LO 3.1 — Local Government & Federalism

• Dillon's Rule — Local govts have ONLY powers granted by the state, implied by the grant, or indispensable to functioning. Texas follows this.
• Cooley Doctrine — Local self-governance is an absolute right the state cannot take away. Followed in ~10 states, NOT Texas.
• Texas local governments are created by the state, subject to the state, and must obey both state and national laws.
• Intergovernmental relations — The relationship between and among different types of governments (national, state, local).
• Grassroots challenges: 85%+ of Texans live in cities; voter apathy (fewer than 10% vote in local elections); funding pressures; infrastructure; demographic diversity.
• Local govt has the greatest effect on daily lives (not national or state).

LO 3.2 — Municipal Government Forms

• General-law city — Population 201+; follows state-prescribed charter; less flexibility.
• Home-rule city — Population 5,000+; drafts its own charter by majority vote; more flexibility. Charter sets officer powers, salaries, terms, procedures.
• Principal advantage of home-rule — Flexibility in organization and operation.
• 3 extra powers of home-rule cities: Recall (remove officials), Initiative (propose law by petition + popular vote), Referendum (approve or repeal existing law by petition).
• Strong mayor-council — Mayor appoints/removes department heads, has veto power. Most responsive to citizens. Popular among large cities. Only Houston and Pasadena in Texas.
• Weak mayor-council — Mayor has limited power; shares authority with council.
• Council-manager — Most common in Texas home-rule cities. Mayor elected at-large with few formal powers; council appoints a professional city manager to run departments. Criticized for being more responsive to elites than everyday citizens.
• Commission — Elected commissioners form a policymaking board; each heads a department. Lacks a single executive. Not used in pure form by any Texas city today.
• Minimum population to become a city in Texas: 201.

LO 3.3 — Municipal Politics, Elections & Revenue

• Nonpartisan elections — All Texas city and special district elections; candidates listed without party labels. Effect: lower turnout, reduced minority representation, more personal/less issue-oriented.
• At-large elections — Elected citywide; tend to overrepresent White middle class.
• Single-member district elections — Elected by neighborhood; increases minority representation.
• Cumulative voting — When multiple seats vacant, voters cast one or more votes in any combination. Used in ~50 Texas local governments to increase minority representation.
• Redistricting — Required by federal law; city council district lines redrawn to represent equal population. Challenged due to gerrymandering. Most impacts Latino Texans.
• Municipal services: Police, fire, water, streets, sewer, sanitation, parks.
• Two largest tax sources: Property taxes + Sales taxes.
• Other revenue: Fees, bonds, certificates of obligation, TIRZs (Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones).
• When revenue falls short → cities cut services (especially those serving politically weaker citizens).
• City charter — Legal document establishing powers of city government.
• Ordinance — Laws passed by a city (equivalent of state statutes at local level).

LO 3.4 — County Government

• Texas has 254 counties — more than any other state.
• All counties have the same basic constitutional structure (Texas Constitution mandates it).
• Counties are considered administrative arms of the state under the Texas Constitution.
• Commissioners court — Major policymaking body; 4 elected commissioners (by precinct) + county judge. Approves budget.
• County judge — Most prominent; has BOTH administrative AND judicial responsibilities.
• County sheriff — Responsible for keeping the peace; chief law enforcement officer.
• County clerk — Issues/maintains marriage licenses, vital records.
• County tax assessor-collector — Collects property taxes.
• County auditor — Financial oversight.
• Primary revenue source: Property taxes.
• Largest expenditures: Hospitals/health care, public safety, roads.
• All elected county officials serve four-year terms (partisan elections).
• Border counties — Challenges: colonias (2,300+ depressed settlements often without water/sewage), NAFTA/USMCA, undocumented immigration, border security, poverty.
• Home-rule reform — Suggested but rejected; would give counties more ability to organize per local needs.

LO 3.5 — Special Districts

• Texas has nearly 3,900 special districts — fastest growing form of local government.
• Two categories: (1) School districts, (2) Noneducation special districts.
• School districts (~1,000+ ISDs) — Most visible special district. Governed by popularly elected, nonsalaried boards of trustees. Funded primarily by local property taxes. Two main finance issues: equity and how much to spend.
• Community college districts (50) — Different from public universities: receive local property taxes (public universities do not).
• Noneducation special districts (~2,300+) — Water, sewer, fire, parks, housing. Exist because local needs cut across city/county lines.
• Low public awareness = vulnerability to fraud/manipulation (T. Boone Pickens water district example).

LO 3.6 — Metropolitan Issues

• 88%+ of Texans live in metro areas.
• Metro government — Consolidation of local governments into one umbrella government. Example: Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky. No significant movement toward this in Texas.
• ETJ (Extraterritorial jurisdiction) — Limited authority a city has outside its boundaries. Abolished in 2019 by the Texas Legislature.
• Annexation — Making an outlying area part of a city. Now requires vote or petition of those to be annexed (changed in 2019).
• COGs (Councils of Government) — 24 regional planning bodies created in the 1960s. Coordinate regional planning and implement state/federal programs.
• The Starbase/SpaceX case (Boca Chica) illustrates the municipal incorporation process under Texas law.

LO 4.1 — Role of Political Parties

• Political party — Organization chiefly concerned with recruitment, nomination, and election of citizens to governmental office.
• Political parties are NOT mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.
• Texas uses a two-party system (Democratic + Republican).
• SMD plurality system — Winner = most votes (plurality). Favors two parties (Duverger's Law).
• Proportional Representation (PR) — Seats allocated by percentage of vote. Favors multiparty systems (common in Europe).
• Third party / minor party — Any party other than Democratic or Republican.
• Texas Election Code mandates both major parties have the SAME structure.
• General election — Held in November of even-numbered years; winner = plurality, no runoff needed.
• Texas has 40 electoral votes.

LO 4.2 — Political Ideologies

• Conservative — Minimal government in social and economic matters; split into fiscal conservatives (tax cuts, less spending) and social conservatives (family values, oppose abortion/gay marriage).
• Liberal — Government regulation of economy; aid unemployed/poor; limited government in personal/religious matters.
• Neoliberal — Less government regulation of business, BUT more government involvement in social programs. Common among Texas Democrats.
• Libertarian — Minimal government in BOTH economic AND social areas.
• Because of Texas's individualistic and traditionalistic culture, both Democrats and Republicans tend to be conservative.
• The Tea Party (2009) made the Republican Party more conservative — focused on debt reduction, less spending, tax cuts.

LO 4.3 — Electoral Trends

• Realignment — Voters shift allegiance from one party to another (e.g., conservative Texas Democrats → Republicans in 1990s).
• Dealignment — Voters no longer identify with ANY political party.
• Straight-ticket voting — Voting for all candidates of one party. Eliminated in Texas after 2018 election (law passed in 2017 session).
• Duverger's Law — SMD plurality systems favor two-party systems; PR systems favor multiparty systems.
• Third parties: Populist (1890s, agriculture), La Raza Unida (1970s, Latino rights, South Texas), Libertarian Party, Green Party. Success measured by issue awareness, not elections won.
• Independent candidates — No party affiliation; must collect signatures equal to 1% of total vote in most recent governor's race for statewide ballot access.
• Younger Texans (born 1979 and later) more likely to identify as Democrats — shaped by Iraq War, Great Recession, 2008 Obama election, Trump era.
• Texas politics today is more partisan (party centered) than in earlier years.

LO 4.4 — History of Texas Political Parties

• 1840s–1870s: Democrats dominated. Pro-Houston (Jackson Democrats) vs. Anti-Houston (Calhoun Democrats) factions.
• Reconstruction (1865–1873): Republicans controlled Texas. E.J. Davis was Reconstruction governor.
• 1870s–1970s: Solid one-party Democratic state. Fiercest political fighting was between conservative Democrats vs. liberal Democrats (between 1900–1950).
• 1970s–1990s: Emerging two-party competition. Bill Clements — first Republican governor since Reconstruction (1978). Kay Bailey Hutchison — first Texas woman in U.S. Senate (1993).
• 2000s–present: Republican dominance. No Democrat has won statewide since 1998. Republicans hold governorship throughout the 21st century.
• Latinos and African Americans have strengthened the Democratic Party, especially in urban counties.
• Principle difficulty for women candidates — Raising money; tend to face more scrutiny and access to campaign funds than male candidates.

LO 4.5 — Party Structure

• Parties exist at 4 levels: National, state, county, precinct.
• Organized as a stratarchy — power diffused among and within levels; state and local levels are free to decide their own positions.
• Temporary organization — Primaries + conventions. Functions briefly to nominate candidates, pass resolutions, adopt platform, select delegates. Precinct → County/District → State.
• Platform — Document setting forth the party's position on issues.
• Precinct convention — Held every even-numbered year; usually sparsely attended; elects delegates to county convention.
• State convention — Held in June of even-numbered years; writes party rules, adopts platform, in presidential years nominates delegates to national convention and elects presidential electors.
• Permanent organization — Ongoing. Precinct chairs → County executive committees → State executive committee.
• State Executive Committee — Highest permanent party body in state. One man, one woman from each of 31 senatorial districts. Elected by delegates at state convention. YES, Texas mandates equal men/women membership.
• State party chair — Chief fundraiser. Elected by state convention delegates.
• Why both parties have same structure — Texas Election Code mandates it.
• PAC (Political Action Committee) — Raises/spends money to influence elections. Monitored by Texas Ethics Commission.
• Superdelegate — Democratic party official who can support any candidate at national convention regardless of primary results.
• Why parties have primaries — To select candidates for the general election and local party officers.