ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the organization, activities, and effectiveness of interest groups in Texas. It explores the kinds of interest groups active in Texas and how they seek to influence the political process. The chapter explains what legal restraints are in place to regulate and control their activities and what additional reforms might be advisable. It provides the interest groups and their lobbyists play an influential, even dominant, role in Texas government and politics. The chapter also explores the world of Texas interest groups and argues that elitism is a better guide than pluralism. In the traditional political culture of Texas, these interests tend to be especially well-organized, well-funded, and influential. Groups that represent business come in many shapes and sizes, but together they have been the dominant force in Texas politics. Texas anti-trust law at the time made it unclear whether an out-of-state corporation could control and direct Sam Houston’s Humble’s activities.
