Texas Politics Project Resources for Moving Your Texas Government Class Online in the Wake of COVID-19

The large scale transition to online instruction in Texas higher education institutions has many government and political science teachers scrambling to migrate in-person courses into entirely online formats on a very short timeline. To help out with these efforts, we’ve gathered results from the last few years of the University of Texas / Texas Tribune Poll, and sorted them by common topics covered in introductory Texas government courses. The idea is that teachers trying to build online lecture presentations, exercises, or even assessments for their newly-translated online courses might find ready-made graphics useful -- and save time in a situation in which time is in short supply. 

Roam around on this page and use our search page to find material you can use throughout your course. Though the data is all based on public opinion polling, the topics vary widely beyond the election polling that's so prominent in even-numbered years.  Our data encompasses the last dozen years of Texas politics, and contains results on many major policy areas of interest to you and your students, as well as job approval and/or favorability ratings for all major elected officials in the state. Click on the subjects in the table below to jump to topics of interest, or just scroll down to experience the thrill of discovery.

Executive Voting/elections/campaigns Public opinion
Legislative Political parties Political culture
Judicial Federalism/IGR Rights/liberties
Criminal justice Interest groups Public policy
US government    

All of the links to results (bold font) will take you to a graphic. Our poll result graphics all have a link in the upper right hand corner on the word "share" that opens up a menu that allows you to download the graphic you're looking at in multiple common file formats (i.e. jpg, pdf, svg, png). For comprehensive information and results from the polls of origing, see the files in our polling data archive. 

The suggestions below are far from exhaustive - there is some riffing here, as we wanted to get something up relatively quickly as we know that many people have to move fast in response to changes as a result of COVID-19 triggered migrations to online delivery.  So a disclaimer: this is not a course outline or teaching plan. We've just tried to gather some interesting results, in many cases simply as ideas or for illustration of what else one might find looking through our resources. Nor have I tried to be particularly comprehensive in scope.  I urge you to use our excellent search tool or the search box at the top of each page to look for other results, and to click through the tabs of the individual results. And if you have other ideas or examples (or corrections/suggestions), please share them - you can email us at texaspolitics@mail.laits.utexas.edu. We’ll keep adding resources to the page as much as time allows.  Let’s face it: we’re probably looking at a summer of online instruction in higher education, too – so it will be back to the drawing board sooner than later for many of us.

Executive branch

Governor Greg Abbott job approval, Feb 2020

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categoryTotal
Approve strongly30%
Approve somewhat18%
Neither approve nor disapprove11%
Disapprove somewhat10%
Disapprove strongly24%
Don't know7%

Abbott job approval trend (Nov 2015-Feb 2020)

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PollApproveDisapproveNeither/Don't Know
November 201542%29%28%
February 201641%29%30%
June 201642%31%27%
October 201642%33%25%
February 201745%33%23%
June 201745%38%16%
October 201748%33%19%
February 201846%31%23%
June 201847%36%18%
October 201852%32%17%
February 201951%32%17%
June 201951%31%18%
October 201952%28%21%
February 202048%34%18%
April 202056%32%13%
June 202049%39%13%
October 202047%40%14%
February 202146%39%15%
March 202145%43%11%
April 202143%45%13%
June 202144%44%11%
August 202141%50%9%
October 202143%48%10%
February 202244%42%15%
April 202247%41%13%
June 202243%46%12%
August 202246%44%10%
October 202247%44%9%
December 202249%41%8%
February 202346%43%12%
April 202346%41%12%
June 202347%42%12%
August 202345%45%10%
October 202349%40%10%
December 202348%41%11%
February 202453%37%10%
April 202455%37%10%
June 202450%39%11%
August 202449%42%9%
October 202451%38%12%

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick job approval 

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categoryTotal
Approve strongly21%
Approve somewhat18%
Neither approve nor disapprove13%
Disapprove somewhat7%
Disapprove strongly28%
Don't know12%

