McConnell Extra Credit

Extra credit

McConnell Extra Credit video

McConnell Extra Credit

 

 

McConnell Extra Credit! -Melissa Zembrzuski

McConnell Extra Credit!!

McConnell Extra Credit

Critiquing the Media Debate

The Assignment:

1. Read and annotate Marcus Prior's News vs. Entertainment: How Increasing Media Choice Widens Gaps in Political Knowledge and Turnout
2. Generate arguments for the following  statements.

• “Greater choice allows politically interested people to access more information and increase their political knowledge.”
• “In a high choice environment, lack of motivation, not lack of skills or resources, poses the main obstacle to a widely informed electorate.”
• “…people’s increasing ability to customize their political information will have a polarizing impact on our democracy as media users become less likely to encounter information that challenges their partisan viewpoints.”
• “Greater media choice thus widens the ‘knowledge gap’.” (political knowledge is higher in some segments of the voting population than in others)

Debate each statement  by commenting on each of the blog posts below.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE IN OUR POLL!

Media Blog Debate Statement 1

 “Greater choice allows politically interested people to access more information and increase their political knowledge.”

Media Blog Debate Statement 2

“In a high choice environment, lack of motivation, not lack of skills or resources, poses the main obstacle to a widely informed electorate [eligible voters].”

Media Blog Debate Statement 3

“…people’s increasing ability to customize their political information will have a polarizing impact on our democracy as media users become less likely to encounter information that challenges their partisan viewpoints.”

Media Blog Debate Statement 4

“Greater media choice thus widens the ‘knowledge gap’.”

The Media's Agenda-Setting Function

How does the media engage in agenda-setting?

As you watch the video look for examples of priming and framing in the media, and think about the impact of these techniques on politicians and voters.

EXTRA CREDIT

#mcconnelling

Campaign Finance Reform Helpful Information

Below is a list of resources (PPTs, articles, infographics, case briefs, etc) that should be helpful in creating your mind map.

From George Washington to Shaun McCutcheon: A brief-ish history of campaign finance reform. - from The Washington Post
Money-in-Politics Timeline - from OpenSecrets.com
How Campaign Finance Works - from HowStuffWorks.com

PowerPoints:





Mind Map Sample:


Videos:

Road to the White House: Helpful Information

In order to help you understand the presidential campaign process (and to help get your creative juices flowing), I've posted some videos, articles, infographics and other miscellaneous information below. All of this information can be used to help create your product due on the block day.

General Links:
America's voting system is crazy: here's what you need to know - from CNN
2016 Presidential Campaign Travel Tracker - from Bloomberg
2016 Presidential Nomination Delegate Totals - from Politico
The Perfect Presidential Stump Speech - from FiveThirtyEight

Videos:

Mitt Romney "Flip-Flop" Ad

Infographic Ideas

Election System Reform Proposals

As we've discussed in class, American elections use a winner-take-all, First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) system that only allows for 2 parties to be successful. However, many Americans have expressed the desire for more choice in elections, both in terms of candidates and parties. While there are a number of third parties available for Americans to vote for, none of them ever seem to attain the success of the Republicans or Democrats. Some supporters of third parties have proposed that the American electoral system be reformed to give voters more choice and to allow more third parties to be successful.

Here is a playlist of CGP Grey videos (he's back!) that will explain some of the proposed electoral reforms:

ASSIGNMENT:

1. View the videos on alternate voting methods posted below.
2. Take notes on each of the different voting methods:
1. Alternative Vote (AV)
2. Mixed Member Proportional System (MMP)
3. Single Transferable Vote (STV)
3. Use the videos to write a well-constructed, supported, and unique response to the following question:
1. WHICH SYSTEM OFFERS THE BEST WAY FOR MORE PARTIES TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN AMERICAN ELECTIONS?
2. When writing your response think about which system you like the best and which system you think could actually work in the U.S. (think about our consensual political culture!)

Obstacles to 3rd Party Success

Below are resources for you to use to research the obstacles 3rd parties face in achieving electoral success.

Resources Start With:

Third Parties in the U.S. Political Process

Why Can't Third Parties Take Off?

Barriers to third party success

Ralph Nader says third-party candidates don’t stand a chance — and that’s lousy for democracy

Can A Third-Party Candidate Ever Become President?
MRC Study: Challengers to Clinton and Trump Get Just 0.03% of TV News Airtime

Going Further:
The best way to get more specific research about a specific barrier (like limited ballot access) is to do a google search with the following terms:

• 3rd parties + topic
• For example, google 3rd parties limited ballot access will send you to a great resource here: Ballot access for major and minor party candidates

Articles Used For Current Event

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-yiannopoulos-trump-berkeley-20170202-story.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/01/milo-yiannopoulos-uc-berkeley-event-cancelled

https://www.forbes.com/sites/shelbycarpenter/2017/02/02/twitter-milo-yiannopoulos-blocked-berkeley-protests/#571723005ee8

Unique Caucus of Citizens Assignment and Research Links

ASSIGNMENT:
Unique Caucus of Voters Assignment

RESEARCH: 
Use the following sites to help you with your voter research.

