Benefits Of Straight Party Voting

Improved Essays
For over several years, straight party voting has been one of Texas’s method for voters to cast a vote. Straight party voting’s effectiveness in Texas has lasted up until a recent discussion. It wasn’t until after “long hours of debate in which two lawmakers faced off in the middle of the Texas House floor, that the lawmakers decided to pass a bill into law that would eliminate straight-party voting option starting on September 1, 2020”(Barragán). Although straight party voting has been utilized for so long and has had both its benefits and downsides, it is a method that indeed needs to be removed.
First of all, what is straight party voting? Straight party voting is the practice of voting in which “enables a voter to choose a party’s entire

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    During primary elections, party competition heightens over voter participation as it determines the direction of political change in Texas. Up until 1960, the Democratic Party controlled nearly all Texas elections. This is because, “when one political party tends to dominate [the selection of a public official], voters who wish to participate in choosing their local public officials must vote in that party’s primary” (197). But over the half past-century, many counties have shifted from the Democratic to the Republican primary.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gerrymandering Case Study

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Most people believe that the outcome of elections in Texas is decided by the voters, but in our current single-member district system of electing representatives, frequently that is not the case. Often times who will win in an election is decided long before election day, usually by those who draw the district lines. For example, if the districts in texas are drawn to be 65 percent republican then the outcome will most likely result in republicans that have the majority of seats in the legislature. In a single member district system, only one member can be elected to congress for each district, that is why drawing the district lines is by far one of the most important aspects for a party to win seats. The parties assure their representatives…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Parties in charge of redistricting will attempt to pack opposing voters into very few districts. In cracking, however, opposing voters are spread out among several…

    • 383 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ivains questions on how Republican parties have dominated Texas by stating “there’s not a gay in midland would come out of the closet for fear people would think they’re Democrat” (342). Her use in irony explains how the people of Texas are more fearful someone categorizing them as democrats instead of coming out as gay. Since Texas takes republicans so serious. Second she goes on to state how “we are currently saddled with a right-wing ideologue sugar daddy” (344).…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many different states have multiple kinds of federal system depending on where a person is. In Texas federalism “is a form of government that divides sovereign powers across at least two political units” Within the government, people believe that there are many ways that the government should be run. The way the people think is way off from the actual system itself. Some may wonder what is the real reason of why we have federalism? Well federalism is a way for the government to get money from the people.…

    • 1022 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The political parties have been part of the United States government for as long as anyone can remember, but the question is: should they be? There are multiple perspectives on this, one being that political parties benefit the system, another being that political parties are the problem. As a country, it’s not often considered that we could be doing something wrong --especially in government -- but it’s time to open our minds and consider it. Long before many can actually remember, George Washington came into office and founded the very democracy that still stands today.…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In recent discussions of third party campaigns, a controversial issue has been whether third parties hurt the presidential campaign. On the one hand, some argue that they help get the people’s concerns be heard to the two major parties. On the other hand, however, others argue that it ends up having the focus away from other problems. In sum, then, the issue is if voters are better off with more choices or that third parties are unnecessary. While some believe that voting for third parties divide the country in a way that hurts us, third party candidates can be useful as they push the people’s views onto the two major parties.…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    A Critique of Fiorina’s “The Decline of Collective Responsibility in American Politics” In the early 1980s, political scientists were studying the changing status of American political parties (Fiorina 1981). During this time, Morris P. Fiorina wrote his essay to address these findings, most notably what he believes to be the decline of political parties. Fiorina concludes that strong political parties provide electoral accountability and discipline in government and keep the system afloat. Without it, the consequences are dire.…

    • 1655 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    “Politicians reacted to the subordinance of traditional redistricting principles to population equality by using population equality as justification to draw non- compact districts that split existing political boundaries” (Altman and McDonald 1185). When politicians realized they could use the revised redistricting criteria to their benefit, a new wave of gerrymandering came to light and the politics of America were changed immensely. In the 1980s, when the popularity of gerrymandering soared, states saw district lines following county lines drop…

    • 1769 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Political parties as an influence in society is certainly a unique hypothesis. Last year’s presidential election certainly had a pretentious effect on society. I agree with your neither political parties speak for the common American. However, many people voted for Trump not for the man but for the failed policies of the previous administration, an unbalanced federal budget adding $6 trillion to the national debt, Supreme Court Christian friendly nominee, illegal immigration, or a dozen more reasons. Americans only have two main political parties.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although compulsory voting has not been implemented in many democratic governments, those that have adopted its method show very high voter turn out. Since 1924, Australia has been a leading example of how efficient mandatory voting can be when implemented properly. Mandatory voting has many benefits that would not only aid the political system of ones country, but also countless other factors such as economics, foreign policy, and the general will of the people. Obama has even considered instituting this type of policy in the very free and democratic United States of America stating, “…mandatory voting would empower these groups and counteract the influence of big money in elections…”[Josephine Tovey]. With a compulsory voting law in place…

    • 1100 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In today’s modern democracy, political parties and interest groups play a huge projecting role in the United States government and it is rising quickly. Political parties and interest groups are organized groups of people who work towards specific goals within the government, promoting politicians and raising money to help accomplish certain needs. While yes, both groups are working towards similar goals they often times serve different purposes within the country’s political system. The real question is whether or not either of these groups are helping improve America or if they are helping to diminish the American political system. The most familiar group known amongst people around the country is the idea of political parties.…

    • 1078 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How would you feel if the government started restricting how you did your everyday activities? People have had many disputes between the topic of of requiring to use identification to vote or not for years now. Though voting with identification is highly anticipated, I believe that voting without identification is the better argument due to having the government not have to restrict us when we want our individual rights and to do something, that we choose to do, to be restricted. People agree that voting with identification would be a good idea due to having the voting process a ton more secure but this also allows the government to violate our individual rights.…

    • 1346 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Political Parties In Texas

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Reflection Political parties perform roles that are massively important to the overall functioning of our political system. Political changes and developments in certain states leads them to tilting to a certain party. Texas in particular used to be a Democratic state and is now a Republican state due to many political and social changes that came along the way. During the 1970’s, the Democratic Party was able to gain control of the state government and dominated Texas politics.…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Voters choose one preferred candidate, and they mark an X next to the person on a ballot paper. The one who gets the most number of votes wins representation of the constituency. So, it is easy to count the votes and clear to see who wins. However, the results tend to favor the major parties, i.e. the Labor Party and the Conservatives, and disadvantage minority ones. To illustrate, the Liberal Democrats Party had never won more than 62 votes before 2005.…

    • 1624 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays