Like GOVT 2305, the goal last week was to get you up to speed with why you have to take this class and what terms we will use in it. The difference in 2306 was that we also looked at the how states fit within the federal landscape. This involved a bit of history and a look at the U.S. Constitution.
One of the peculiarities of studying U.S. government is that we look at states as if they are afterthoughts, when in fact the U.S. government was created by representatives of the states, albeit one's who wanted to restrict state authority and increase that of the U.S. government. It is vitally important to have a sense of not only what the U.S.Constitution states about the relative powers of the national and state governments, but also how reinterpretations of the document over time have altered that relationship.
Much of the conflict between the national government and the states - especially Texas - makes more sense once you understand this background, and the various issues associated with it.
Here's what's up this week.
- Texas Within the National Political Landscape: Political Culture. This section continues to put the state of Texas in context with the rest of the nation - the other states and the national government. The section on federalism did so in terms of the nation's legal foundation, this section does so in terms of the attitudes and dispositions of the people in each state - especially that of those with political power.
Much of this takes us to the historical background of the nation's founding and how the political attitudes present in each of the regions of the nation traveled westward. Texas - we will see - contains a political culture dominated by traditionalists and individualists, while other parts of the country have a different political mindset. As with the section on federalism, much of the conflict in the news that pits the interests of the state against those of the nation - or of other states (think: California) stems from this fact.
- The Texas Declaration of Independence. As with the United States - in fact probably because of it - the people who wanted to establish Texas as an independent nation and break with Mexico needed to articulate why. That was the point of the document. Reading through it helps us understand the cultural differences between Mexico at that time and Texas at that time as well, and to some degree current attitudes as well.
A little time is spent looking at the nature of the Republic of Texas and understanding why it was so short lived. While statehood seem to be controversial to some in the state, it benefited the state financially, even though it put Texas in a position to be forced to give up some of what it thought was essential to its way of life - like slavery. One consequence of this section should be an understanding of why the Mexican - American War was fought.
- State Constitutions and the Texas Constitution. This section does two things. First is described the nature of early state constitutions - some of which were examples of what to do and not to do in the United States Constitution. Second it looks at the evolution of the Texas Constitution.
As we will see, Texas has had a number of constitutions, beginning when it was a state - along with Coahuila - in Mexico. Within a span of 50 years Texas went through over half a dozen documents until it ratified the 1876 Constitution. Even that document has been modified multiple times since originally written. Each constitution - and each set of modifications - is a product of its times.
We'll try to come to terms with its lengthy and convoluted design and how it compares with the national document. This will be done from a birds-eye view however. Future sections will hone in on specific articles within the document as they apply to our subject matter.
