“California and Texas have embarked on an ideological battle”

Kenneth P. Miller, professor Government Studies at Claremont McKenna University, near Los Angeles, is the author of the book Texas vs. California. A History of Their Struggle for the Future of America (Oxford University Press, 386 pages, untranslated), published in 2020.

In America divided between Republican Red States and Democratic Blue States, Texas and California stand out as leaders. It is no longer just opinions, but models: Texas is the “red” torchbearer; California that of the “blues”. How did they come to take on these roles?

These two states have a lot of similarities. These are two border states, located in the Sun Belt [« ceinture du soleil », pourtour méridional des Etats-Unis caractérisé par une économie dynamique et un climat chaud]. They are the most populous in the country (40 million people in California, 29 million in Texas) and represent the main economies (the equivalent of the 6^e economy of the world for California, and the 9^e for Texas). One in five Americans resides in one or the other of these two states.

For the past ten years or so, they have been engaged in an ideological battle. On the progressive side, the Californian model: access to health for all, progressive taxation, protection of migrants, the environment, negotiations with unions. On the conservative side, the Texan model: low tax, less regulations, flexible work, intensive exploitation of natural resources. Texas presents itself as the champion of capitalism and considers California as the champion of socialism. California has the highest marginal income tax rate in the country (13.3%). Texas has eliminated income tax.

Historically, however, the two states share the same trajectory …

The two states have a common ancestral heritage. Both belonged to New Spain, the Spanish possessions in North America organized for colonization around Catholic missions. They became part of Mexico when it became independent [en 1821]. Their settlement results from the expansion of the United States towards the west in the XIX^e century, in the name of “manifest destiny”, this doctrine which wanted the Americans to take control of the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The two territories joined the American Union a few years apart: Texas in 1845, California five years later.

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