Is America's Political Culture Known as Conflictual or Consensual?

When we think of Political Culture the colors red and blue come to mind. In today's political society, democrats and republicans are seen as the two major sides. These sides have split America into Red America and Blue America. This alone represents that America's Political Culture is conflictual. These colors indicate the conflict and disagreement that happens daily. Everyone has different opinions and ought to disagree with each other. This is why Red and Blue America were created, to classify these opinions into ideologies. 

As discussed, the article "One Nation, Slightly Divisible" by David Brooks shows the stereotypical beliefs and lives of Red and Blue America. Red America is seen to be composed of individualized patriotic, aggressive people who are focused on family values and live in rural locations. Blue America is seen to be composed of wealthier materialistic individuals who are sophisticated and live in more urban areas. In the article it reads, "In Red America churches are everywhere. In Blue America Thai restaurants are everywhere." The article continues to stereotype democrats and republicans. It mentions their vocations to the way they dress. The article then uses a statistical fact that proves the split between Red and Blue America: ethnicity. The conservative area had a bigger white population, 95%,  and the liberal area had 60%. This is another representation that shows our Political Culture is Conflictual. 

An example of America being Conflictual was during the 2012 election. This map shows Red and Blue America being split up- the election process depends on political beliefs, which are different for everyone. If America was consensual and everyone worked together agreed, the map would be one color. 

In the video provided by CNN's "crossfire", conflict is demonstrated by showing how different people's political views are. The three videos consist of democrats and republicans disagreeing about certain problems and topics. In one video, the governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn talks about his belief in higher minimum wage. He believes anyone raising a family and working should be able to support themselves and paid well. However, the governor of Texas, Rick Perry disagrees with higher minimum wage and argues Quinn's statements. These arguments happen between everyone on both left and right sides, and are bound to happen. They split America up, and show us America's Political Culture is conflictual.