis XIV. treated Racine, Voltaire would have
abdicated the sceptre, he would have bartered his power against a
distinction of the ante-chamber, just as Cromwell was momentarily
ready to exchange the place he now holds in history for the garter of
Alix of Salisbury; these are mysteries of human vanity.”
Madame de Pompadour had sought the eulogies of Voltaire; she
obtained them. From the moment when she persecuted the Jesuits
she had a right to his approbation. When she dies, the patriarch of
Ferney will be almost affected. He will write to Damilaville: “Consider,
dear brother, that true men of letters, true philosophers, should
regret Madame de Pompadour. She thought as she ought to; no one
knows that better than I. Truly, we have sustained a great loss.” And
to Cardinal de Bernis: “I think, Monseigneur, that Madame de
Pompadour was sincerely your friend, and if it be permitted me to go
further, I think from the depths of my rustic retreat that the King
experiences a great privation. He was loved for himself by a soul
born sincere, who had justness in the mind and justice in the heart.”
Voltaire is always the same. What he lacks is not simply religious
faith, but the moral sense.
While the foundations of the monarchy were cracking on every
side, the patriarch of Ferney, that ancient courtier of noble lords and
sovereigns, was trembling with joy and pride. “All that I see,” he
wrote to M. de Chauvelin, April 2, 1762, “is sowing the seeds of a
revolution which will infallibly arrive, but which I shall not have the
pleasure of witnessing. The light is spreading so from place to place,
that it will burst out on the first occasion, and then there will be a fine
row. The young men are very lucky; they will see many things!”
Madman, who regretted not being destined to see the scaffolds of
’93!
Madame de Pompadour also felt that the political, social, and
religious edifice would crumble within a few years. But why concern
one’s self about the future? Why be saddened by dismal thoughts
and gloomy presentiments? What the haughty favorite desired was
the ability to retain to her last day, her last hour, her sceptre as
queen of the left hand. The rest troubled her little. It was not Louis
XV., it was she who said: “After me the deluge!”
XII
THE DEATH OF THE MARQUISE DE POMPADOUR
I t is a law of Providence that no one can shine without suffering,

and that jealous Fortune avenges herself for all the successes that
she grants. Women are like conquerors: they always expiate their
triumphs. For these queens à la mode, these dazzling magicians
who appear like meteors and who live amid a cloud of incense, there
is after all no alternative but death or dethronement. To die or to
grow old, that is the terrible dilemma from which they are unable to
extricate themselves. Women whose attractions have not been more
than ordinary bend to this common law with sufficient resignation.
But the celebrated beauty, the haughty beauty who delights in
herself as if her youth were never to end, secretly revolts against
cruel destiny and silently endures a real martyrdom. Her shrivelled
hand tries to retain the sceptre that is slipping from it. She is
unwilling to descend from the throne whence she has been used to
survey a crowd of servile adorers. As the changes come on
gradually, in a manner hardly perceptible, she has probably failed to
notice the precursory symptoms of her decline. She is told on all
sides that she is more seductive, more radiant, than ever. Then, in
this last blossoming of her departing youth, she experiences that
indefinable sentiment, that blending of unquiet joy and voluptuous
melancholy, which takes possession of the soul under the light of the
last bright days of autumn. When one looks at the azure sky, one
cannot realize that winter is so near. But if one drops one’s eyes, the
yellowing leaves that cover the ground or are swept away by the
wind, remind one that the feast of nature is drawing to a close. The
woman who longs most to preserve her illusions concerning the
perpetuity of her youth, finds warning accusations which afflict and
terrify her. The first wrinkles, the first gray hairs; the color which
needs to be touched up, the lips and eyes which call imperiously for
paint; the insolent mirror which nevertheless one cannot break
because it is in opposition to the flatterers, because in its mute
language it brutally declares the truth!
Madame de Pompadour was forty-two years old. Aged
prematurely by the unwholesome emotions of intrigue, vanity, and
ambition, she was suffering both in body and in mind. Incessant
palpitation of the heart disturbed her. Fever was her constant guest.
On nearing the end of her career she looked back sadly over the
road she had traversed, and comprehended at last the inanity of the
things in which she had vainly sought for happiness. But for a true
repentance she lacked a religious faith like that of Mademoiselle de
La Vallière. In default of faith, the Marquise had great courage. She
strove energetically against disease, but she remained worldly and
theatrical even in suffering and death. “She would no longer appear
in Paris,” says M. Arsène Houssaye; “at court she never showed
herself except by lamplight, in the apparel of a queen of Golconda,
crowned with diamonds, wearing twenty bracelets, and dragging
after her an Indian robe embroidered with gold and silver. It was
always the divine Marquise of other days; but presently, when one
looked closely, one discovered that it was but a pastel, still charming,
but rubbed out here and there. It was at the mouth that her beauty
began to fade. She had early contracted the habit of biting her lips,
to conceal her emotions. By the time she was thirty, her mouth had
lost all its vivid freshness. It was necessary to repaint it after every
meal and every kiss!”[53] Her eyes had retained all their brilliancy.
But the rest of her person was plainly aging. She tried in vain to
conceal her excessive meagreness under the skilful devices of the
toilette. She was a woman stricken by death. She fell ill at Choisy,
and while there was still time she asked to be taken back to
Versailles in order to die as she had lived, amidst the evidences of
her power. Her friends had an instant of hope, for a slight
amelioration was produced. The poet Favart instantly produced this
stanza:—
“Le soleil est malade,
Et Pompadour aussi;
Ce n’est qu’une passade,
L’un et l’autre est guéri;
Le bon Dieu, qui seconde
Nos vœux et notre amour,
Pour le bonheur du monde,
Nous a rendu le jour
Avec Pompadour.”[54]
Palissot sent the following verses to the Marquise:—

