This article might be a bit harsh to some, but I call attention to it because it tries to get to the heart of the differences between the South and the rest of the nation. This matters because the South has always been a distinct presence in American government and politics - and remains so to this day, though the author thinks things might be changing. The author if a native Texan and has written profusely on the relationship between the state and the nation.
It applies to both 2305 and 2306, the former because the southern representatives have become increasingly influential in the Republican Party and have made the party far more consistently conservative than it has been in the past. While this initially helped the national Republican Party win elections in the 1980s and 1990s - it may be making it less competitive now. In the effort to purify the party, conservatives have been driving out moderates - which lessens the size of the coalition. This has the obvious effect.
For 2306, it simply adds an additional point of view to what makes Texas - or at least that part of Texas that is southern (east of Houston and Dallas I'd say) - tick politically and culturally.
Some points from the article:
- The South is the only area of the country that has suffered severe defeats - the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement - and both were driven by the natioal government and included the use of federal troops to implement.
- While the US prided itself on being a "melting pot" the South never was - and only recently has become more diversified. Aside from the African - American population, the South was far more British and Scots-Irish in its background. This is less true now, so the South is now going through some of the internal conflicts that other states suffered back in the 1920s when waves of non-Anglo immigrants came to the US. The influx of diverse population is why the author argues the South is in the process of political change, but this will take time. Homogeneity still rules.
- As the white South declines in numbers, political techniques that allow the minority to place limits on the majority will become more and more common. The obstructionism we see in the US Congress, and between southern states and the US government are not only examples, but might be more common as diversity works its way slowly through southern society.
