The Texas Electorate's Views of Health Care as a Human Right, Community Health Centers, and Certain Matters of the Health Care Safety Net

In a country in which the government does not recognize a right to health care,social safety nets are the last hope for persons without insurance or other means to pay for needed care. In United States, community health centers, hospital emergency rooms, and private charities comprise that safety net. Community health centers offer a practicable alternative for politicians and citizens who want to help improve the lives of persons who struggle to access health care. This dissertation reviews the political history of community health centers from their founding as part of the War on Poverty in the 1960s through Democratic and Republican administrations nationally and in Texas to date. Furthermore, it reports on survey research about two questions: one is whether the Texas electorate believes that health care is a human right, and the other is how the Texas electorate views community health centers to make health care more available to those in need. Survey results revealed strong support that health care is a human right and that community health centers are important to the health care safety net and are worth expanding. The survey results also reveal important matters about voter demographics that could drive significant changes in future elections.