“Vous êtes trop chère à la France,
Au dieu des arts et des amours,
Pour redouter du sort la fatale puissance.
Tous les dieux veillaient sur vos jours,
Tous étaient animés du zèle qui m’inspire;
En volant à votre secours
Ils ont affermi leur empire.”[55]
Madame de Pompadour did not allow herself to be deceived by

these fallacious hyperboles. All this mythology did not mislead her.
She understood very well that there was nothing in common
between her and the sun, and felt herself already invaded by the
chilly shadows of death.
“It will come at the predestined day; it will come,” as Bossuet said,
“this last illness when, amidst an infinite number of friends, doctors,
and attendants, you will find yourself without assistance, more
forsaken, more abandoned, than the pauper dying on the straw
without a sheet for his burial! For of what avail are these friends in
this fatal malady? Only to afflict you by their presence; these
doctors? only to torment you; these attendants? only to run hither
and thither about your house with useless zeal. You need other
friends, other servants; these paupers whom you have despised are
the only ones capable of assisting you. Why did you not think in time
of providing yourself with such friends as would now hold out their
arms to receive you into everlasting tabernacles?”[56]
Even on her death-bed Madame de Pompadour, always the slave
of the man whose mistress she was called, feared the King more
than God himself. They say she sent to Louis XV. to ask if he desired
her to go to confession. The King replied affirmatively. A priest from
Paris, the curé of the Madeleine, administered the last sacraments to
the dying woman. When he was about to withdraw, it is pretended
that she retained him with a last smile, and said: “One moment,
Monsieur the Curé, we will go away together.” A few minutes before
she had caused her will to be read to her, which commenced thus: “I,
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, wife separated
from the property of Charles Guillaume Lenormand d’Étioles,
equerry, have made and written my present testament and ordinance
of my last will, which I wish to be executed in its entirety. I
recommend my soul to God, entreating Him to have pity on it, to
pardon my sins, to grant me the grace to do penance and to die in
dispositions worthy of His mercy, hoping to appease His justice by
the merits of the precious blood of Jesus Christ my Saviour and by
the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin and of all the Saints
in Paradise. I desire that my body shall be taken to the Capuchins of
the Place Vendôme, at Paris, and buried in the vault of the chapel
conceded to me.” As one sees, the Marquise was not so faithless as
the Encyclopedists claimed. The poor woman had learned for herself
what earthly kings are. Perhaps, at the last hour, she turned her eyes
toward the King of Heaven.
She breathed her last April 15, 1764. It was long since Louis XV.
had ceased to love her. He merely tolerated her. If he had kept her at
court, it was only lest her disgrace should make her die of chagrin.
This premature death was rather a release from embarrassment
than an affliction to him. It is said that, seeing from one of the
windows of Versailles the carriage starting which was to carry her
coffin to Paris during a frightful storm, he said tranquilly: “The
Marquise will not have good weather for her journey.” Then, calmly
drawing out his watch, he calculated at what hour the funeral would
reach its destination—and that was all.
Madame de Pompadour’s existence had been like a parody of
real greatness. It was the same with her obsequies. A Capuchin had
been appointed to make the funeral oration. He extricated himself
from this heavy task like a man of wit. “I receive,” said he, “the body
of the very high and powerful lady, the Marquise de Pompadour, lady
of the Queen’s palace. She was at the school of all virtues, for Her
Majesty is a model of goodness, of modesty, of indulgence.” And
thus he went on for a quarter of an hour, making a well-deserved
eulogy of the Queen. Marie Leczinska, always so charitable, was
struck by the extreme promptness with which the too celebrated
favorite was forgotten. “No one has anything more to say here of her
who is no more,” she remarked to President Hénault, “than if she
had never existed. Such is the world; truly it is worth while to love it!”
Once dead, Madame de Pompadour seemed unworthy even of
hatred. Still, the men of letters and the artists who had formerly been
protected by her, regretted her somewhat. Voltaire, while