Patrick job approval trend

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PollApproveDisapproveNeither/Don't Know
November 201529%26%44%
February 201627%27%46%
June 201631%30%39%
October 201631%31%38%
February 201732%31%38%
June 201734%36%29%
October 201736%31%32%
February 201836%33%31%
June 201836%34%30%
October 201844%31%25%
February 201942%31%26%
June 201941%31%29%
October 201939%32%29%
February 202039%35%25%
April 202040%36%24%
June 202039%38%23%
October 202037%37%25%
February 202137%36%27%
March 202137%37%27%
April 202135%39%26%
June 202136%37%27%
August 202133%42%25%
October 202135%39%25%
February 202233%34%32%
April 202237%36%26%
June 202235%40%25%
August 202238%37%25%
October 202237%39%24%
December 202243%36%21%
February 202338%39%22%
April 202342%36%23%
June 202338%35%27%
August 202335%40%26%
October 202340%35%25%
December 202340%34%26%
February 202442%34%24%
April 202444%33%24%
June 202439%34%28%
August 202436%36%28%
October 202439%32%28%

Legislative branch

Our polling data acriver has more than 40 results tagged with "Texas Legislature," with graphics for multiple cross tabs for each results.

Texas legislature job approval

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categoryTotal
Approve strongly8%
Approve somewhat30%
Neither approve nor disapprove22%
Disapprove somewhat16%
Disapprove strongly13%
Don't know11%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Approve strongly3%5%12%
Approve somewhat16%23%45%
Neither approve nor disapprove20%28%21%
Disapprove somewhat24%13%11%
Disapprove strongly25%15%2%
Don't know12%16%8%

Job approval of Speaker of the House Dennis Bonnen.

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categoryTotal
Approve strongly5%
Approve somewhat14%
Neither approve nor disapprove26%
Disapprove somewhat8%
Disapprove strongly19%
Don't know28%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Approve strongly1%0%9%
Approve somewhat4%10%24%
Neither approve nor disapprove25%28%29%
Disapprove somewhat11%10%5%
Disapprove strongly30%15%9%
Don't know30%38%24%

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CategoryLean RepublicanNot very strong RepublicanStrong Republican
Approve strongly8%6%11%
Approve somewhat19%22%27%
Neither approve nor disapprove34%34%24%
Disapprove somewhat7%4%3%
Disapprove strongly12%5%10%
Don't know19%28%25%

Judicial branch

We’ve done little polling related directly to the judicial branch.  This is a broad favorability rating of the courts and criminatl justice system from June 2017.

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categorycolumn-1
Very favorable7%
Somewhat favorable33%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable25%
Somewhat unfavorable19%
Very unfavorable13%
Don't know/no opinion2%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Very favorable7%2%7%
Somewhat favorable31%25%38%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable28%20%24%
Somewhat unfavorable19%25%19%
Very unfavorable14%25%9%
Don't know/no opinion1%3%2%

 

Criminal justice system

We have several results on attitudes toward the death penalty (also useful for looking at partisan differences toward policy).  

The most recent result of assessing support for the death penalty is from June 2018:

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categoryTotal
Strongly support38%
Somewhat support27%
Somewhat oppose13%
Strongly oppose12%
Don't know / No opinion10%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Strongly support20%42%56%
Somewhat support26%21%30%
Somewhat oppose20%10%6%
Strongly oppose22%10%4%
Don't know / No opinion11%17%5%

We also have a test of a proposal to decriminalize marijuana from June 2018 (on of several marijuna-related results from the last few years).

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categoryTotal
Strongly support44%
Somewhat support25%
Somewhat oppose9%
Strongly oppose12%
Don't know / No opinion9%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Strongly support57%35%36%
Somewhat support23%23%26%
Somewhat oppose4%11%13%
Strongly oppose10%17%15%
Don't know / No opinion7%14%10%

 

Voting/election/campaigns

The February 2019 UT/TT poll included a battery of questions focused on different concerns about the administration, integrity, and fairness of elections that is useful for illustrating how different partisan frames inform attitues about the electoral system.