Pew Research Center 2016 Election (link 1)
Pew Research Center 2016 Election (link 2)

Washington Post 2016 Exit Polls (link 1)
Washington Post 2016 Exit Polls (link 2)

New York Times 2016 Exit Polls

US Election Project – Voter Turnout Demographics (link 1)
US Election Project – Voter Turnout Demographics (link 2)

Women Voting Statistics from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University

Candidates on the Issues (link 1)
Candidates on the Issues (link 2)

Too divided and close-minded...

The American political culture is conflictual because the US is very divided now a days instead of as a whole like it was.  One example is how the nation can barely agree on one decision.  Also, the way the government is now set up with the electoral college, people do not get the say they want and are suppose to get in government.
The Red and Blue divide of the US is very true, except not as extreme.  The labels each one has is very  bias and opposite of each other.  Not everyone is like those labels, or stereotypes, exactly or at all.  However, since the divide between these two is becoming greater here, the political decisions are getting harder to make as a whole by one half getting want they want but the other not...creating political drama.

A map showing the Us divided into two different groups: red and blue.  There are red and blue majorities in certain spots (red the center and the south coast vs blue with northern coasts).  These masses create lots of conflict between each other and politically.






Another reason is the government not being true to their own government.  For example, the electoral college does not go by the majority (popular) vote.  The people's choices do not overall matter, but they still have a little say-not as much as they should.  Unfortunately, it has come at one point in history when the electoral college did not work for a presidential election.  The government chose.

1. Do you agree that these reasons are valid enough to say the US government is conflictual? Why or why not?
2. Is the electoral college an issue? Why or why not?  If so, how can it be improved or should it be replaced and by what?

Is American political culture conflictual or consensual ?

The american culture is becoming  really diverse but also its population is increasing from the multicultural society which brings U.S all together but creates a different political culture.The two main sides are the blue and red which are split and have different  ways of life.The red states are considered as republicans and are more rural,have a lower income and low education levels.The blue states are considered as democrats and tend to  have higher income and education levels.According to "One Nation,Slightly Divisible" by David Brooks was written in 2001 after the release of the political map for the 2000  presidential election  which was between Al Gore and George W. Bush.

The 2000 election was a eye opener for the society because it created a controversy if the states are more divided rather than all together. George W. Bush lost the popular election  but of course won the electoral college. But in the other hand Gore won the popular vote but lost the electoral college with 266 votes. This was the beginning of the political culture conflictual  which made the United States realize of how the citizens end up to split which ends up for everyone to divide on legitimacy of the regime and solutions  to major problems.Also the political subcultures are exploding from  everybody being different causes more people to have more stances on different topics  which leads to chaos rather than one specific way.Also the red states were liberal and blue were conservative.But  one example to show how the US was the federalist vs anti -federalist how it compares to red vs blue states.

In those images shows how 2000 & 2012 are really similar but people have to realize how the United States has continued to be split and not united for 12 years.But also shows how the majority of the states declared as red & blue have been voting the same for a while but only small little changes occur. From these differences,America is still considered to  be united because it connects different cultures,religion and beliefs together to make everyone to achieve their American dream such as Obama becoming the first African American president. So in conclusion the united states political culture is conflictual because as shown on the pictures above people are really diverse but that what makes the U.S different and more dominant than the rest. 

Is America Conflictual or Consensual?

          I believe that america is conflictual because of how divided we all are. So this means that we as americans don't work together well all a whole. In my opinion i believe that there is more than just one conflictual group. One example is of conflictual groups is Republicans and Democrats. These two groups have very similar ideas but also have different views on certin topics. For example Republicans perfer small governments and a more traditional way of living while the Democrats like a big government and like changes in living. Also in the David brooks article he compares the red america and the blue america. The blue america was described as modern, secular, and self expressive. The red america was described as traditional, religious, and self desiplined. So as it shows these two groups would end up clashing because of all of the differences.



In this picture it shows that people are protesting on how they feel about gay rights verses how other people feel about the. So this could cause clashing because everybody has there opinion on things and this is one of them.

America's Drastically Divided Political Culture

Increasingly in recent years, America seems to have two distinct political cultures that are in constant conflict with each other. These cultures are those of Red America (the parts of the country that lean Republican) and Blue America (the parts of the country that lean Democratic). In general, those in Red America tend to be more conservative, and those in Blue America tend to be more liberal. For example, a Pew research poll conducted around that time showed that those in Red America and those in Blue America were within ten percentage points on many major issues. These issues include:

• "There are clear guidelines about what's good or evil that apply to everyone regardless of their situation": 49% in Red America vs. 43% in Blue America
• "I have old fashioned values about marriage": 55% in Red America vs. 47% in Blue America
• "Too many children are being raised in daycare centers": 77% in Red America vs. 70% in Blue America

Additionally, according to a video from Vox titled "The bad map we see every presidential election", Red and Blue states not accurately represent the populations or electoral votes of the states. In fact, most states are divided between Red and Blue counties. Many states, known as swing states, also switch between Red and Blue. Furthermore, in Connecticut, which is definitely a part of Blue America, and almost always votes Democratic in presidential elections, Hillary Clinton only beat Donald Trump 55% to 41% in the 2016 presidential election, showing that there is significant geographic overlap between Red and Blue America.

