Texas Politics ― Governing the Lone Star State

Cal 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.

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. 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 includes "Let's Compare" boxes to help students see how Texas sits alongside other states, and "Pro & Con" boxes to bring conflicting political views into sharper focus. Tables, figures, and photos throughout highlight the major ideas, issues, individuals, and institutions discussed.

NEW TO THIS EDITION

• Thorough consideration of the 2014 state elections, the 2015 legislative session, and the 2016 national elections as they effect Texas.
• In Chapter 2, we highlight Governor Abbott’s call for a constitutional convention (to reconsider the federal constitution, not ours) and in a new Pro/Con box we ask "Does Texas Have the Right to Secede" spoiler alert – no. Also in Chapter 2, we explore Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), the gay marriage case, from the perspective of federalism.
• In Chapter 3, we provide a more detailed exploration of the 2014 gubernatorial race between Greg Abbott and Wendy Davis, featuring a new table presenting vote splits by age, income, gender, race, ethnicity, and more. The Pro/Con dealing with Texas’ 2011 Voter ID law has been thoroughly revised to reflect the 2016 federal court requirement that the law be made more voter friendly.
• In Chapter 4, we explore the 2016 federal court decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt striking down abortion restrictions passed by the Texas legislature in 2013.
• In Chapter 7, we add an assessment of the impact, positive and negative, of Rick Perry’s unprecedented 14-year tenure as Governor of Texas. We also explore the battle between University of Texas Regent Wallace Hall, Jr., and UT President William Powers, which led to Hall’s censure and Powers’ resignation, as an example of how governors use their power of appointment to redirect and reform state institutions – even UT.
• In Chapter 9, in photos and text we highlight the election of Sylvester Turner as Mayor of Houston and the national response to the police shootings in Dallas.
• In Chapter 10, we provide a detailed study of the 2016-2017 state budget and the taxing and spending decisions that went into it, including the Texas Supreme Court school funding decision of 2016.

Cal Jillson earned a PhD from the University of Maryland and has taught at Louisiana State University and the University of Colorado, where he chaired the Department of Political Science from 1989 to 1993. He joined the faculty of Southern Methodist University in 1995 as professor and chair of the Department of Political Science (1995–2001). He is a member of the American Political Science Association and several regional political science associations. Professor Jillson has written a number of books dealing with the origins of the American political culture and the health and performance of contemporary American politics and political institutions. His recent books were American Government: Political Development and Institutional Change, 9^th ed. 2018; Lone Star Tarnished: A Critical Look at Texas Politics and Public Policy, 2nd ed. 2014; and The American Dream in History, Politics, and Fiction, 2017.