American Political Culture: Conflictual or Consensual?

Political Culture is defined as commonly shared beliefs, values, and norms that define the relationship between citizens and government. We have included the following elements in our description of American culture:

• Personal Liberty
• Equality
• Democracy
• Civil Society
• Individualism
• Religious Faith and Freedom

We have also discussed political ideologies in America and their impact on our political culture. The intersection of political ideology and political culture has been an area of intense debate in recent political science, and it has sparked an important question:

Is American political culture conflictual or consensual?

Remember, a conflictual political culture is one in which different groups (or subcultures) clash with opposing beliefs and values; a consensual political culture experiences less conflict. No matter how broadly the consensus is held, any culture contains values that overlap and conflict; the American political culture is no exception.

ASSIGNMENT

FIRST, watch the videos below in order to help you reach a decision on the question. You will need to use the videos as well as the Brooks reading as evidence in your blog post.

THEN, in a blog post:

• Write a well developed, argued, and organized answer to the above question.
• Be sure to include evidence from both the Brooks reading and the videos in the  "Red State vs. Blue State" YouTube playlist in your response.
• Include an outside piece of evidence from the internet (think infographic, electoral map, video, picture, graph, chart, article, etc).
• Do not write your post in isolation, comment on/agree with/disagree with a previous blog post made by a classmate, or comment on/agree with/disagree with an idea or argument made in class.

Refer to the rubric on what makes a good blog post if you need help.

Red States vs. Blue States YouTube Videos
There are a total of 8 videos here, however, you do not need to view all of them. Instead choose 2 or 3 to watch and use as evidence to support your argument for a conflictual or consensual political culture.

Also, don't forget to vote in our poll!