Conflict and Compromise in American Political Culture

Predicted party alignment by county in the 2016 election (WNYC)

Americans are quick to describe themselves as a Democrat or Republican, as red or blue, as liberal or conservative, mostly because it is much easier this way. Instead of saying his stance on every issue or telling who he voted for in the past election, one can simply say "I'm a Democrat." Everything in America is sorted in this manner: voting ballots list candidates as being either Democratic or Republican, Congressmen and women are strictly divided by party in the media, and candidates are forced to run for their party's ticket, even if they do not align directly with every opinion that party is said to represent.

The map above proves that this partisan division does not actually represent our real political culture. Unlike in electoral maps, one can barely differentiate state borders using this, and most of the territory shown is a shade of purple, with only a few counties across the nation being strongly red or blue.

From a distance, our country appears to be strongly divided by party, largely due to the way our political systems force citizens to categorize themselves and the way the media highlights fighting in the government while ignoring bipartisanship. However, when one looks up close at how Americans feel about major issues, it is obvious that our shared political culture is more consensual than it is conflictual.

The video below shows members of both major political parties organizing themselves by their opinions on certain issues. For many of these issues, large majorities of both parties feel the same way. It is never the case that 100% of one party has one opinion while 100% of the opposite party has another.

I agree with Caitlin when she says that there are factors that force the United States to polarize into two distinct groups, and also feel that Donald Trump played an important part in strengthening the opposition between our nation's ideological groups.

The idea that our society must be separated into groups does not make sense to me. I don't know anyone who aligns with the any party on every single issue. Besides, there is no set list of issues that a member of the left or right must agree with to be on a certain side, so each political ideology is interpreted differently by every person.

In his article One Nation, Slightly Divisible, political scientist David Brooks points out a separation between "red and blue states." We know that these regions are not always distinctly separated by state borders. Instead, voters may be divided between rural and urban regions. This divide does exist, but this doesn't mean there is always hatred between the two sides.

As someone who would probably vote for a Democratic candidate in an election, I don't look down on Republicans for their views, and I believe that most people feel this way. For example, people in blue regions likely revere red states' devotion to religion and tradition, and red states may appreciate the advancement and intelligence that often comes from blue cities.

United States map: political ideology denoted by color, population shown by height of bar.

Yes, we know that the United States is bound to have factions and thus groups and ideas that contradict and challenge one another. Only when there is compromise between these groups can the entire society be satisfied in the government's decisions and actions.

There's no denying that people have views aligning with one party or another, but polarization should not be the result. We have more similarities than we have differences, and should not think that American political culture is as divided as the media, the government, and maps like the ones below want us to believe.