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categoryTotal
Never18%
Rarely22%
Sometimes23%
Frequently28%
Don't know/No opinion10%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Never29%18%7%
Rarely39%12%9%
Sometimes14%28%29%
Frequently8%26%47%
Don't know/No opinion10%16%8%

Our election battery in October 2016 captured some of the same patterns evident in attitudes, with some items pegged to the rhetoric of the 2016 campaign.

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Extremely serious29%36%40%
Somewhat serious26%31%26%
Not too serious21%16%18%
Not serious at all19%14%11%
Don't know6%3%5%

This link takes you to 47 results tagged with "voting and elections" in the poll results archive.

Political Parties

These trend graphics presenting ideological identification among partisans are useful for talking about both ideological sorting and partisan polarization.

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PollLiberalModerateConservative
July 20082%25%73%
October 20082%20%78%
March 200913%16%71%
June 20096%12%82%
October 20091%15%84%
February 20102%9%89%
May 20101%10%89%
September 20100%9%91%
October 20102%8%90%
February 20113%14%84%
May 20112%11%87%
October 20112%11%87%
February 20121%12%86%
May 20121%22%77%
October 20121%23%76%
February 20132%12%87%
June 20131%14%85%
October 20133%20%77%
February 20141%19%79%
June 20142%12%86%
October 20142%13%85%
February 20151%16%83%
June 20154%16%81%
October 20152%14%85%
February 20162%17%82%
June 20161%15%83%
October 20161%18%81%
February 20173%23%74%
June 20172%11%87%
October 20172%14%83%
February 20184%10%86%
June 20183%13%84%
October 20183%11%85%
February 20194%11%85%
June 20195%13%83%
October 20195%14%81%
February 20202%15%83%
April 20204%13%83%
June 20206%12%82%
October 20205%12%84%
February 20214%15%81%
March 20213%14%83%
April 20213%10%87%
June 20212%15%84%
August 20214%13%84%
October 20212%10%88%
February 20223%12%85%
April 20224%11%84%
June 20224%12%84%
August 20225%13%83%
October 20223%13%84%
February 20233%18%78%
April 20234%16%80%
June 20234%13%83%
August 20233%14%83%
October 20236%19%75%
February 20245%14%81%
April 20246%14%80%
June 20244%16%80%
August 20244%17%79%
October 20246%15%79%

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PollLiberalModerateConservative
July 200835%55%10%
October 200844%36%19%
March 200955%30%15%
June 200949%34%17%
October 200941%48%10%
February 201044%45%11%
May 201045%40%15%
September 201052%34%14%
October 201049%34%17%
February 201143%38%19%
May 201145%45%9%
October 201154%36%10%
February 201254%34%13%
May 201238%51%11%
October 201243%45%13%
February 201352%34%14%
June 201353%36%11%
October 201343%43%14%
February 201446%38%16%
June 201447%40%13%
October 201453%36%11%
February 201545%40%15%
June 201548%38%14%
October 201552%37%10%
February 201638%49%13%
June 201644%48%8%
October 201643%47%10%
February 201744%44%11%
June 201765%25%10%
October 201763%27%10%
February 201856%29%14%
June 201864%28%9%
October 201860%28%12%
February 201967%23%10%
June 201965%26%9%
October 201950%33%17%
February 202064%27%9%
April 202062%29%10%
June 202067%27%6%
October 202063%29%8%
February 202165%29%7%
March 202162%31%7%
April 202167%24%9%
June 202162%29%9%
August 202164%29%7%
October 202163%30%6%
February 202259%31%10%
April 202260%34%6%
June 202263%29%8%
August 202262%31%7%
October 202264%29%7%
February 202360%29%11%
April 202363%28%10%
June 202363%30%8%
August 202369%22%9%
October 202363%29%8%
February 202464%26%10%
April 202457%31%12%
June 202462%29%9%
August 202462%27%10%
October 202463%27%9%

Almost all of our poll item graphics have tabs responses broken down by party identification. Remember that we combine leaners with their respective partisans, which usually results in independents making up 9% - 11% of the sample. These tabs tend to be useful for showing different degrees of polarization in attitudes on different issues, or toward different public figures. Find a few examples below.

