Lone Star Tarnished

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. 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 readers to question the balance of benefits and costs attendant to what is often referred to as "the Texas way" or "the Texas model" and to assess the many claims of Texas’s exceptionalism. Through Jillson’s lively and lucid prose, students are well equipped to analyse how Texas has done and is doing compared to selected states and the national average over time and today. This text is aimed at students and professors of Texas politics who want to stress history, political culture, and public policy. New to the Fourth Edition Fully updated to include the most recent Texas elections and political events Covers the 2019 legislative session Highlights new population data, with projections forward to 2050, recently released by the U.S. Census and the Texas State Data Center. Explores the dramatic increases in Texas oil and gas production and their impact on global and U.S. prices and on the profitability and the viability of many Texas producers in light of the recent plunge in prices. All figures and tables include the most recent data available.

Texas pride, like everything else in the state, is larger than life. So, too, perhaps, are the state's challenges. Lone Star Tarnished, 2nd edition 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. The second edition includes completely rewritten first and second chapters, as well as updates throughout the book and revised figures and tables. Through Jillson's 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.

The seventh edition of this popular text has been expanded and updated to better fit the needs of a stand-alone Texas politics course. Jillson continues to approach the politics of the Lone Star State from historical, developmental, and analytical perspectives, while giving students the most even-handed, readable, and engaging description of Texas politics available today. Students are encouraged to connect the origins and development of government and politics in Texas to its current practice and alternatives possible through change and reform. This text helps instructors prepare their students to master the origin and development of the Texas Constitution, the structure and powers of state and local government in Texas, how Texas fits into the U.S. federal system, as well as political participation, the electoral process, and public policy in Texas. Texas Politics offers instructors and students an unmatched range of pedagogical aids and tools. Each chapter opens with an engaging vignette and a series of focus questions to orient readers to the learning objectives at hand and concludes with a chapter summary, a list of key terms, review questions, suggested readings, and web resources. "Let’s Compare" boxes help students see how Texas sits alongside other states, "Texas Legends" boxes spotlight key figures in Texas political history, "Pro & Con" boxes bring conflicting political views into sharper focus and every chapter features a timeline of important events in Texas history. New to the 7th Edition Covers the 2016 national elections, the 2017 legislative session, and the 2018 state and national elections as they affect Texas. Highlights Governor Greg Abbott’s call for a constitutional convention; Texas voter ID law updates; redistricting cases; the right of secession; and Obergefell v. Hodges. Provides a detailed study of the 2018–2019 state budget and the taxing and spending decisions that went into it, including the Texas Supreme Court school funding decision of 2016.

Approaching the politics of the Lone Star State from historical, developmental, and analytical perspectives, Cal Jillson's text avoids partisanship, ideology, and gimmicks to provide the most comprehensive, readable, and accurate brief description of Texas politics available today. Throughout the book students are encouraged to connect the origins and development of government and politics in Texas—from the Texas Constitution, to party competition, to the role and powers of the Governor—to its current day practice and the alternatives possible through change and reform. This text will allow teachers to share with their students the evolution of Texas politics, where we stand today, and where we are headed. Texas Politics is one of the briefest and most affordable texts on the market, yet it offers instructors and students an unmatched range of pedagogical aids and tools. Each chapter opens with a number of focus questions to orient readers to the learning objectives and concludes with a Chapter Summary, a list of Key Terms, Suggested Readings, and Web Resources. Key Terms are bolded in the text, listed at the end of the chapter, and included in a Glossary at the end of the book. Each chapter presents several photos and numerous tables and figures to highlight the major ideas, issues, individuals, and institutions discussed. Each chapter also contains a Let’s Compare feature, comparing selected states to Texas on various dimensions.

Robert came to Galveston to fulfill his promise to a dying confederate soldier and look after his widow. He didn’t expect to find love in the unlikeliest of places. Robert Truax, former Second Lieutenant and Confederate officer in the Civil War, made a promise to his comrade Phillip Markham. If anything happened to Phillip, Robert would look after his beloved wife, Miranda. She was his life, his world, his everything. After the war, Robert is left to pick up the pieces and fulfill his pact. When he arrives at Miranda’s home in Galveston, Texas, things are worse than he imagined. Phillip’s name has been dragged through the mud, everyone in town believes him to be a traitor, and his widow is treated as an outcast. Even more disturbing is her emotional well-being. Miranda seems hopeless, lost, and so very alone. Robert had thought his duty would be simple. He would help Miranda as quickly as possible in order to honor his promise. But the moment Robert laid eyes on her, his plans changed. He’s mesmerized by her beauty and yearns to help her in any way he can. He makes it his duty to protect Miranda, turn her reputation around, and to find some way to help her smile again. But it doesn’t prove to be an easy task—Robert knows something about Phillip that could shake Miranda to the core and alter her view of the man she thought she knew so well. Christian historical romance set just after the Civil War Part of the Lone Star Hero’s Love Story Series, but can be read in any order Book 1: A Loyal Heart Book 2: An Uncommon Protector Book 3: Love Held Captive Includes discussion questions for book clubs

This is a bundled package of Texas Politics, 4th edition and Lone Star Tarnished. The fourth edition of Texas Politics is now expanded to better fit the needs of a standalone Texas Politics course. Jillson continues to approach the politics of the Lone Star State from historical, developmental, and analytical perspectives, while giving students the most even-handed, readable, and engaging description of Texas politics available today. Throughout the book students are encouraged to connect the origins and development of government and politics in Texas--from the Texas Constitution, to party competition, to the role and powers of the Governor--to its current day practice and the alternatives possible through change and reform. This text helps instructors prepare their students to master the origin and development of the Texas Constitution, the structure and powers of state and local government in Texas, how Texas fits into the U.S. federal system, as well as political participation, the electoral process, and public policy in Texas. 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."

“The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes is a page-turning peek inside the glamour and brutality of life as a pop star. Sloan takes us on a wild ride through the world of music video shoots, expensive hotels, and arena tours—showing us the darkness that threatens just below the surface.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones and The Six “I didn't know I was waiting for a smart, literary writer to craft a novel about the rise and fall of a teen star akin to Britney Spears until I discovered The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes. A witty, bright, hilarious—and at times devastating—read. I loved it." —Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters Cassidy Holmes isn't just a celebrity. She is “Sassy Gloss,” the fourth member of the hottest pop group America has ever seen. Hotter than Britney dancing with a snake, hotter than Christina getting dirrty, Gloss was the pop act that everyone idolized. Fans couldn't get enough of them, their music, and the drama that followed them like moths to a flame—until the group’s sudden implosion in 2002. And at the center of it all was Sassy Cassy, the Texan with a signature smirk that had everyone falling for her. But now she's dead. Suicide. The world is reeling from this unexpected news, but no one is more shocked than the three remaining Glossies. Fifteen years ago, Rose, Merry, and Yumi had been the closest to Cassidy, and this loss is hitting them hard. Before the group split, they each had a special bond with Cassidy—truths they told, secrets they shared. But after years apart, each of them is wondering: what could they have done? Told in multiple perspectives—including Cassidy herself—and different timelines, this is a behind-the-scenes look into the rise and fall of a pop icon, and a penetrating examination of the dark side of celebrity and the industry that profits from it.

In Texas, myth often clashes with the reality of everyday government. Explore the state's rich political tradition with Lone Star Politics as this local author team explains who gets what and how. Utilizing the comparative method, Ken Collier, Steven Galatas, and Julie Harrelson-Stephens 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 Sixth Edition expands its coverage on civil rights in the state, as well as contemporary issues highlighting the push-pull relationship between the state and federal and local governments.