Defining Our Political Culture

If one were to think of political culture, he or she may define it as the beliefs, attitudes, and values shared within a group. On the other hand, if one thinks of American political culture, they define it as the disputes between one another. There are constant debates and arguments regarding different political beliefs. Our country is mainly divided up into two categories: Red America and Blue America. These divisions represent the two different worlds of our society and each side is stereotyped based on their political culture. Red America is known to strive off of their independence while Blue America opens and welcomes one another. The problem lies in the fact that the two sides continuously argue, which is chaos. Even if America is a one united nation, why is there a crack between our views and ideologies? It can be stated that American political culture is “conflictual”.

It is undeniable that conflictuality defines our country. The majority of topics contain two sides, no matter what a situation may be. There are the reds and blues, republicans and democrats, and conservatives and liberals. In article “One Nation, Slightly Divisible”, slightly exaggerated stereotypes show the differences between the two sides of America. Brooks makes a very true point that many citizens classify Red Americans as “racist and homophobic, and when you see them at highway rest stops, they're often really fat and their clothes are too tight. And apparently we don't want to know any more than that.” - which is true. Blue States constantly get accused for their wealth, designer brands, and egotistical personalities. My fellow classmate, Keri, claimed that Brooks wrote a biased article, offending Republicans. I disagree with that statement, since Brooks is a republican himself and the article is not subjective towards one specific side. The author had no intention of hurting or labeling anyone, but he wanted to show how general America is with blue and red states. Back to the point, our society does not know how to ignore those stereotypes. When I went on a road-trip across the country myself, I recently had an experience of being labeled as a “rich girl from Connecticut” in the state of Wyoming when I was asked where I was from. It was obvious that the states I went to were not as diverse as it is here in Connecticut. One can tell that stereotypes happen everywhere. Our differences in cultural diversity has structured us to form into different puzzle pieces. Many can classify people based off of culture. economic class, race etc. and use these against one another to start political drama. Stereotypes should be combated. In a perfect utopia, stereotypes would not exist and our country would not have to deal with these problems. However, tensions constantly arise the more people argue; conflicts are unavoidable. The pot of political conflicts boils.

These are a couple videos that highlight the key stereotypes of democrats and republicans:

(Politically Based Democrat Stereotypes)

(Politically Based Republican Stereotypes)

In 2014, President Obama said, "I'm going to be seeking Republicans who are game to work with us."  where would he find those people? In red states or blue states? CNN’s Crossfire segment, The Great Divide, held “blue” and “red” state representatives to debate this issue. They constantly discussed and there was no sense of compromising, throughout the whole video. They argued about important topics regarding our country such as policies, economic issues, and much more. The 'conflictuality' was extremely noticeable during the debate as they voiced their opinions. There was a great divide between the speakers: no common connection was present. This American political culture is controlled by the stereotypes, arguments, and the differences that we have as a country.

(Cartoon Representation of Two Sides Fighting)

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Discussion Questions: 

• Do you think we can succeed living in a place without any stereotypes?
• Do our political differences bring out the best or the worst of America?
• What gives political parties the urge to battle one another?