Most important problem facing the country 

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Political corruption/leadership22%15%11%
Health care15%11%6%
Immigration4%10%16%
Environment11%4%0%
Border security0%1%11%
Moral decline2%8%8%

Most important problem facing Texas

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Immigration8%19%24%
Border security2%13%28%
Health care16%11%5%
Political corruption/leadership16%8%2%
Education6%4%4%
Crime and drugs5%3%3%

Agreement or disagreement with the statement that all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. should be deported immediately.

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categoryTotal
Strongly agree27%
Somewhat agree20%
Somewhat disagree15%
Strongly disagree29%
Don't know/No opinion9%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Strongly agree8%23%47%
Somewhat agree12%11%30%
Somewhat disagree18%23%10%
Strongly disagree56%16%5%
Don't know/No opinion6%28%8%

(For more examples, see the public policy section)

 

Federalism/intergovernmental  relations

Views of various institutions in the U.S.

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categoryFavorable Attitude
Military71
Police58
Texas State Government48
Local Government46
Courts35
Federal Government24

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Military546588
Police394478
Texas State Government213576
Local Government462951
Courts262547
Federal Government211731

 

Interest groups

We don’t have a lot of polling results on this topic, but this blog post from 2015 took a look at how public opinion intersected with interest group preferences in the embrace of early childhood education (pre-k) during the 2015 legislative session. But find some results from some selected interest groups below.

National Rifle Association (NRA) favorability (October 2019)

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categoryTotal
Very favorable27%
Somewhat favorable16%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable13%
Somewhat unfavorable7%
Very unfavorable29%
Don't know/no opinion7%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Very favorable8%16%48%
Somewhat favorable8%16%24%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable10%28%13%
Somewhat unfavorable10%6%3%
Very unfavorable59%20%4%
Don't know/no opinion5%14%7%

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categoryUrbanSuburbanRural
Very favorable22%25%40%
Somewhat favorable18%14%20%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable15%15%8%
Somewhat unfavorable6%6%8%
Very unfavorable32%32%18%
Don't know/no opinion7%8%6%

Black Lives Matter movement favorability (October 2016)

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categorycolumn-1
Very favorable11%
Somewhat favorable17%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable15%
Somewhat unfavorable9%
Very unfavorable45%
Don't know/No opinion4%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Very favorable24%6%1%
Somewhat favorable33%13%4%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable23%18%7%
Somewhat unfavorable7%8%10%
Very unfavorable9%52%76%
Don't know/No opinion4%2%3%

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categoryWhiteBlackHispanic
Very favorable4%46%11%
Somewhat favorable14%22%20%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable14%15%16%
Somewhat unfavorable9%5%10%
Very unfavorable56%9%38%
Don't know/No opinion3%4%4%

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categoryUrbanSuburbanRural
Very favorable13%11%7%
Somewhat favorable23%15%12%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable21%12%12%
Somewhat unfavorable10%9%7%
Very unfavorable29%49%59%
Don't know/No opinion5%3%3%

 

Public opinion 

Our polling archive is, of course, one big exercise in exploring public opinion.

One thing that makes public opinion is watching it change. Texas attitudes toward gay marriage is one of the best examples. Here is the entire body of results, including a trendline from June 2009 to October 2014, for our item including the now more or less obsolete policy option of civil unions, then two results separated by two and a half years (October 2014- june 2017) that saw support for gay marriage increase from 42% to 54% - with party identification breakdowns that add dimension to the story.