Despite evidence showing that competing cultures in America still have notable geographic and ideological overlap, the two cultures in America are divided by far more than geography and simple ideology. In fact, the essay argues that Red America and Blue America even have different moral systems. According to the essay's findings, Red America values tradition, religion, self-discipline, and patriotism; Blue America tends to be more modern, secular, and self-expressive, but less patriotic. Additionally, the essay states that the prominent, conservative values in Red America are temperamental, meaning a part of the mindset, rather than reactionary or ideological. As a result, those in Red America and Blue America are not even loyal to the same institutions or values. The essay argues that Red America tends to adhere to religious institutions and traditional values, whereas Blue America tends to have modern values and place much more importance on education than religion. It supports this argument by stating that in Red America, churches and shops selling Christmas merchandise are both ubiquitous throughout the entire year, whereas many in Blue America cannot tell apart different religious denominations, do not know how churches in Red America even work, and might even follow very non-traditional religions such as Buddhism.

Also, in terms of politics, one can observe that not only do the two major political parties have completely separate ideologies, but the institutions that support and donate to these parties are different, with little overlap. Even companies from different sectors of the economy (thus differently affected by policy) tend to support candidates from different parties. Because of these divisions, the two political cultures in America do not think about issues the same way, which leads to liberals and conservatives not even discussing the same issues any more, to the point of near-complete gridlock between the Democratic and Republican parties in Congress. This is especially true right now, where both houses of Congress and the Presidency are all controlled by the Republican Party, and yet the party has failed to deliver on nearly all of its campaign promises nine months into what may be the Republican Party's only chance to actually take action regarding these promises. This lack of conversation is true even outside of the government. In the CNN "crossfire" segment, those with liberal and conservative viewpoints agreed on very little of what was brought up, and kept interrupting each other. This is symptomatic of a larger issue where politics is so divisive that people have a hard time even being civil in a debate setting. Opinions are so polarized that people cannot avoid letting emotions into their arguments, given that both sides are passionate about the exact opposite stances.

Although America is still one nation with one people who share some common interests, it is polarized between the political cultures of Red America and Blue America, leading to a lack of compromise in a system designed to get things done by forcing compromise. This leads to a cycle in which each side's opinions are reinforced in what are known as "echo chambers", which can be either geographic or a result of choice in acquaintances, which results in less compromise, which causes more "echo chambers" to form, and so on. Perhaps the only way to break this cycle is for those who follow politics and have strong, informed opinions to actively seek to engage with the other side and expose themselves to new ideas.

Camryn conroy



The American political culture conflictual or consensual?

The American political culture is conflictual due to the rising concern of the conflict betweeen the red and the blue states. The states values, opinions  and views are total opposites and leads the country to be split. An example is a liberal government and a conservative government. The liberals believe in progressive change and then the conservative believe in a more traditional way of ruling. They are also opppsites of each other which can lead to much drama between the two sides.
Another example of how the American political culture is conflictual is The Federalists and The Anti-Federalists. They both have had many different ideas of how to run a government.

American Poltical Culture, Conflictual or Consensual?

Political Culture is defined as a community of shared beliefs, values, and norms that define the relationship between cities and government. In America, having such a diverse way of thinking, living, and set of beliefs, in terms of how to direct a country, its inevitable that beliefs, values, and norms will collide. To have a consensual political culture means that cities tend to agree on the appropriate means of making political decisions , and to agree on the major problems facing the society; and how to solve them. However, we don't have that. We don't have a political culture that ends to agree on how to solve a problem.

In the article One Nation, Slightly Divisible by David Brooks, he does a good job at highlighting and making it clear, that Red America and Blue America are drastically different. It's important to take these differences into account, because ultimately, they could explain as to why to two groups of people think so differently.

David Brooks makes a point that were so trapped in our ways of living that we forget what surrounds us. Theres a complete different world outside of the borders that surround us. For example, in Red and Blue America, two different institutions dominate, "In Red America churches are everywhere. In Blue America Thai restaurants are everywhere" (Brooks). But it goes further than that. In Blue America, reading books and attending plays is more normal than it is in Red America, where the preferred source of entertainment could be NASCAR or radio programs people in Blue America would have never heard of. These differences play a role in our political culture, because it could ultimately shape the way people think based on their surroundings; on what their seeing, hearing, and what is being promoted to them. If one were to read the article, it could be assumed that it's made clear these Blue and Red America are different; so it could also be assumed that the way people are brought up, and how they think are different. That's when the political culture turns to being conflictual.

