Deck 1: The Political Culture, People, and Economy of Texas

Question 1

Which event occurred at Spindletop, Texas?

A) Oil was discovered.
B) The first free-range ranch in Texas was established.
C) The last battle for Texas independence was fought.
D) The state's worst race riots occurred.
E) The state's worst tornado disaster occurred.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

By ______, all major statewide elected offices in Texas were controlled by Republicans.

A) 1980
B) 1988
C) 1992
D) 1996
E) 2002

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Who led the Grange and Populist movements of the late nineteenth century?

A) tenant farmers
B) cattle barons
C) Hispanic laborers
D) the railroad industry
E) oil prospectors

Answer 3

A

Question 4

______ is the system, common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, by which farmers would be lent land and equipment in exchange for part of the profits.

A) Indentured servitude
B) Free ranging
C) Wildcatting
D) Sharecropping
E) Provincialism

Question 5

Which of the following political groups have traditionally had the least influence on Texas politics?

A) labor unions
B) business groups
C) trial lawyers
D) Mexican American interest groups
E) farmers

Question 6

Which city is located in the Great Plains region of Texas?

A) Lubbock
B) Fort Worth
C) El Paso
D) San Antonio
E) Austin

Question 7

Political culture is a term used to describe

A) the level of education and learning in a particular state.
B) the degree of public support for the arts.
C) the broadly shared values and beliefs about government.
D) the amount of partisan bickering in a state.
E) how liberal or conservative a state is.

Question 8

Which of the following would best characterize a traditionalistic individualistic political culture?

A) low taxes and deference to business leaders
B) government policies that promote traditional social morals
C) government policies designed to benefit the political elite
D) encouragement of active participation in government
E) high taxes and government run by elites

Question 9

Which of the following does not reflect one of the historic characteristics that make up Texas political culture?

A) provincialism
B) the dominance of business interests
C) the strong role of labor unions
D) the dominance of the Democratic Party
E) a preference for limited government

Question 10

Traditionalistic political cultures, according to Daniel Elazar, are typically found in the

A) Northeast.
B) West.
C) South.
D) Midwest.
E) border states.

Question 11

Big Bend is found in what region of Texas?

A) interior lowlands
B) Basin and Range Province
C) Gulf Coastal Plains
D) Great Plains
E) Panhandle

Question 12

Which of the following did not contribute to the spread of cattle ranching in the nineteenth century?

A) the invention of barbed wire
B) the rationalization of cattle-raising techniques
C) the antigrazing position of farm unions
D) the development of large and economically diverse ranches
E) the development of railroads

Question 13

The regulation of oil and energy in Texas is performed by

A) the Texas Railroad Commission.
B) the Texas Department of Oil and Gas.
C) the governor of Texas.
D) ExxonMobil.
E) hardly anyone; there is little if any regulation of the Texas oil and energy industry.

Question 14

When in Texas history did cattle become big business?

A) during the period of Mexican rule
B) during the Republic
C) after the Civil War
D) between the 1930s and the 1950s
E) during Spanish rule

Question 15

Which of the following has traditionally dominated the political culture of Texas?

A) labor unions
B) business interests
C) environmentalist groups
D) the Catholic Church
E) lawyers

Question 16

Which of the following is the best description of Texas political culture?

A) Texas currently resembles the U.S. West more than the South in terms of its political culture.
B) Texans have a moralistic political culture.
C) The political culture of Texas has been dominated by Hispanic immigration.
D) Texas has multiple political cultures within its borders.
E) Texas has a traditionalistic-moralistic political culture.

Question 17

Provincialism is best defined as

A) the belief that God will lead.
B) a narrow view of the world.
C) the belief in limited government.
D) the belief in the free market.
E) the belief in the right to own private property.

Question 18

A belief that government is designed to promote the public good describes the ______ political culture.

A) traditionalistic
B) moralistic
C) individualistic
D) provincialistic
E) constitutionalistic

Question 19

Houston is found in the Texas

A) interior lowlands.
B) Great Plains.
C) Basin and Range Province.
D) Gulf Coastal Plains.
E) Panhandle.

Question 20

The term creative destruction refers to the process by which

A) governments must occasionally overtax certain businesses that are no longer performing well.
B) the capitalist system undergoes periodic waves of transformation caused by new technologies.
C) a state's political culture undergoes occasional changes as a result of demographic upheavals.
D) governments replace one constitutional system with another.
E) power shifts from one political party to another.

Question 21

What was Stephen F. Austin's role in the development of Texas?

A) He established the first free-range cattle ranch.
B) He worked with the Spanish government to bring American settlers into Texas.
C) He was an important early oil entrepreneur.
D) He designed the city that bears his name.
E) He was one of Texas's most successful cattle barons.

