Texas’ Individualistic and Traditionalistic Culture The...

Texas is a unique place with a colorful history of legendary cowboys and tall tales. The state stretches over the middle section of the southern United States. Texas has experienced shifts in governmental control within the United States. French, Spanish, Mexican, and Confederacy, and all having once been in charge, not to mention the time Texas spent as an independent republic. Texas has had many battles and wars within its borders, resulting in seven different constitutions within a span of fifty years between each document. The people of Texas are diverse and carry their â€Å"big can-do attitudes and accents† (Pearson); making Texas a bigger than life state. The political culture of Texas is impacted by two different subgroups of†¦show more content†¦There is tremendous evidence, to suggest that individualism is a strong part of Texas culture such as, the use of biennial sessions of the legislature, the partisan election of judges, and limited powers of the governor. The people of Texas with individualism as their root belief do not want government to control their lives. They want the legislature meeting every other year because Texans fear too much time in session might lead to change. This is also the reason they have restricted the powers of governor. Although Texans generally do not want a strong government, this does not stop them from complaining and seeking answers when outcomes in government do not go their way. Looking at traditionalism, they are of the belief that people should adhere to tradition and make very few changes, especially in cultural or religious practice. â€Å"Traditionalism is a system holding that all knowledge is derived from original divine revelation and is transmitted by tradition† (Maxwell). In a traditional culture, economic and social elites dominate, and government is designed to serve social elites. Taxes are kept low to help business and economic interests, while education and welfare spending is among the lowest in the country. Overall, citizens understand government does not provide much