Promoting Knowledge, Efficacy, and Engagement in the Lone Star State

Texas is known for a lot of things. Political participation is not one of them. We rank near the bottom of the list when it comes to civic engagement, including voter registration and voter turnout, volunteering, contacting elected officials, and discussing government and politics.

This has serious implications. According to theories of substantive representation, participatory democracy, and pluralist democracy, civic engagement should promote more responsive government. Communities with strong civic health tend to have better employment rates, schools, and physical health.

What few people aren’t turned off by government and politics tend to focus their attention on the federal government when, honestly, states and local governments are closer to home and have a more direct impact on our day-to-day life. Instead of following Washington, D.C., we should be paying attention to what is happening in our own backyard. And herein lies the purpose of Texas Political Science: to serve as a resource to promote civic engagement and political efficacy where it matters most — in the Lone Star State and our local communities.

Knowledge is Power

“The cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy and, while guided and controlled by virtue, the noblest attribute of man. It is the only dictator that freemen acknowledge and the only security that freemen desire.”

Mirabeau B. Lamar