Public Opinion and Faction in Texas

Respond to one of the following essay prompts. Your response must be about 1000 words in
length, and must adhere to a standard manuscript form. Be sure to support your argument with specific
references to primary or secondary sources.
According to conventional wisdom, the primary recurrent salient issues in most states tend to concern jobs,
crime, education and taxes. To what extent do public opinion poll data in Texas support or challenge the
conventional wisdom?
Sources to consider:
The Annual Texas Lyceum Poll: Polls page at the Texas Lyceum
The UT/Texas Tribune Poll: The UT/Texas Tribune Poll Online
Dalton, Russell J. Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies:
Washington DC: SAGE/CQ Press, 2008.
Lippmann, Walter. Public Opinion. New Brunswick (USA) and London (UK): Transaction Publishers, 1998
(Macmillan 1922)
Shepard, Lorrie A., Amelia E. Kreitzer, and M. Elizabeth Graue. A case study of the Texas teacher test:
Technical report. Center for the Study of Evaluation, Graduate School of Education, University of California,
Los Angeles, 1987.