Lone Star Politics

In Texas, myth often clashes with the reality of everyday government. Explore the state′s rich political tradition with Lone Star Politics as the author team explains who gets what and how. Utilizing a comparative approach, the authors set Texas in context with other states′ constitutions, policymaking, electoral practices, and institutions as they delve into the evolution of its politics. Critical thinking questions and unvarnished "Winners and Losers" discussions guide students toward understanding Texas government and assessing the state′s political landscape. The highly anticipated Seventh Edition includes coverage of the state′s response to the COVID pandemic, brand new chapter-level learning objectives, updated demographic and immigration statistics, and new Discussion Starter questions to help in-class discussion on critical policy debates. Digital Option / Courseware SAGE Vantage is an intuitive digital platform that delivers this text’s content and course materials in a learning experience that offers auto-graded assignments and interactive multimedia tools, all carefully designed to ignite student engagement and drive critical thinking. Built with you and your students in mind, it offers simple course set-up and enables students to better prepare for class. Assignable Video with Assessment Assignable video (available with SAGE Vantage) is tied to learning objectives and curated exclusively for this text to bring concepts to life. LMS Cartridge: Import this title’s instructor resources into your school’s learning management system (LMS) and save time. Don’t use an LMS? You can still access all of the same online resources for this title via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site. CQ Press Lecture Spark: Designed to save you time and ignite student engagement, these free weekly lecture launchers focus on current event topics tied to key concepts in American Government.

In Texas, myth often clashes with the reality of everyday government. Explore the state’s rich political tradition with the Eighth Edition of Lone Star Politics. Utilizing a comparative approach, the authors set Texas in context with other states′ constitutions, policymaking, electoral practices, and institutions as they delve into the evolution of its politics. Critical thinking questions and unvarnished Winners and Losers discussions guide students toward understanding Texas government and assessing the state′s political landscape. The Eighth Edition includes a brand-new chapter on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, along with the "tried and true" updates in every chapter that highlight the push-pull relationship between the state, federal, and local governments.

In Texas, myth often clashes with the reality of everyday governance. The Nacogdoches author team (Ken Collier, Steven Galatas, & Julie Harrelson-Stephens) of Lone Star Politics explores the state’s rich political tradition and explains who gets what, and how by setting Texas in context with other states’ constitutions, policymaking, electoral practices, and institutions. Critical thinking questions and unvarnished “Winners and Losers” discussions guide students toward understanding Texas government. This Fifth Edition expands its coverage of civil rights in the state, and includes the contemporary issues that highlight the push and pull between federal, state, and local governments.

Learn how Texas politics affects public policy. Lone Star Politics emphasizes public policy and the decisions of political actors in its approach to studying contemporary Texas politics. Using the best scholarship, current examples, and historical context, the authors examine how government and politics respond and adapt to the changes in the Texas political landscape. Fully revised to meet the GOVT2305/2306 curriculum changes, Lone Star Politics, 2/e contains 14 chapters-a full semester's worth of Texas Government content. The second edition features the same pedagogical features students currently enjoy in American Government textbooks, extending their learning experience from the 2305 course seamlessly into 2306. MyPoliSciLab is an integral part of the Goldstein program. Key learning applications include Texas Tribune Videos, Texas Explorer activities and state specific Simulations. MyPoliSciLab for Lone Star Politics makes reading the textbook a greater opportunity for analyzing current events, thinking critically about politics, and participating in politics. A better teaching and learning experience This program will provide a better teaching and learning experience-for you and your students. Here's how: Personalize Learning- MyPoliSciLab is an online homework, tutorial, and assessment program. It helps students prepare for class and instructors gauge individual and class performance. Explore Concepts and Current Events-Examines the past, present, and future of Texas politics. Improve Critical Thinking- Pedagogy throughout the text supports active learning of key themes. Engage Students- A new design simplifies the presentation of content to facilitate print and digital reading experiences. Emphasize Learning Outcomes-In MyPoliSciLab, study plans based on book-specific learning objectives give students follow-up reading, video, and multimedia activities for further practice. Support Instructors-A full set of supplements, including MyPoliSciLab, provides instructors with all the resources and support they need. Note: MyPoliSciLab does not come automaticaly packaged with this text.

Texas pride, like everything else in the state, is larger than life. So, too, perhaps, are the state’s challenges. Lone Star Tarnished approaches public policy in the nation’s most populous "red state" from historical, comparative, and critical perspectives. The historical perspective provides the scope for asking how various policy domains have developed in Texas history, regularly reaching back to the state’s founding and with substantial data for the period 1950 to the present. In each chapter, Cal Jillson compares Texas public policy choices and results with those of other states and the United States in general. Finally, the critical perspective allows us to question the balance of benefits and costs attendant to what is often referred to as "the Texas way" or "the Texas model." Jillson delves deeply into seven substantive policy chapters, covering the most important policy areas in which state governments are active. Through his lively and lucid prose, students are well equipped to analyze how Texas has done and is doing compared to selected states and the national average over time and today. Readers will also come away with the necessary tools to assess the many claims of Texas’s exceptionalism.

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower—and a Texas native—takes us on a journey through the most controversial state in America. • “Beautifully written…. Essential reading [for] anyone who wants to understand how one state changed the trajectory of the country.” —NPR Texas is a red state, but the cities are blue and among the most diverse in the nation. Oil is still king, but Texas now leads California in technology exports. Low taxes and minimal regulation have produced extraordinary growth, but also striking income disparities. Texas looks a lot like the America that Donald Trump wants to create. Bringing together the historical and the contemporary, the political and the personal, Texas native Lawrence Wright gives us a colorful, wide-ranging portrait of a state that not only reflects our country as it is, but as it may become—and shows how the battle for Texas’s soul encompasses us all.

Lone Star Politics: Theories, Concepts, and Political Activity in Texas blends the history of political activity in the state with theories that underlie and explain this activity. Through classic and contemporary political literature, students learn about the unique political culture that exists in Texas and how governments at various levels function within it. Over the course of thirteen chapters, students explore topics such as the evolution and impact of the Texas Constitution, the Texas view of federalism, the role of local governments in the state, and the role of the executive branch. They study the legislature and judiciary, and see how conservative ideology influences both public and social policy. They become familiar with the state's economy, its political parties, and their roles in the evolution of the state. The book concludes with an examination of interest groups in the state and the parts they play in the political system. The second edition features new content on Texas demographic information for Asian and Native American residents; e-governance; judicial powers; local, county, and state courts; and educational funding and property taxes. Lone Star Politics is ideal for classes on Texas government that focus on the concepts and theories driving the state's political activity.

Examine Texas politics in historical, economic, and demographic contexts Government and Politics in the Lone Star State guides students through the historical, economic, demographic, and political environment that has made Texas government and political culture what it is. Drawing on their experiences in political science, journalism, and consulting, Tucker Gibson, Clay Robison, and new coauthor Joanne Connor Green explain Texas’s governmental institutions, the players who influence them, and how these factors compare to those in other states. The 2014 Elections and Updates Edition has been revised to meet the outcomes instituted by the Texas education commission board, and includes updated content on the major issues in today’s headlines to help students become informed voters and participants in Texas’s dynamic policymaking process.