This thesis examines the handling of racial issues in United States political party platforms from 1964 to 2016. The primary objective of this study is to analyze how the two major political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, have approached issues of race in their platforms. To accomplish this, a content analysis was conducted on the platforms of both parties during this time period. Each reference to race in the platforms was categorized as either "acclaim," "defend," or "attack." "Acclaim" refers to statements that praise racial progress or advocate for policies that benefit marginalized communities. "Defend" refers to statements that seek to justify the party's position on race or defend racial issues, while "attack" refers to statements that criticize the other party's position or policies related to race. The study reveals that the parties have used different strategies to address race. This research is important because it sheds light on the ways in which the two major political parties have addressed one of the most significant issues facing the United States. The findings provide insight into the ideological differences between the parties and offer a historical perspective on the evolution of racial politics in the United States. This research is relevant for scholars and policymakers interested in understanding the role of race in American politics, as well as for activists and advocates seeking to influence policy outcomes related to racial justice.

“‘Law-Abiding Citizens’: How the National Rifle Association’s battle for gun rights shaped the New Right” explicates the development of the gun rights movement and its central role in the modern American Right. In recent decades scholars have explored the contributions of evangelical Christians, business leaders, white southerners, and women to the making of the modern conservative movement and the transformation of the Republican Party. This study establishes the central role of firearms owners and the NRA in the conservative ascendancy. Based on extensive research in congressional collections at the Dolph Briscoe Center, and the papers of Howard Metzenbaum, Roman Hruska, Birch Bayh, and Robert Dole, as well as the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan Presidential Libraries, the National Archives, and substantial research into NRA publications and related documents, the dissertation explores the evolving political strategy of the NRA and the broader gun community to halt gun control from the 1930s to the 1980s. During the 1960s, high-profile assassinations and rising crime rates put pressure on the Johnson, Nixon, and Ford administrations to “do something” about gun violence. The threat of strict federal gun control prompted the NRA and the broader gun rights community to mobilize grassroots action. Its failure to block the Gun Control Act of 1968 sparked a gradual shift within the association. As it moved rightward, its ability to mobilize its substantial membership and deliver votes made it an attractive political partner for the GOP. Long an association of hunters and shooting sportsmen devoted to firearms safety and military training in wartime, the struggle over gun control legislation divided and ultimately transformed the NRA. As it shifted its focus from hobby to lobby, the NRA became a foundational element of the New Right, playing a decisive role in the shaping of modern American conservatism. / 2025-06-16T00:00:00Z

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This study as a whole does not pretend to be in any way an introduction of information new or novel, but is intended only as a distillation of facts well known, but largely un-assembled in the specific fashion here attempted. Relative to the Republican campaign against the Alien and Sedition legislation, however, it would appear that perhaps there has been a certain amount of misunderstanding. It is hoped that the treatment herein accorded this matter may in some way contribute to an improved insight.

The purpose of this paper will be to look into the election returns to find some of the factors which have caused the trend of voters shifting away from the Democratic party towards the Republican party in presidential elections.

This dissertation examines the results and strategies used in the 1978 Texas gubernatorial election to determine what issues, demographics, and campaign strategies led the Republican Party nominee, Dallas businessman Bill Clements, to defeat the Democratic nominee, Attorney General John Hill, to break the 105-year old Democratic lock on the governorship and how this victory affected the evolution of Texas into a two-party state. Research materials include manuscripts and published speeches, letters, oral interviews, elections results, and secondary materials.

This thesis discusses the rise of the Republican party in Texas and specifically Harris County. The time period is the decade between the Presidential election of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the campaign of Jack Cox for Governor. Changes in the structure and leadership of the Republican party at the state level and specific precincts are examined in detail in chapter one. Leaders in Houston during this time period, such as Jesse Jones, Roy Cullen, and Oveta Culp Hobby are discussed in chapter two. The elections of Eisenhower, Cox, and Republican John Tower are analyzed in chapter three. The conclusion finds six major factors for the political changes occurring in Harris County, including economic and demographic changes. Main sources for this work included the Harris County Democratic party records and the Jack Cox Papers at the Center for American History, the Eisenhower Library, and the John Tower Papers.

While much research has been conducted into the political behavior and attitudes of American military officers, little has been accomplished with respect to enlisted personnel. Most reports assume that the American military identify largely with the Republican Party and are mostly conservative in attitude. The most recent large-scale study, the TISS Survey on the Military in the Post Cold War Era conducted by Feaver and Kohn in 1998-1999, confirmed those assumptions among senior officers and is often quoted as representative of the entire military. However, the demographic characteristics of enlisted personnel predict different behavior. The enlisted ranks of the American military are over-represented by minorities who traditionally identify with the Democratic Party. The present study gathered data on enlisted personnel, by means of a survey, to determine whether that specialized population is significantly different in attitude and behavior from that of the officer corps and of the general American population. Enlisted personnel identify with the Republican Party in about the same proportion as do the general American population. However, only about half as many enlisted personnel identify with the Democratic Party as do civilians. Enlisted personnel are also about three times more likely to identify as Independents as do other Americans. Active-duty enlisted personnel demonstrate a 1.7 to 1 partisan (Republican to Democrat) ratio, similar to that found in the veteran enlisted sample (1.8 to 1) and the officer sample (1.6 to 1). The civilian sample shows a .95 to 1 partisan ratio. Thus, active-duty enlisted personnel who identify with a political party are about twice as likely to identify with the Republican Party as are civilians. However, active-duty enlisted personnel are nearly four times as likely as civilians to report being Independent, and are substantially less likely than civilians to identify with the Democratic Party. The Republican to Democrat ratio may well explain the commentary about and observations of a Republican dominated military. Despite the fact that the overall proportion of Republicans within the military is no greater than that found within the general population, that there are twice as many individuals who will state that they are Republicans as those who will state that they are Democrats can easily give the impression of a heavily Republican population. However, active-duty enlisted personnel remain strongly independent when compared to the civilian population. Of special note is a markedly higher political efficacy among military enlisted personnel than is found within the general American population. / text

This thesis tests the hypothesis that increasing urbanization in the South is positively correlated with rising Republican voting in presidential and gubernatorial races. A measure of urbanization was derived by subjecting socio-economic data from three censuses for all southern counties to factor analysis. This measure was regressed against Republican percentages of presidential vote in 1952, 1960 and 1968, and against GOP percentages in governor's races closest to the census years. The coefficients of correlation were uniformly low, reaching as high as .50 only once in each case. It was concluded that urbanization accounts for little in explaining variation in Republican voting and that contradictory findings are the result of reliance on less powerful analytic techniques, misunderstanding of more powerful ones or inadequate operationalization of key concepts.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the state executive committees of the two major political parties in Texas and to present facts regarding the membership of the committees (the policy-makers) and the professional staff of the state party organization (the administrators of party policy).