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PollGays and lesbians should have the right to marryGays and lesbians should have the right to civil unions but not marriageGays and lesbians should not have the right to civil unions or marriageDon't know
June 200929%32%32%8%
February 201028%35%30%7%
September 201028%33%31%8%
May 201130%31%33%6%
February 201231%29%33%7%
October 201236%33%25%7%
February 201337%28%28%7%
June 201339%30%26%5%
October 201439%28%25%9%

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categoryTotal
Gays and lesbians should have the right to marry42%
Gays and lesbians should not have the right to marry47%
Don't know11%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Gays and lesbians should have the right to marry67%56%40%
Gays and lesbians should not have the right to marry23%30%34%
Don't know10%14%26%

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categoryTotal
Gays and lesbians should have the right to marry55%
Gays and lesbians should not have the right to marry32%
Don't know13%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Gays and lesbians should have the right to marry77%58%32%
Gays and lesbians should not have the right to marry15%20%52%
Don't know8%22%16%

Political culture

There are lots of poll results on issues here that might be helpful in illustrating the state's political culture.  But one interesting theme that recurs in a lot of intro course discussions of political culture is the impact of the ongoing patterns of urbanization in the state. Almost all of our poll item graphics have tabs responses broken down by self identification as urban, suburban, or rural. A few example follow.

Our item on whether more people owning guns makes the country more safe or less safe.

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CategoryUrbanSuburbanRural
More safe30%35%50%
Less safe47%41%24%
No impact on safety16%17%16%
Don't know/No opinion6%8%10%

How much should the government do about climate change (from February 2020)?

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categoryUrbanSuburbanRural
A great deal37%29%20%
A lot23%15%13%
A moderate amount16%17%12%
A little6%10%15%
Nothing11%24%31%
Don't know/No opinion7%5%9%

Is Texas state government doing enough to protect the rights of LGTBQ Texans?

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categoryUrbanSuburbanRural
Too much18%26%33%
Too little40%32%19%
The right amount17%25%26%
Don’t know/No opinion25%17%22%

Another tidbit for considering political culture in the state: attitudes toward confederate monuments.

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categoryTotal
Removed from view8%
Moved to museum30%
Remain, add context22%
Remain as is, unchanged34%
Don't know6%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Removed from view19%3%1%
Moved to museum56%27%8%
Remain, add context10%23%32%
Remain as is, unchanged9%42%55%
Don't know7%5%4%

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categoryWhiteBlackHispanic
Removed from view8%13%5%
Moved to museum25%47%35%
Remain, add context23%13%23%
Remain as is, unchanged41%16%30%
Don't know4%11%8%

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categoryUrbanSuburbanRural
Removed from view14%7%4%
Moved to museum35%32%18%
Remain, add context20%22%23%
Remain as is, unchanged24%34%49%
Don't know7%5%6%

 

Civil rights / voting rights / civil liberties

The UT/TT poll has asked a wide range of questions about various aspects of discrimination. This search result using the disrimination tag yields 48 items. A few interesting examples follow.

In February 2018, the UT/TT poll asked respondents to assess how much discrimination they thought particular social groups experienced in the U.S.. They were then asked:  "In your opinion, which of the following groups faces the MOST discrimination in the United States today?"

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categoryTotal
Whites10%
African Americans21%
Hispanics8%
Asians0%
Women3%
Men4%
Gays and lesbians6%
Transgender people13%
Christians15%
Muslims19%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Whites1%16%17%
African Americans35%16%7%
Hispanics11%4%6%
Asians0%4%0%
Women4%0%3%
Men0%8%6%
Gays and lesbians9%2%4%
Transgender people16%12%10%
Christians1%9%31%
Muslims21%29%14%

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categoryWhiteBlackHispanic
Whites14%0%5%
African Americans12%59%18%
Hispanics3%3%26%
Asians0%0%0%
Women4%1%3%
Men5%0%3%
Gays and lesbians5%10%10%
Transgender people14%11%10%
Christians22%4%6%
Muslims21%12%19%

Favorability rating of the #metoo movement from June 2019.