Question 22

Houston is located in the Gulf Coastal Plains region.

Question 23

Which statement regarding urbanization in Texas is incorrect?

A) More than 85 percent of Texans now live in urban areas.
B) Historically, Texas urbanization depended on the spread of the railroads.
C) The origins of cities in Texas are found in Native American civilizations.
D) Urban development started in east Texas and spread west.
E) In the 1850s, only about 4 percent of Texans lived in urban areas.

Question 24

Texas political culture is best described as moralistic political.

Question 25

Historically, the economy of Fort Worth has been associated with what industry?

A) oil
B) cattle
C) computer technology
D) shipping
E) cotton

Question 26

Which city in Texas currently has the largest population?

A) San Antonio
B) Dallas
C) Houston
D) El Paso
E) Austin

Question 27

Which racial or ethnic group in Texas is concentrated in East Texas?

A) Hispanics
B) German Americans
C) African Americans
D) Asian Americans
E) Caucasian Americans

Question 28

What year was the NAFTA agreement signed?

A) 1972
B) 1982
C) 1988
D) 1992
E) 2002

Question 29

The economy of San Antonio rests on all of the following except

A) national military bases.
B) educational institutions.
C) the high-tech industry.
D) tourism.
E) a large medical research complex.

Question 30

Which of the following contributed most to the increase in the population of Texas?

A) domestic migration from other states
B) international immigration
C) a natural increase of births, in proportion to deaths
D) people moving to Texas from Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina
E) domestic migration and international immigration contributed equally

Question 31

NAFTA established

A) free trade between North and Central America.
B) free trade between Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
C) free trade between Texas and Mexico.
D) a more liberalized immigration policy.
E) free trade between the United States and China.

Question 32

Approximately what percentage of the current population of Texas is Hispanic?

A) 10 percent
B) 35 percent
C) 45 percent
D) 50 percent
E) 65 percent

Question 33

Dallas developed in the late nineteenth century as a result of

A) the intersection of two railroad lines.
B) the development of the Port of Dallas.
C) the easy access to the Rio Grande River.
D) the development of a large international airport.
E) becoming the cattle-trading hub for the state.

Question 34

Throughout its history, business interests have dominated Texan political culture.

Question 35

______ was the chief economic product of Texas during the early twentieth century.

A) Cattle
B) Cotton
C) Oil
D) Manufacturing
E) Steel

Question 36

Politics in Texas has been defined by the almost-equal political popularity of both the Democrats and Republicans.

Question 37

Technological change in Texas is best evidenced by the

A) Civil War's positive effect on the Texas economy.
B) boom-and-bust cycle of the oil industry.
C) development of a high-tech industry after a slump in oil prices.
D) continued reliance on ranching.
E) continued reliance on oil production.

Question 38

In 1944, the Supreme Court case Smith v. Allwright ended

A) school segregation.
B) poll taxes.
C) white primaries.
D) black codes.
E) all Jim Crow laws.

Question 39

Provincialism has been a defining pattern of Texas political culture.

Question 40

Which two Texas metropolitan areas are national centers for the high-tech industry?

A) Lubbock and Midland
B) Houston and El Paso
C) Dallas and Austin
D) San Antonio and Waco
E) Houston and San Antonio

Question 41

Oil was first discovered in West Texas in 1842.

Question 42

Dallas is located in the Basin and Range Province.

Question 43

Describe the four different physical regions of Texas. What are some ways in which the geographic features of Texas have shaped and influenced its politics?

Question 44

People of Hispanic origin make up over 30 percent of the population of Texas today.

Question 45

NAFTA has created a free-trade market throughout North and Central America.

Question 46

Agriculture accounts for 35 percent of the contemporary Texan workforce.

Question 47

The high-tech economy of Texas emerged during the 1920s.

Question 48

The largest city in Texas is San Antonio.

Question 49

Oil was the primary industry in Texas during the nineteenth century.

Question 50

What is political culture? What types of political cultures does Texas have? What are the three effects of Texas's unique political culture?

Question 51

Describe the major changes and developments over time in the Texas economy. How has Texas's economy exemplified the theory of creative destruction? In what ways has NAFTA affected the political economy of the state?

Question 52

Describe the distinct economy and development of the three major cities of Texas. How has urbanization changed the character of Texas?

Question 53

What have been some of the major demographic changes in Texas over the years? What have been the different social and political experiences of the three main ethnic groups in Texas? To what does Texas owe its large growth in population during the 1990s?

Question 54

On average, Texans are younger than the rest of the United States.

Question 55

Oil production remains the primary driving force of exports from the Texas economy.