"The Texas Failure sets forth the thesis that environmental problems are essentially a product of political decisions and that in Texas the political system has failed to respond to environmental problems because it is dominated by polluter-oriented special interests. The argument advanced is that polluter-oriented interests are well protected by state politicians in both the legislature and regulatory agencies of state government. The thesis is organized around an analysis of such political factors as ideology, leadership, decision making and law as they relate to a political consideration of Texas environmental conditions."-- leaf 1.

Since the 1990s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has increasingly impacted minority groups in the United States, particularly African Americans. Why is this happening? Comparative studies of developing nations have convincingly established a relationship between concentrated poverty, ethnic boundaries, and lack of effective governmental response as contributing to high levels of infection in those countries. To date, however, no study has sought to apply these insights to the American context. This dissertation endeavors to show that, first, marginalization of U.S. sub-groups most at risk of infection is largely a product of poor health outcomes associated with concentrated urban poverty and economic stratification. Second, this sub-group marginalization is exacerbated by the politics of retrenchment which increasingly privatizes risks onto individuals, states, and non-governmental providers. The net result of these changes is a U.S. health care system too fractured to recognize and respond to changes in HIV/AIDS demographics.

Climate disasters are on the rise, with devastating effects on communities around the globe. Scientists have provided evidence that severe weather events due to climate change will continue to increase in frequency and severity. Extreme weather events are often referred to as the great equalizers, disregarding the socioeconomic status and race of those affected during widespread destruction. However, the literature suggests that people of color are disproportionately exposed to and affected by climate change and extreme weather events. In this study, I examine how exposure to extreme weather events will influence climate change policy support amongst different races. I argue that people of color will support climate change policy more than white people. I run regression models using data from Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey and National Centers for Environmental Information. I do not find support for my hypothesis, but I do find that among the Black population, climate change policy support increases as respondents get older.