remembering with bitterness that she had sustained Crébillon, wrote
to M. de Cideville: “I have been much afflicted by the death of
Madame de Pompadour. It is ridiculous that an old scribbler on
paper, who can scarcely walk, should be still living, and that a
beautiful woman should die at forty in the midst of the finest career in
the world. Perhaps if she had tasted the repose that I enjoy she
would be living still.” Diderot was more severe. He had to give a
description of the Salon of 1765, where a picture was exhibited
which Vanloo had painted during Madame de Pompadour’s illness,
and which represented the afflicted Arts addressing themselves to
Destiny to obtain the preservation of her life. “Vanloo’s suppliants,”
said the critic, “obtain nothing from Destiny which is more favorable
to France than to the Arts. Madame de Pompadour died at a
moment when she was thought to be out of danger. Well! what
remains of this woman who exhausted us of men and money,
deprived us of honor and energy, and upset the political system of
Europe? The treaty of Versailles, which will last as long as it can;
Bouchardon’s Amour, which will always be admired; several stones
sculptured by Guay, which will astonish future antiquaries; a good
little picture by Vanloo, which will be looked at sometimes; and a
pinch of dust.”
XIII
THE OLD AGE OF MARIE LECZINSKA
W hen the eyes have been fatigued by the glow of artificial lights,
they willingly repose on soft and real daylight. After the haughty
favorite, one likes to contemplate the good Queen.
Comparisons made between the mistress and the legitimate wife are
always to the advantage of the second. To one the agitations of a
troubled conscience, to the other peace of heart; to one contempt, to
the other respect; scandal to one, edification to the other. The
Memoirs of the Duke de Luynes and of President Hénault make us
acquainted with the qualities of Marie Leczinska, just as those of
Madame du Hausset lay bare the moral plague spots of the
Marquise de Pompadour. A solitary conclusion may be drawn from
reading all of them; namely, that the Queen, neglected as she was,
and in spite of the hidden rôle which contented her modesty, was,
notwithstanding, less unhappy than the all-powerful favorite, who
disposed of the monarchy as if it were a pension list. Each of them
had her chagrins, but God gives us strength to endure the ills He
sends us, while those we create for ourselves are intolerable. The
heaviest chains are those we forge with our own hands. The list of
suicides is a proof in support of this observation. Is there, for
example, an affliction more profound than that of a mother who loses
her child? Very well! you never hear that a woman has taken her life
because she has had a grief like that. On the other hand, how many
suicides there are among the victims of pride and sensuality!
Religion alleviates the sorrows which are in the nature and order of
things. But griefs which are in revolt against Providence, afflictions
voluntarily created by criminal caprices, or insensate ambitions, have
in them something inconsolable and incurable. Madame de
Pompadour vainly sought an asylum for her soul.
The Queen found at the foot of altars such a strength that after
kneeling before the image of our Saviour Jesus Christ, she could, on
rising, drink the cup of bitterness without its leaving a trace upon her
lips.

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PRACTICING TEXAS POLITICS.

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Juan Carlos Huerta Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi

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CHAPTER 1: The Environment of Texas Politics 1

CHAPTER 2: Federalism and the Texas Constitution 42

CHAPTER 3: Local Governments 80

CHAPTER 4: Political Parties 125

CHAPTER 5: Campaigns and Elections 155

CHAPTER 6: The Media and Politics 192

CHAPTER 7: The Politics of Interest Groups 238

CHAPTER 8: The Legislative Branch 273

CHAPTER 9: The Executive Branch 315

CHAPTER 10: The Judicial Branch 363

CHAPTER 11: Finance and Fiscal Policy 393

CHAPTER 12: Public Policy and Administration 435

CHAPTER 13: The Criminal Justice System 477

Chapter 1: State Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Public Interest Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Executive Powers of the Governor . . . . 328

Fiscal Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395 Immigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

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