CHAPTER ONE
1. Politics is best defined:
a. Who gets what, when, and how
b. Who gets most of whatever there is to get.
c. The ability to control the behavior and actions of others.
d. Making a common decision and having the means to enforce it.
2. What is government?
a. Government is made up of private institutions that have the power to enforce laws.
b. Government is composed of individuals and groups who come together to affect laws.
c. Government is composed of public institutions that have the authority to mandate the collection of revenues and allocate valuable things in society.
d. Government is composed of associations whose members come together help those who cannot help themselves.
3. Referring to Texas as a mosaic means that the state is
a. identical to national culture.
b. identical to the Southern culture.
c. governed by a strong state executive.
d. a picture made up of many parts and fragments.
4. Who established for their nation territorial claim to Texas that went unchallenged for the next century and a half?
a. French
b. British
c. Portuguese
d. Spanish
5. The instrument Spain used to establish a permanent presence in Texas and to prevent France’s incursion on Texas land was
a. establishing the mission.
b. killing Cabeza de Vaca.
c. killing La Salle.
d. dividing Texas into five separate parts.
6. Who was responsible for the first organized Anglo settlement in Texas?
a. Sam Houston
b. Stephen F. Austin
c. Moses Austin
d. James Bowie
7. Which battle between Anglo settlers and Mexican cavalry was being referred to as the “Lexington of Texas?”
a. The battle of San Jacinto
b. The battle of Alamo
c. The battle of Goliad
d. The Battle near Gonzales
8. All of these are the reasons why the United States refused to admit Texas into the union except:
a. The U.S. did not want to antagonize Mexico.
b. The U.S. did not want to upset the free state-slave state balance in Congress.
c. Most Anglo Texans did not favor admission.
d. Most Anglo Texans favored admission.
9. During the Republic era, Texas was characterized by
a. low rate of inflation and barter economy.
b. lack of political parties and clash of egos between Sam Houston and Mirabeau Lamar.
c. a growing closeness between Anglo and Tejano or native Texans.
d. domination of the Democratic.
10. Which statement is correct concerning Texas being admitted into the union?
a. Texas was admitted into the union as the 15th state in June 1845.
b. Texas was admitted into the union as the 28th state in February 1846.
c. Texas was part of Mexico before it joined the union.
d. Texas was part of Spain before it joined the union.
11. Governor James Steven Hogg persuaded the Texas Legislature to establish the
a. Railroad Commission.
b. Agriculture Commission.
c. Land Commission.
d. Environmental Quality Commission.
12. Which of the following statements is not true about Governor Jim Ferguson?
a. He was reelected to the governor’s office in 1916.
b. He used his line item veto to eliminate all funding for the University of Texas in 1917.
c. He was the only governor to be impeached by the House and not convicted by the Senate of the Texas Legislature.
d. He moved into the governor’s mansion using the back door when his wife became the governor in 1924.
13. How did Texans react to the Sharpstown Scandal of the early 1970s?
a. They replaced the top executive officials.
b. They replaced almost half of the members of the 1973 legislature with new faces.
c. They boycotted state elections in 1973.
d. They sponsored a court case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
14. All these areas are parts of the Gulf Lowlands except the:
a. Coastal Plains.
b. Piney Woods.
c. Edwards Plateau.
d. Post Oaks and Prairies.
15. The most sparsely populated and least developed part of Texas is the:
a. West Texas Basins and Ranges.
b. Llano Uplift.
c. South Texas Prairie
d. High Plains.
16. All of these are examples of the “Take It” stage of the economic piece of Texas mosaic except:
a. Cattle
b. Cotton
c. Manufacturing
d. Oil
17. What discovery and where in Texas signaled a new economic era for Texas?
a. Gold, Gonzales
b. Diamond, Round Rock
c. Oil, Spindletop
d. Uranium, Houston
18. In which stage of the Texas economic mosaic did service-related employment account for the lion’s share of the state’s non-farming jobs?
a. “Take It”
b. “Make It”
c. “Serve It”
d. “Trade It”
19. The percentage of growth in Texas population each decade since the first federal census has been taken in 1850 has never been less than
a. 5 percent.
b. 10 percent.
c. 15 percent.
d. 20 percent.
20. What three cities of Texas are among the ten largest in the nation?
a. Houston, San Antonio, Dallas
b. Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin
c. Dallas, San Antonio, Waco
d. Waco, Austin, San Antonio
21. Which statement is true about Texas demography?
a. One ethnic group constitutes a majority
b. The percentage of Anglos has been steadily increasing over the past several decades.
c. The percentage of black Texans has changed little since 1980.
d. The percentage of black Texans has increased since 1980.
22. How do we explain Texans unique view on government and politics compared to other Americans?
a. In terms of variations in political culture
b. In terms of variations in geography
c. In terms of variations in demography
d. In terms of variation in ideology
23. The individualistic political culture is rooted in the notion of
a. pluralism.
b. limited government.
c. elitism.
d. controlled market economy.
24. Traditionalistic political culture emphasizes:
a. change.
b. liberalism.
c. maintaining the prevailing order.
d. socialism.
25. What is the policy implication of Texas’s individualistic political culture?
a. Texas provides lower levels of public assistance than other states.
b. Voter turnout is relatively high.
c. Texans pay more attention to things political.
d. Texas provides higher levels of public assistance than other states.
True/False
- The so-called New World, now known as Texas, was not already occupied until the first Europeans came.
- The mission system was used by Spain as a means to subdue indigenous people and convert them into both faithful Christians and loyal Spanish subjects.
- The departure of governor E. J. Davis from office marked the end of the Democratic Party domination of Texas politics in the next 105 years.
- The Progressive Era of Texas politics began with the election of James Stephen Hogg as the governor in 1890.
- In 1970s, a large portion of Texas’s revenue was generated by petroleum and its by product and as the price of oil rose, so did the state’s income.
- The post oaks and prairies area of Texas includes Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Waco.
- Texas Instruments became a major economic player in Texas during the “Serve It” stage of the economic pieces of Texas mosaic.
- Texas population increased by almost 22 percent in 2010 over the official 2000 census total.
- Almost more than 80 percent of all people in Texas can be found in ten rural counties.
- Daniel Elazar’s assessments of American political cultures help us gain insight into Texans.
Essay Questions
- Identify and discuss the impact of each pieces of Texas mosaic to our understanding of what we mean by the term Texas.
- Discuss the stages of the evolution of Texas economic development.
- What specific issues made Texans declare their independence from Mexico and why was Texas not admitted into the union after it secured its independence?
- Describe the growth pattern of Texas population and its diversified character.
- Distinguish between two dominant Texas political cultures, traditionalistic and individualistic, and explain their policy implications.
State & Local GovtChapter 1 Page 1 of 5