Conflictual or Consensual?

Is America Conflictual or Consensual?

      No matter how hard we try, there will always be people who disagree with other ideas. When the Constitution was formed there were those who supported it (Federalists), and those who did not (Anti-Federalists), but this is how it will always be. To get everybody to agree to an idea is most likely not possible. Therefore, America's political culture is conflictual because there is always two sides to an argument. In the 2000 presidential election between republican George W. Bush and democrat Al-Gore, the nation was split into two parts, the Red States and the Blue states, and most states have stayed red or blue ever since. The Supreme Court had to step in and decide who would become Presindent, which was Bush, but the result of this election was a split America.

      People in the red states were viewed as rednecks or farmers, and had more traditional views. These people had a more conservative mindset compared to the liberal mindset in the blue states. There the people were viewed as more modern and fast changing economy. In the article, "One Nation, Slightly Divisible" by David Brooks, he lists all the diffreneces between red and blue states. There are barely any topics, little or major, that both sides agree on. Each side has there own political views and this is often displayed on the news. Democrats on one side and Republicans on the other, and all they are doing is arguing over the major problems. When it comes to finding a solution, both sides can not come to a compromise that will solve the problem. In all three parts of the video, "Crossfire: The Great Divide" the democratic governor of Illinois and the republican governor of Texas each have different views on each of the topics mentioned. One of the issues was the minimum wage, the governor of Illinois believed that the minimum wage should be increased in Texas and in other states, while the governor of Texas believed that the minimum wage should be left alone and the government should leave them alone. 

      One other major difference is religion, blue states tend to be more secular and the people feel that they could be doing other things on a Sunday morning. Red states are more religious (meaning they are Christian), and have massive churches. This is mainly because 95% of the population in the red states is white, and in the blue states only 60% of the population is white. This is a huge gap and this has some influence on their beliefs.

      Therefore, America's political culture is and will always be conflictual because of the major differences between people. There will always be views that conflict with others, but this isn't that much of a problem because more groups/factions results in more diversity in the government.