Now, because there are so many political ideologies in America, there are a number of ways people characterize themselves, politically; two being the most discussed, broad terms of "Liberal" and "Conservative".  Yes, both can agree that the American Culture consists of personal liberty, equality, democracy, civil society, individualism, and religious faith and freedom. However, both do have a different idea of what these terms mean, and how they apply themselves in our political culture.

In the Cross Fire debates between Governor Rick Perry of Texas and Governor Patt Quinn of Illinois, its well displayed that these two forms of thinking; liberal and conservative, are clashing and not willing to work and listen to each other. Governor Quinn continuously pushes his message of raising minimum wage meanwhile, Governor Perry keeps pushing his idea that it kills jobs. None of the two men were willingly to sit and listen to each other, even if they were making good points in the debate. The balance isn't there. It's inconvenient for the constituents; the American people to have two drastic ways of handling an issue such as minimum wage. However, they did vote for this.

But these aren't the only problems in American politics that seem to have two different ways of attempting to be handled with no middle solution. A huge one that still lingers around our political diversion today; health care. This issue provides a prime example of our political culture being conflictual. Governor Rick Perry and Governor Patt Quinn had also touched upon this briefly in their Cross Fire debate. Governor Quinn, being for Obama Care, ultimately holding the idea that implementing it will have more people have a source of health care, which is better for the well being of his state; and Governor Perry disagreeing  and thinking that Texas is better off without Obama Care, and thinking competition is good especially when it concerns health care. With the new administration in, and one of the big campaign promises Donald Trump ran on, was to repeal and replace Obama Care. It's been well over his first 100 days in office and his republican members have already tried to repeal Obama Care, but with no replacement; at least one that's proven to work well for the country. But it seems as to most of the country that, the Republicans in power are almost irrationally doing this, without thinking of the consequences it could hold on the well being of the 20 million Americans on the plan; why? Because each party is pushing their way of "governing" instead of sitting with each other, and finding middle ground in how our country should direct itself in terms of not only health care, but other issues as well.

The diversion in our political culture doesn't only show itself in our government, but also in our demographics. The way the people vote within our country reveals how gender and race play a role in the political culture. According to Debt.org, "Democrats have a tremendous amount of diversity in their ranks, especially when compared with the 87 percent white Republican Party. The most loyal bloc of Democratic supporters are African-Americans, with women supporting Democrats a staggering 90 percent of the time and men slightly less."


The American Culture remains the same. Our beliefs in what American Culture stands the same whether you ask a liberal, conservative or an independent. But, what differs is how we define the terms under the umbrella which is American Culture. As for our political culture; its conflictual. We have many factions within our country fighting for their voices to be heard. Admist all the fighting, the only thing which cannot be heard or turned to, is a middle ground. Both parties struggle to find a path in which they can sit and discuss ideas that could benefit both view points on tackeling an issue. As of now, its conflictual. But there's many factors that played in making it this way; being the Blue America vs, Red America. Both sides of the country are brought up differently, inevitably causing different clashing viewpoints.



Questions:
 1) How could America turn into a consensual political culture considering the vast difference in upbringings and ideas?
2) Do you agree with my stance on the political culture of America as it stands now?
3) Do you find Electoral Map if ___ were to vote shocking?

Conflictual or Conditoinal

Conflictual or Conditional

The U.S is often referred to as a melting pot due to it being home of a wide variety of races, religions, and religions. All these different backgrounds also bring many different viewpoints especially political ones. This causes us to be a divided nation between different people as well as cultures that can best be described as, conflictual Adding to the clashing of the differences in opinion are the opposing political parties.  

In George Washington's farewell address he advised the U.S citizens that it would be a grave mistake to form and break off into political parties.. However, no one listened since we have created two major opposing parties the Democrats and Republicans. These majors parties typically divide the population against each other. They largely differ in all viewpoints such as: taxes, military involvement, military spending, same sex marriage, gay rights, abortion, equality, and freedom. They oppose each other so much they are unable to even agree in Congress causing the government to shutdown on October 1, 2013 for 16 days. At the moment Congress can not even agree on a replacement health care program for Obamacare no matter the Republican party's attempts.

Not only are their differences between the beliefs of each parties, but how they even perceive each other. Democrats are more multicultural and believe to help lower class with more government action. However, they are seen as to have a huge ego from the conservatives. Conservatives can be described as traditional, focused on the upper class, and less government intervention. But, democrats perceive them as NASCAR loving, outdoorsy, racist people. These generalizations of each other also attribute to hostilities between both groups. How each group is and what they believe in add too many arguments to divide our country as a whole.  

The United States: A Conflictual Political Culture

More so now than ever, it is becoming even more clear that the political culture of the United States is conflictual.  Politically, there is a great divide between the two sides labeled as Red and Blue America. In our country, there seems to always be a constant strife between Liberals and Conservatives.  These disagreements are on taxes, religion, equality, etc.
I agree with my fellow classmate Kailyn, with the claim hat people's beliefs come from their family and the people they are close to.  By hearing something over and over again by people you are around and believe, you start to believe it as well.
All United States citizens have political opinions on numerous amounts of topics.  But, the country as a whole has factions and a lot of conflicting groups and ideologies.  In the article One Nation, Slightly Divisible, author David Brooks tags people and areas as part of either Blue or Red America.   Blue Americans are wealthier and modern.  Red Americans are often patriotic, do-it-yourselfers, and people often looked at as rednecks.  Brooks, describes that "in Red America churches are everywhere.   In Blue America Thai Restaurants are everywhere."  Throughout this article, Brooks tries to define the people of Blue and Red America and it really shows the split in the way the people live their daily lives, what the sides think of each other, and what they believe in.  However, the article is extremely stereotypical like Morgan said.  Brooks puts the people of America in two categories and it is true when he supports with data that there is a large amount of gap between education levels in Red and Blue America according to the two areas. 

America has also shown its great split in one of the video examples of where the Governors of Illinois and Texas argued in part 1/3 about a rise in the minimum wage.  This was a classic example of Red America vs. Blue America because Texas is a Republican/Conservative state and Illinois is a Democratic/Liberal state.  In this argument, Illinois wanted to raise the minimum wage while Texas wanted to lower.  Neither side wanted to hear the other and strongly felt the opposing claim was completely wrong.

This is an image of the 2016 election map.
Lastly, in President Trump's last 100 days, many people feel he has not really done anything with any significance yet.  With having a conflictual political culture,  the divisions make it hard to rule effectively.  For example, Obamacare is still active and a new healthcare system has still not been put in place because the sides cannot come together and agree on a new one.  We are in a country where "our current political culture is that it is primarily driven by negativity," according to Washington Monthly.  This is beyond true and supports heavily to the fact that the political culture is conflictual because any time the Democrats or Republicans want something, the other side opposes without hesitation.

As Americans, we all live in a country of people who where their political opinions on their sleeves.  The United States is populated with many different factions and quite frankly is divided when it comes to political views.  We are not consensual because we are not even close to having the same views.  The United States government works at a slow pace because of all the conflicting ideas and they do their best to make compromise.

Discussion Questions

Do you think we have a conflictual or consensual political culture in the United States?

Is a division in political views and culture a good or bad thing?

Sources

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/07/21/why-republicans-are-failing-to-repeal-obamacare/

One Nation, Slightly Divisible

Conflictual or Consensual?

The people in America today find many reasons, other than just politics, to argue with each other. This by far made my mind steer in the conflictual direction for American culture today. Conflictual culture is one in which different groups (or subcultures) clash with opposing beliefs and values. The main reason for all of the social and political debate in America is because of choosing between two types of people. 

While reading David Brooke's article the other day, I realized just how divided our United Nation is. According to Brooke, the US is split into reds and blues. The reds are the more patriotic, religious, and traditional while the blues are more modern and self-expressive. These were not their only differences though, and because there are so many differences between these people on whether who they are like or what they believe in, this all then causes argument.

In the crossfire video on CNN, anyone can easily immediately see the differences between the governor of Texas and the governor of Illinois. While the hosts is asking hem questions, they automatically disagree on everything from the very start. This relates back to a conflictual culture due to two groups disagreeing and head butting on the same topic. Next, in Obama's speech in 2004, bringing up many previous issues between the citizens of the US. Following that, he makes a very good point saying how it shouldn't matter if you were liberal, conservative, white, black, Asian, Latino, or gay, but that we are all American citizens and should all agree on what is best for our country. All of these helped me draw the conclusion of a cunflictual culture today  

Why American Political Culture is Consensual.

American Political Culture 

American political culture is the different beliefs between citizens of the U.S. We have the different parties, the most popular being the democratic party and the republican party. There are also libertarians, authoritarians, conservatives, and liberals. Many people believe different things, but the American political culture is consensual.

Although America seems divided or conflictual, it truly is not. We do have our differences as a country, but Americans actually have more similar ideologies and values than they think. In "One Nation, Slightly Divisible" by David Brooks he explains the differentiation between Americans and how divided we seem as a country. He includes stereotypes about "Red America" and "Blue America" while some of these stereotypes are true, he also tells readers how Americans have similar views and values, even if they find themselves to be a part of different political parties. "Certainly Red and Blue America disagree strongly on some issues, such as homosexuality and abortion. But for the most part the disagreement are not large," (One Nation Slightly Divisible, Brooks). 

Although we may be from different places and we may have different

ideologies, but we have the same rights and values,

so America is more consensual than conflictual, as people think of it to be.

