This major work on Texas politics explores the complicated relations between the politically disorganized Texas blue-collar class and the 鈥渞ich and the fabulously rich,鈥 whose interests have been protected by 鈥渂rilliant practitioners of horse trading, guile, the jovial but serious threat, the offer that can’t be refused.鈥
"Davidson's iconoclastic work dashes most of [the] stereotypes while capturing the driving agents and paradoxes of Texas politics.... This book is an excellent read for students of state and local government, party politics, and ideology."鈥American Political Science Review
"Required reading for anyone committed to understanding the forces that really shape American politics."鈥擲ara Frankel, San Francisco Examiner
"An entertaining and insightful depiction of the fascinating character of Texas politics."鈥擩ohn H. Tull, Jr., Dallas News
"This book will be hailed as the best work to date on Texas politics, and it will be as valid in 2020 as in 1990."鈥擩oe B. Frantz, Corpus Christi State University, former Director of the Texas State Historical Association