US Government: Improving Quality of Life for All Citizens - Research Paper

Introduction

It is the responsibility of every government to ensure safe and quality provision of services to improve the quality of life for its citizens. The United States is one of the most concerned systems that thrive towards making the quality of life better for its people. However, it is imperative to note that there are multiple disparities in the quality of life of different categories of citizens. Health care services, economic opportunity, and political participation play an integral part in determining the quality of life a population can access. A study by Fieldman & Claborn (2019), shows that Texas is one of the regions where life disparities have been happening since time immemorial. One realizes that there are potential variations in the quality of life in the rural setting against that in urban settings. The paper seeks to highlight the disparities of life quality in both rural and urban areas in Texas. It also addresses the dynamics of how medical care, economic opportunity, and political participation impact the quality of life in the two settings.

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Just like most parts of the globe, a lot of research evidence has indicated variations in the quality of life in the rural setting as compared to urban areas. In the rural areas of Texas, a vast majority relies on the traditional agricultural and lives stock farming to sustain their lives (Maxwell, 188). However, research has indicated that the rural areas have been facing severe economic setbacks as the older generations are ageing. The current generations seem not to adore the idea of farming, something that poses severe threats to their financial status and the quality of life. Rural Texas, therefore, continues to face challenges balancing its economic viability, improving the livelihoods and quality of life as well. Professionals have, therefore, advised that the rural areas need to embark on cultivating, innovating, and collaborating to explore new ideas to help the citizens grow and sustain their living conditions.

On the other hand, the quality of life in urban Texas is comparatively higher, given that the populations have improved access to health care facilities and economic opportunities (Miller, 204). According to Miller's report, Texas has some of the fastest-growing cities in the US. That has impacted tremendous improvement in the quality of life for the urban dwellers. One of the leading factors that have enabled urban Texas to grow is the abundant job opportunities. As Maxwell (2019) also observes, industrialization and manufacturing support of the urban Texas populations have enhanced several opportunities to create employment. Higher levels of innovations have also created a great job market for the Texas urban populations, something that enhances the economic muscles and improves the quality of life. The stable financial situations have also enabled easy access to health care and political participation for urban dwellers.

Moreover, Fieldman and Caborn (2018) found that Texas is one of the historical Republican strongholds, where the GOP enjoys a healthy political dominance. However, there has been a tremendous rise in the Hispanic populations in Texas, something that shows the state is becoming a battleground for both republicans and democrats (Trende, 234). Muslims, Hindu community, Koreans, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Mexicans have registered their strong presence and made Texas one of the most diverse states in the USA. One realizes that the Hispanic populations are mainly democrats who are densely populated in the cities. On the other hand, the Republicans dominate the rural areas of Texas. Therefore, the quality of life does not vary whether an area votes the republican or Democratic Party.

In that regard, research has indicated that access to health care services, economic opportunity, and political participation are different in rural settlements and urban settings. First, Miller's report of 2019, points at glaring health care access disparities between rural Texas and urban Texas. Recent reports have shown that 170 of 254 counties in Texas are rural-based health care facilities (Miller, 127). Research has also indicated that the majority of Texan populations are poorer, older, and less healthy than those who live in urban and suburban settings. In that sense, there are higher numbers of non-insured individuals in rural settings than in urban areas (Texas Tribune Staff, 112). There are also close correlations between poor rural health care services and the lack of physicians in 35 counties. More than 80 counties have either five physicians or fewer, with 58 counties lacking general surgeons (Miller, 147). 185 Texan rural counties have no psychiatrists, 147 counties without gynaecologist or obstetrician, and many facilities closing down (WTAMU, 078). In that sense, there is overall poor access to health care services in rural Texas than in urban areas.

As mentioned earlier, rural Texas has lower access to economic opportunities than urban Texas. Texas cities such as Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Forth Worth, are among some of the most economically established, with higher employment opportunities and stable economic growth. That presents the best opportunities for the youth to access employment opportunities in both manufacturing and innovational fields to strengthen the urban economy. On the other hand, rural Texas relies mainly on agricultural and livestock ranching to support the economy. That creates limited employment opportunities for the youths, hence lowering the overall rural Texan economic muscles and the quality of life.

Politically, the voting pattern and trends vary in the rural areas and urban areas of Texas (Maxwell, 207). It is imperative to note that the original republican voters dominate most of the rural areas (Fieldman & Claborn, 143). However, with the emergence of industrialization and the development of major cities, the Hispanic populations are thronging the major cities of Texas. That has created a new wave of change in the voting patterns as the urban areas are getting democrat coded than rural areas. That explains how president Trump beat the democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the last US presidential elections, garnering large numbers of votes in the rural counties than in the cities. Race, and density played an influential role in informing the presidential voting patterns in the Texan rural and urban regions.

One thing stands out that the voting patterns in Texas do not correspond to the factors that determine the qualities of life. As Fieldman & Claborn (2018) reported, the Republican Party commands the majority of votes in the Texas rural regions. There are 170 rural counties out of the 254 counties in Texas, and the GOP controls a healthy majority of votes from those areas. Although the republicans politically dominate the rural counties, they have poor access to health and economic opportunities (Gardner, 312). That adversely reflects on their low quality of life and answers the question regarding how voting patterns do not follow the distribution of life indicators such as medical care, job opportunities or political involvements.

Some of the leading factors that inform voting patterns in Texas include family affiliations, gender, religion, regions, race, and ethnicity (Gardner, 128). For example, children born in Republican families will inherit their parental ideological influence and become republican voters in the end. Research has indicated that the family political influence reduces when the kids grow up, since they tend to acquire different philosophies to transform their voting patterns (Gardner, 184). However, a reasonable majority still believes in family influence. The Bush family is a typical example of how political ideologies go beyond family inclinations when children grow up. Regions, ethnicity, races and religious affiliations also determine the voting patterns in Texas.

In Texas, there seem to be sharp political divisions among rural and urban dwellers, which inform the battle between the republicans against the democrats (Trende, 156). The report shows that the primary reason why there is such a sharp political division is that rural voters feel that the system has left them behind regarding service delivery and development. One of the leading reasons why the urban-rural voting division continues is because of the dense urban populations from diverse backgrounds, which promotes liberal values among voters. However, rural voters seem to be more conservative and less influence from newcomers. That explains why Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Party beat Donald Trump in metropolitan areas while Trump won the rural votes. More Hispanics, Blacks, Indians, Koreans, Japanese, Mexicans, Muslim Communities, and Chinese, among others, tend to live in urban settlements and embrace the democratic ideologies in their voting patterns (Fieldman & Claborn, 212).

Geographic settlements also have direct reflections on the voting patterns for Republicans versus Democrats in Texas (Maxwell, 322). The economic, educational, and diversity levels of people living in rural areas are relatively lower than those of urban dwellers. Therefore, more enlightened people embrace the idea of migration, change, and economic growth. That also explains why urban citizens vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party, while the less unfortunate in the rural areas still believe in the Republican Party.

Based on a study by Ratcliffe (2019), the politics of the border wall construction plays an integral part in the voting differences in Texas and the entire US. The support for border wall aims at controlling the number of immigrants entering the US hence, plays a significant role in regulating the number of new voters in such areas. Recently, many Texans opposed President Trump's idea of constructing the border wall to control the number of newcomers (Ratcliffe, 168). A Texas judge also ordered the border wall fundraiser not to build the same, pending a determination of further issues regarding the same. Generally, the border wall politics significantly reflect on the different voting patterns in Texas and the USA as a whole.

Texas has proven to be a sharply divided society where citizens vote along their regional and affiliations (Fieldman & Claborn, 167). The report further indicates that most black and red immigrants do not like living in rural settings due to the discriminative nature of the original native whites in the region. Therefore, newcomers resort to dwell in the major cities and towns and form voting patterns as most metropolitans do (Fieldman & Claborn, 156). According to the 2016 Trump and Clinton presidential elections, the voting patterns became evident along the regional lines. Hillary Clinton and her Democratic Party garnered more votes in the cities and metropolitan areas than Trump's Republican Party. According to a study by Trende (2019), the GOP has a reason to feel worried since the Democratic Party is commanding the majority of urban cotes in Texas. In that context, the studies claim that the Republican and Democratic voting patterns differ based on where the voters live.

According to a report by Hooks of (2019), politics is the process of trying to reconcile the public institutions for the collective good of the citizens. Based on the study, the politics of health care and economic disparities have driven Texas to a crisis where professionals estimate that millions of rural Texan populations could lose their Affordable Care Act insurance (Hooks, 224). Health care professionals have hinted that the Trump administration has put more than 1ighteen states, Texas included, at higher risks of suffering the disappearance of the...