Research Library

The 2010 Census data indicates that more than one-third of the Houston metropolitan region is Hispanic; however, the creation of a second Hispanic-majority district is unlikely. Political science fellow Mark P. Jones offers four reasons why redistricting will not yield a new Hispanic-majority district.

On Jan. 11 the Texas House of Representatives will elect a new Texas House speaker. Political science fellow Mark Jones compares prospective candidates along an ideological liberal-conservative spectrum.

This blog post examines how the Republican wave that swept Texas in November has altered the composition of the Democratic electoral base.

In 2003 and 2009, the Texas House of Representatives had a Republican majority and a Republican speaker. In this blog post, political science fellow Mark P. Jones presents critical distinctions between the 2003 and 2009 House leadership.

In this blog post, political science fellow Mark P. Jones documents the widening ideological gap between members of the Democratic and Republican delegations in the Texas House of Representatives over the past four decades.

To access the full opinion piece, download the PDF on the left-hand sidebar.

Climate change expert answers questions…

Women’s empowerment is a multi-dimensional process of achieving basic capabilities, legal rights, and participation in key social, economic, political and cultural domains. This paper offers a set of 44 indicators for measuring women's empowerment.