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categoryTotal
Very favorable17%
Somewhat favorable18%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable16%
Somewhat unfavorable15%
Very unfavorable25%
Don’t know/no opinion10%

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categoryMaleFemale
Very favorable15%19%
Somewhat favorable16%19%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable16%15%
Somewhat unfavorable14%15%
Very unfavorable30%20%
Don’t know/no opinion9%12%

 

Does the election system discriminate against ethnic and racial minorities

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Yes70%22%8%
No16%57%85%
Don't know/No opinion14%22%7%

"Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: a sincerely held religious belief is a legitimate reason to exempt someone from laws designed to prevent discrimination?"

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categoryTotal
Agree30%
Disagree46%
Don’t know/No opinion24%

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categoryExtremely importantSomewhat importantNot very importantNot at all important
Very favorable28%19%17%12%
Somewhat favorable21%23%17%6%
Neither favorable nor unfavorable14%16%3%3%
Somewhat unfavorable13%9%13%7%
Very unfavorable17%26%43%69%
Don't know/no opinion8%6%7%2%

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categoryMaleFemale
Agree37%23%
Disagree42%51%
Don’t know/No opinion21%26%

 

Public policy

One of our broader recurring questions that provides lots of grist for discussion asks whether Texas government provides a good model for other states. 

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categoryDisagreeAgree
February 201031%57%
October 201138%50%
October 201236%54%
February 201331%60%
June 201530%59%
June 201735%54%
February 202030%54%
April 202030%58%
June 202142%51%
August 202144%50%
October 202142%51%
February 202340%51%
June 202340%50%

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PollDisagreeAgree
February 20109%83%
October 201112%79%
October 201211%85%
February 20135%90%
June 20158%88%
June 20177%86%
February 20204%86%
April 20206%89%
June 20219%86%
August 202110%85%
October 20218%86%
February 202310%84%
June 202312%80%

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PollDisagreeAgree
February 201054%33%
October 201170%18%
October 201265%25%
February 201361%27%
June 201557%29%
June 201763%23%
February 202056%25%
April 202056%28%
June 202181%14%
August 202184%12%
October 202182%13%
February 202370%22%
June 202372%21%

There are numerous public policy results, several of which are shared in other sections of this post. The best way to find what interests you is to use our search tool - you can search by a long list of “topic” tags. Find just a couple of more results of current interest below.

On universal health care versus the current system (February 2020).

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categoryTotal
The current health insurance system46%
A universal health insurance system41%
Don't know/No opinion13%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
The current health insurance system18%35%76%
A universal health insurance system70%40%13%
Don't know/No opinion12%26%11%

 

On the legal status of mariujuana (February 2019):

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categoryTotal
Marijuana possession should not be legal under any circumstances20%
Marijuana possession should be legal for medical purposes only26%
Possession of small amounts of marijuana for any purpose should be legal32%
Possession of any amount of marijuana for any purpose should be legal22%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Marijuana possession should not be legal under any circumstances11%27%27%
Marijuana possession should be legal for medical purposes only21%19%33%
Possession of small amounts of marijuana for any purpose should be legal37%34%27%
Possession of any amount of marijuana for any purpose should be legal31%20%13%

Click the links below to find search compliations on the following tags for more policy areas (including older results for the examples above):

Healthcare Education Border security
Budget and taxation Abortion Gun safety/ gun violence
Marijuana  Transportation Climate change
Water International issues Discrimination / civil rights

 

Some Texas Attitudes about U.S. government

Which branch of government do you trust the most? (February 2020 and, for comparison, June 2016)