In Barrack Obama's 2004 speech, he talks about the Declaration of Independence. He even quotes a line from it, "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal." While he says this, the message Obama is portraying, is that we are all equal, no matter what we believe, which only shows how much more consensual American political culture is, and not conflictual. We may believe in different ideologies, vote for different people, belong to separate political parties, but it does not divide our nation, nor does it divide our country's political culture. However, in Morgan Matyoka's post, I agree with how she explains a person's social environment shapes our beliefs and feelings which makes us more independent. Even though we are independent people, we come together as a nation. Our individual beliefs are constantly shared throughout social media, and in general. It brings us closer together because even if we politically disagree, we value many of the same things. That is why our country is called the United States of America. United means to come together. Our country is known as the "melting pot" and whether we are also defined as Blue America or Red America, it does not divide us, just because people disagree here and there, or majorly. Therefore, the American political culture is consensual in my opinion.

Americans Political Culture. Conflictual or Consensual ?
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       The United States is political culture is conflictual. A conflictual political culture is when there is a division of citizens based on legitimate believes and point of views. This is the representation of the political culture of America. This is represented by an article written by Brooks; who describes the red and blue states within America. Based on his article it shows that Red Americans are more family orientated, hard working, less educational oriented, and have a more conservative outlook on conflicts. Where Blue Americans are more modern, and educationally oriented, and have liberal point of view. Also he states that Red Americans mostly live in the Midwest and South and Blue Americans live on the coast. Based on these observations Brooks declares that Red Americans normally vote for the Republican Party while Blue Americans vote with the Democratic party. The division of ideas and political stances shows that America has a conflictual political culture.
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The idea of America being conflictual is shown by the IQ rate of each state. Brooks States the Red Americans are located in the Midwest and our more farm workers than modern, educationally motivated people. And that Blue Americans are located on the coastlines and are heavily motivated by education and modern ideas. This is perfectly shown by the visual below.
    This shows that the red colored states represent the Republican Party and the blue states represent the Democratic Party. As you can see the blue states IQ are much higher than the red states. Which perfectly matches the observation Brook’s made about Red Americans and Blue Americans. This visual and Brooks hypothesis shows that there is a division between the citizens and states in America thus making our political culture conflictual.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

American Political Culture is Conflictual

American political culture is more conflictual than consensual. Not every single person thinks the same or has the same belief. I mean think about it, you are an American. Say there is a circumstance where you and a few other friends are having a discussion about people getting fired from their job for speaking up about religion. You are more of a conservative thinker, so you state that they absolutely shouldn't be fired, but your other friends, who are more of liberal thinkers, state that the person  should be fired for speaking up about religion. This is just one example out of many in our daily life, where people’s perspectives or beliefs are not the same. As said by Gertrude Himmelfarb, in the article, “ One Nation, Slightly Divisible” by David Brooks, “ America is not fatally split, it is deeply divided, between a Heartland conservative population that adheres to a strict morality In a liberal population that list by loose one.” Also stated by Michael Barone , in the article “ One Nation, Slightly Divisible” by David Brooks, “ One  is observant, tradition-minded, more realistic. The other is unobservant, liberation- minded, relativistic.” This illustrates the differences between the Red and Blue states' thinking as well as the Crossfires video. That clearly showed major differences and that they express strong feelings towards their belief, bringing debate to the table.  Altogether though, if you really think about it, the beliefs of others as well as ours are different.

Is American political culture conflictual or consensual?

      The main question is whether today America has a conflictual or consensual political culture. The answer to the posed question is that America has very conflictual views. Based on the article written by Brooks, there are red states and there are blue states. People that live in red America are conservative in their political beliefs and live more towards the middle of the country. They are much more humble, and family oriented than in blue America. Blue America is along the coastlines. Here people have very liberal beliefs and are much less humble than people living in red America. These two different political sides of the country make America have a conflictual political stance

      The video, "The Bad Map We See Every Presidential Election" is a great example to show the conflictual nature of the United State's political views. During presidential elections, maps like the one below are used to show which states voted for each candidate. The majority of the mid-west and middle of the country voted for the republican candidate that had a conservative outlook and the majority of the coastline states voted for the Democrat, or liberal candidate. This goes along with Brook's idea of Red and Blue America. He said that people who lived on the coast were mainly liberals and people in middle America were mainly conservatives. Based on Brook's views and the video example, it is clear that America does not have one unified political culture, but is divided into two separate peoples with different ideals and political opinions.

   http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/u/usa/mapspres/2012.GIF.  

Is America today Conflictual or Consensual?

America today is definitely conflictual.  This term means that different group types do not work well together.  Many recent political events prove this statement to be correct.  In my opinion America today does not have just two conflictual groups, it has multiple. Many conflictual groups involve politics, however some do not.  



        An example of two groups that clash, would be Republicans and Democrats.  These two political groups, have very different ideas of what a perfect society should look like.  Republicans favor a small government with less texas and the democrats favor a larger government with more taxes.  This shows how different the beliefs are between the two groups. Another example of this is how in an article by David Brooks, he compares the Red America and Blue America.  Blue America was described as modern, secular, and self expressive.  Red america was described as traditional, religious, and self disciplined.  These two groups are an example conflictual  attitude because they are "nations of different faith."  These two groups would clash.

