Rice and Sundberg examined the political culture of states through the framework of civic culture. Civic culture is a political culture that is conducive to the development of an efficient, effective government that meets the needs of its citizens in a timely and professional manner.
Civic culture consists of the following elements:
- Civic engagement – citizens participate in the policymaking process in order to promote the public good
- Political equality – citizens view each other as political equals, with the same rights and obligations
- Solidarity, trust, and tolerance – citizens feel a strong sense of fellowship with one another, tolerating a wide range of ideas and lifestyles
- Social structure of cooperation – citizens are joiners, belonging to a rich array of groups
States with high civic culture have innovative and effective government. States with low civic culture are less responsive to citizen demands.
Texas is considered to have a very low civic culture, ranked 43rd out of 50.