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categoryTotal
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch12%
The President, the executive branch27%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch30%
Don't know30%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch24%6%2%
The President, the executive branch3%17%54%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch36%40%24%
Don't know38%38%20%

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categorycolumn-1
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch14%
The President, the executive branch17%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch28%
Don't know41%

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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch3%3%27%
The President, the executive branch35%12%4%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch31%36%26%
Don't know31%49%43%

 

President Trump approval trend

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categoryApproveDisapproveNeither/Don't know
February 201746%44%11%
June 201743%51%7%
October 201745%50%6%
February 201846%46%8%
June 201847%44%8%
October 201848%45%6%
February 201949%45%6%
June 201952%44%5%
October 201947%48%5%
February 202045%48%7%
April 202049%45%6%
June 202046%48%6%
October 202049%46%4%

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PollApproveDisapproveNeither/Don't know
February 201781%10%8%
June 201780%13%7%
October 201778%15%7%
February 201883%11%5%
June 201887%7%6%
October 201888%7%4%
February 201988%8%5%
June 201988%8%5%
October 201988%8%5%
February 202087%9%4%
April 202090%7%3%
June 202086%8%6%
October 202090%8%2%

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PollApproveDisapproveNeither/Don't know
February 20178%83%10%
June 20175%90%5%
October 20175%92%4%
February 20188%85%8%
June 20188%84%9%
October 20186%91%4%
February 20197%88%5%
June 201911%86%4%
October 20196%90%4%
February 20205%89%6%
April 20207%86%6%
June 20205%93%2%
October 20207%89%4%

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PollApproveDisapproveNeither/Don't know
February 201739%37%24%
June 201747%41%11%
October 201755%35%10%
February 201849%37%13%
June 201843%45%12%
October 201839%43%17%
February 201946%37%17%
June 201946%39%15%
October 201941%51%8%
February 202036%47%17%
April 202034%47%18%
June 202036%50%14%
October 202031%53%15%

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz job approval (February 2020)

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categoryTotal
Approve strongly29%
Approve somewhat13%
Neither approve nor disapprove7%
Disapprove somewhat8%
Disapprove strongly36%
Don't know7%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Approve strongly2%13%60%
Approve somewhat4%16%20%
Neither approve nor disapprove8%11%6%
Disapprove somewhat12%5%5%
Disapprove strongly69%35%5%
Don't know5%21%5%

U.S. Senator John Cornyn job approval (February 2020)

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categoryTotal
Approve strongly16%
Approve somewhat20%
Neither approve nor disapprove13%
Disapprove somewhat9%
Disapprove strongly30%
Don't know12%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Approve strongly1%7%32%
Approve somewhat6%14%34%
Neither approve nor disapprove13%9%13%
Disapprove somewhat13%18%5%
Disapprove strongly56%30%5%
Don't know11%22%10%

Trend:

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ApproveDisapproveNeither/Don't Know
November 201527%34%38%
February 201627%32%41%
June 201624%35%41%
October 201628%36%37%
February 201730%34%36%
June 201728%41%30%
October 201728%42%30%
February 201829%38%33%
June 201827%38%34%
October 201839%34%28%
February 201936%35%29%
June 201937%34%29%
October 201935%34%31%
February 202036%39%25%
April 202038%36%26%
June 202036%40%24%
October 202039%39%22%
February 202132%42%26%
March 202133%42%25%
April 202131%43%25%
June 202134%41%24%
August 202128%44%28%
October 202129%44%27%
February 202231%35%34%
April 202232%39%29%
June 202224%50%26%
August 202229%42%29%
October 202232%42%27%
December 202235%40%25%
February 202330%43%27%
April 202333%38%29%
June 202333%39%28%
August 202328%42%30%
October 202330%39%30%
December 202328%42%29%
February 202434%39%28%
April 202436%38%28%
June 202432%38%31%
August 202432%36%32%
October 202432%33%35%