This image is just one current example of two different groups.  As seen in the image above, half of the NFL players, are standing and the other half are kneeling, though they are on the same team, they all have different beliefs and morals, because of how they view society.  Those who are kneeling are protesting the government, and those who are standing believe that it is right and proper to stand for the National Anthem.  When our beliefs are different then someone else's we believe that persons beliefs to be wrong.  This is why our government is classified as a conflictual government.  

Americas Conflictual Culture

The United States of America is filled with uncommon people since there is so much diversity in today's world. Whether it is an argument about how the president should have made a different decision on a controversial topic or something as small as the best color, different people and groups will have different opinions about it. With this much division, the political culture of the United States is a conflictual one. 

According to the article, "One Nation, Slightly Divisible" by David Brooks, "People in Blue America... tend to live around big cities on the coasts. People in Red America tend to live on farms or in small towns or small cities far away from the coasts. Things are different there."

 The Red States are filled with citizens that have a very conservative mindset while the Blue States are filled with liberal-minded people. Since everyone is brought up in different parts of the country and with separate beliefs, their morals and ideologies will be different from someone who lives a totally different life than them. Since a Red stater is raised and taught a totally different way from a Blue stater, many conflicts between will rise between them. 

From 1952 to about 1972, the states in the US have had relatively the same opinions as one another since the map has been dominated by one color. If America was consensual today the map would still all be one color like in the past. As the years have gone on, more believes, ideas, and groups have surfaced, causing division and conflicts between people in the United States.

This t-chart shows the platforms they believed in the strongest
during the latest election.

For example, this chart shows that different political parties like the Democrats and the 

Republicans have different opinions on the most important issues today. Each party has a different idea on how to fix certain isues and the party you agree with may be different from someone else's perspective and will cause a divide between those two people. This great divisions betwen people in the United States prove that America has a conflictual culture 

America's Conflictual Political Culture

America's Conflictual Political Culture

Red and Blue America as defined by the 2000 Presidential Election

In modern society, America is separated into Red and Blue America, as defined by the 2000 presidential election. The standards set by that election created stereotypes, where Red Americans are viewed as religiously devoted morally traditional Walmart shoppers and Blue Americans are seen as wealthy arrogant organic-eating Starbucks drinkers. These stereotypes, while not necessarily true for all people, have shown the relative behavior and ideology of voters in the states. Their ideologies are shown to be nearly polar opposites for all important issues, and while some claim that they are defined by their personal beliefs and not their social principals, political culture is a result of the big issues that dominate governmental discussion. 

State's abortion rights from 2006 to 2016

Although smaller issues usually have agreement between Red and Blue Americans, the extreme social, racial, and emotional diversity of Blue America and the lack of it in Red America show the true conflictual ideologies. In the article "One Nation, Slightly Divisible" by David Brooks, it is described that "Red America is traditional, religious, self-disciplined, and patriotic" while "Blue America is modern, secular, self-expressive, and discomfited by blatant displays of patriotism." Without even mentioning the direct conflicts, tension is already predictable between the two moral systems due to the traditionalism of Red America. With Blue Americans being expressive about their more tender, different way to live, Red Americans become uncomfortable with the modernization of life. This is seen in modern life through gay rights and the protests to same-sex marriage, with religion and traditions being used as a defense. Homosexuality, along with pro-choice abortions, are two of the major disagreements between both systems that undeniably showcase the conflictual differences in morals among Red and Blue America. Additionally, the statistics show the diversity between ethnicity, education, and income, which are extremely different. Brooks mentions that "in Montgomery County"(a Blue America region) "60 percent of the population is white, 15 percent is black, 12 percent is Hispanic, and 11 percent is Asian" while in Franklin county (Red America) "95 percent of the population is white." Adults in Blue America also have a higher percentage of citizens with degrees and diplomas and have a greater income. Blue America is often seen as more advantaged, which is a cause for the great

Policies banning sexual orientation or gender equality as of 2007

modernization of the area. The increased education most likely instructed the students of a modern way of life, likely resulting in the progressive era that is experienced in Blue America. I agree with Asija's belief that though these stereotypes do not define all people within Red and Blue states, but prove that there is evidence of a deeper division than what is sometimes assumed about them. 

Hillary Clinton, during her speech following Trump's victory, shows the division between the separate parties in the country. In the "Hillary Clinton Concession Speech" video, she is says to her campaign's followers "You represent the best of America, and being your candidate has been on of the greatest honors of my life." A phrase overlooked, by congratulating her followers and calling them the best of America, the stigmatism between the moral systems is noticeable. Although Clinton likely did not mean that the democrats who supported her were better than the republicans favoring Trump, she did show that there was tension between the different parties. While she congratulates Trump on his victory and offers to assist him in his attempt to "improve" the country, it is recognizable that Clinton thinks lower of the Red Americans who supported Trump after the results. Although what she said was not intended to show the separation between parties in such a tragic time, she did prove the conflictual beliefs of Blue Americans and Red Americans. 

