American Polical Culture

Political culture can be defined as the overall set of values shared within a society. However, the big debate in America is if our political culture is conflictual or consensual. Before this question can be answered we must know what each of these terms mean. Conflictual lends its self to a concept where citizens are divided by their views toward the government as well as the way problems are approached. In a conflictual political culture differing opinions create an inefficient government.  On the other side, a consensual political culture lends its self to a society where all citizens support the government and its methodology in solving problems. In this political culture people do have some differing opinions, but they agree on the way their opinions are addressed, creating an efficient government. Based on these definitions it is clear America's political culture is conflictual due to misconceptions and stereotypes formed by other parties, people's differing views on the power of the government, as well as the inefficiency of the government.

In America it is clear that the political culture is conflictual. Just look at the article "One Nation, Slightly Divisible" by David Brooks. In this article Brooks paints a picture where people are separated into two groups, Red America and Blue America. Here, both sides imagine the other through stereotypes. For example, Brooks writes,"All we know, or all we think we know, about Red America is that millions and millions of its people live quietly underneath flight patterns, many of them are racist and homophobic". These stereotypes allow for the one side to justify the other side's thinking. In this example Blue America, or liberals, are justifying the fact that conservatives don't push for equality as strongly as they do because all conservatives are racists and homophobic. Now is this true, certainly not, but it provides liberal a way to further separate themselves from the 'wrong' conservatives. Here it is evident that there is a sharp split between Americans due to differing ideas, and due to these ideas people split even more by forming stereotypes and misconceptions to counter the other side.

Another example of how American political culture is conflictual is in the video "Crossfire: The Great Divide- Red vs. Blue States". In this video two democrats and two republicans argue points that they think should be instilled in states. One point raised by the democrats is that minimum wage should be increased. Governor Pat Quinn, a democrat, says,"Raise minimum wage... across America". Governor Rick Perry, a republican, counters this by saying,"I don't think its the government's business to set the minimum wage". This indicates the America's political culture is conflictual because if it wasn't Perry wouldn't of countered Quinn's argument the way he did. Looking back at the definition of conflictual, it says that citizens argue about the legitimacy of the government. This means they argue about the power the government has. This example fits this definition perfectly, Quinn believes the government has the power to set minimum wage, while Perry doesn't. If this argument took place in a country with a consensual political culture, then both parties would believe that the government has the same amount of power. Based on real arguments, it can be decided that the political culture of America is conflictual.

If you need another example of why America's political culture is conflictual take a look at the chart above. Here it is visible that after over 5000 bills are proposed, only 2.75% of that passed one house of Congress and even less than that became actual law. These statistics confirm that the U.S. government isn't efficient. The reason for this is because our political culture is conflictual. A conflictual government is described as one with differing opinions which result in a inefficient government which can be seen above. 

America's political culture is conflictual even though many may not like to admit it. Due to the differing views of many, parties form which lead to argument, and finally lead to an inefficient government. There is nothing we can do to change this so it is best to embrace it.