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ApproveDisapproveNeither/Don't Know
November 201543%24%32%
February 201645%20%34%
June 201641%21%39%
October 201644%18%36%
February 201752%13%36%
June 201751%21%27%
October 201746%23%31%
February 201850%18%32%
June 201846%18%35%
October 201870%8%21%
February 201962%14%25%
June 201963%12%26%
October 201961%12%28%
February 202066%10%23%
April 202066%12%22%
June 202065%15%20%
October 202071%11%18%
February 202156%18%24%
March 202157%20%23%
April 202157%18%25%
June 202160%17%24%
August 202151%21%28%
October 202154%21%24%
February 202254%16%30%
April 202253%17%30%
June 202241%34%25%
August 202248%27%25%
October 202255%22%23%
December 202258%22%20%
February 202348%26%25%
April 202350%26%24%
June 202351%24%24%
August 202346%27%27%
October 202343%26%31%
December 202343%27%31%
February 202445%26%30%
April 202451%21%28%
June 202446%24%29%
August 202449%20%31%
October 202448%18%35%

US Congress job approval (February 2020)

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categoryTotal
Approve strongly5%
Approve somewhat13%
Neither approve nor disapprove16%
Disapprove somewhat19%
Disapprove strongly42%
Don't know4%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Approve strongly6%1%5%
Approve somewhat15%9%13%
Neither approve nor disapprove18%18%14%
Disapprove somewhat23%10%19%
Disapprove strongly35%53%46%
Don't know4%10%3%

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CategoryMaleFemale
Approve strongly5%5%
Approve somewhat13%14%
Neither approve nor disapprove13%18%
Disapprove somewhat17%21%
Disapprove strongly50%36%
Don't know1%7%

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell job approval (February 2020)

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categoryTotal
Approve strongly15%
Approve somewhat18%
Neither approve nor disapprove11%
Disapprove somewhat7%
Disapprove strongly39%
Don't know10%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Approve strongly3%7%30%
Approve somewhat4%9%33%
Neither approve nor disapprove10%8%14%
Disapprove somewhat5%13%7%
Disapprove strongly69%46%9%
Don't know9%18%9%

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi job approval (February 2020)

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categoryTotal
Approve strongly19%
Approve somewhat15%
Neither approve nor disapprove8%
Disapprove somewhat6%
Disapprove strongly46%
Don't know6%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Approve strongly38%8%3%
Approve somewhat31%10%2%
Neither approve nor disapprove10%16%4%
Disapprove somewhat8%12%3%
Disapprove strongly8%40%84%
Don't know6%15%3%

Several results related to the federal government are also in our poll data archive.

For those of you who find you'll be continuing to teach online, consider the online textbook that we produce in conjunction with our partners at Soomo Learning, Texas Politics, currently in it's 8th edition. It was developed exculsively for online use, and integrates well with all major learning management systems (e.g. Canvas) and incorporates much of our public opinion data into its accessible introduction to Texas government and politics. If you are particularly interested in trends in policy, you should also explore the tool at the Comparative Agendas website, which is based in part at UT Austin. Their trends tool allows you to bulid cool customized graphics comparing multiple measures, including public opinion and legislative actions.

There are also a couple of other resources you can use, too. We have a YouTube archive with many video clips of interviews and events with Texas political figures. We haven’t paid as much attention to events and interviews in the last couple of years, but there are still some useful clips that are easy to embed in most learning management systems (e.g. Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle).  If you're looking to add more on-demand/asyncrhonous content to your course to make the transistion easier to manage for students, these clips can be helpful. We also have a blog page at the Texas Politics Project site that you can treat as an open educational resource. You can link to these pages for reading assignments or exercises in interpretation for your students. For example, the most recent post (prior to this one) discusses partisan attitudes towards elections in Texas pegged to recent problems with elections (e.g. the most recent Texas primaries).

Finally, stay safe and well.