While minor issues between Red Americans and Blue Americans often show less disagreement, the major issues and visual diversity of the systems proves that there is a greater amount of conflictual ideology than consensual. It is statistically proven that Blue Americans are more educated and ethnically diverse, which causes conflict with the closed-minded Red Americans who tend to be stereotyped as racists and homophobes. Hillary Clinton, who for some reason lost the 2016 presidential election, showed that there is slight stigmatism between the moral systems. Although, compromises can be made in America, it almost never happens; a controversial topic is either solved using a far Left solution or a far Right, meaning that there is never any true agreement on dominant political issues. This lack of agreement rules out the possibility as a consensual government and shows the conflictual nature of American culture.

Questions:
- Do the major political issues (abortion, gay rights, etc.) define the political culture of the country or is it the moral beliefs of an individual?
- Should there be compromise to make America a consensual culture or is the current situation more ideal for a representative democracy?\
- Should the maps of the Red/Blue America be updated to the 2016 election to show a more accurate representation of the modern voter preference?

Conflictual v. Consensual

Is American political culture conflictual or consensual?

America today is definitely conflicutal, and heres a few reasons why... When you think about a conflictual political culture the first thing you think about is citizens are sharply divided on legitimacy of the regime and solutions to major problems and in America there is a huge division between people and what their beliefs, morals and opinions are. There are some states that qualify as "blue states" and there are some states that qualify as "red states" and each on of them have completely different views on our government which sometimes may cause some conflict if each other don't agree on one topic. In the Article, "One Nation, Slightly Divisible" the Author, David Brooks lists the differences between the red and blue states. He states that red states are mostly Southern or Coastal areas and are more humble and are usually farmers and blue states are more chill and educated causing each state to create conflict with the other just because ones a Republican and ones a Democrat. Therefore could only make America a conflictual culture.

A Conflictual Political Culture

Democratic versus Republican. North versus south. Rich versus poor. Red versus blue..."To all Republicans, and Democrats, and independence across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one, united people." 

These words, spoken by Donald Trump from his victory speech, were not my main concern. As Julia Hynek said in her response, Trump expresses the division that is present in our nation, but what really stood out to myself, were the blurbs of percentages and numbers that were flashing at the bottom of the screen. 

When referring to our nation as conflictual, we like to refer to this map. However, each state does not portray one color of simply red or blue; it is within each state that lies the real division, the real conflict. The number read below President Trump in his speech consisted of states such at North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, the list goes on. 50.5% of North Carolina votes went to Trump while 46.7% voted for Hilary. 48.9% of Pennsylvania voted for Trump while 47.6% voted for Hilary. 52.1% of Ohio votes went to Trump while 43.5% of votes were for Hillary. Should I keep going?

                 This exemplifies why we should be referring to maps that look more like this.                           

In another video, "The bad map we see every presidential election", describes how the first map is "unhelpful" and "misleading". Not only because each state has a little red and a little blue, but because the makers of the first map focused on "geographic accuracy over electoral importance." For instance, Montana receives 3 electoral votes, while Massachusetts receives 12. Thus, is why some maps for American conflictual culture are presented as this:  

However, any way you look at it, it is clear to see that our country is very politically diverse.

On the contrary, David Brooks decides to take a different route in his essay, by focusing less on political spectrums of the red and blue states, but more on their everyday customs and lives. Nevertheless his words still express how America is diverse. 

Although his words can be baist, for he lives in a blue state, some of his arguments and comparisons are very true. He starts his essay with a structural view of how the cities in red and blue states are set up. His stance prevails that blue states contain restaurants, small, expensive stores, and places of a more modern aspect. On the other hand, red states appear to have churches and massive walmarts. He also explains how blue states are wealthier and more educated than red states. Overall, Brooks presents the citizens from the red states as lazy, poor, uneducated, and conservative people. Regardless, his essay still promotes the idea of our American culture being conflictual. He easily can compare two different sets of religions, traditions, social classes, culture and much more. 

Let's take a look at the other side of the argument for a minute; a consensual American culture.   

To start, it was hard for me to even find a picture on the internet that represents our nation as one. A consensual political culture would mean that every citizen would obtain the same political views. This is nearly impossible and goes against the morals of our country. Is America not a free country where men and women have the right to freedom of beliefs and religion? To mold America into a consensual political culture, would simply be unconstitutional.  

Therefore, our American culture is conflictual and very diverse, which is not a bad thing. It represents our country and the freedom it holds. The differences in this large community is what make us this large community. Instead of trying to change it, let's embrace it. 

Discussion Questions:

1.) Do you agree with my stance on this issue? Why or why not?

2.) Were the statistics shown in President Trump's speech surprise you? Why or why not?

3.) Is the process of changing our ideology to consensual culture unconstitutional? Explain.

4.) If there was one thing you could change about the American political culture, what would it be?