Examples Of A Conflictual Political Culture
I believe the claim that America has a consensual political culture is false, and that America actually has a conflictual political culture. This has been brought to light following some recent events that have occurred, including the 2016 election. It is obvious that not all Americans hold the same core values, and the values differ greatly depending on where, when, and in what condition one grew up in. Especially in this day and age, where the internet and social media is incredibly accessible, people with differing views don’t have a hard time finding one another, which can lead to frequent and sometimes violent confrontations.
One example of the conflictual political structure of America today is the recent election. During the election,
due to the many political candidates with different views, there were both protests against and for stances on certain issues, like abortion rights and environmental issues. One such example of opposing views on abortion rights is that many “pro-life” protesters feel like Obama Administration was an “eight-year presidency that participants said was dismissive of their views”, whereas many “pro choice” protesters loved Obama due to his progressiveness on abortion and other women’s rights issues. The fact that people say a presidential administration was “dismissive of views” proves that in America we have a conflictual political structure. It is obvious that we do not all agree on what’s right and wrong, and some people are fighting over whether a woman should have the right to her own body. Those who say we have a consensual political structure have to look at rallies like these, because they simply would not be occurring if everyone shared the same values.
Another example of the conflictual political culture of America is the Charlottesville protest. The protest was in response to the City of Charlottesville deciding to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee. Participants in this rally included white supremacists and neo-Nazis. These people were holding signs with racist and antisemitic slogans on them, and some were even carrying guns. The afternoon of the rally, “a man linked to white-supremacist groups rammed his car into a crowd of counter protesters about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) away from the rally site, killing one person and injuring 19.” This is an example of conflictual political culture because two different groups with opposing views on the same issue clashed so violently someone was killed, and many other injured. If we had a consensual political culture in America, something this violent due to opposing views would never come up. And this example is just the most recent, there have been many more in the past that have been much more deadly.
My final example of conflictual political culture in America is one’s political alignment. If we all truly shared the same values, there wouldn’t be such a broad spectrum of beliefs and opinions over the same issues. People take so much pride in whether they’re democratic, Republican, socialist or anything else. Many of these groups hold wildly different views. For example, republicans are usually portrayed as more old fashioned and less progressive than Democrats, even though this may or may not be correct. And while there may be some radical liberals, the generalization that all liberals want to overthrow the government is simply incorrect
One example of the conflictual political structure of America today is the recent election. During the election,
due to the many political candidates with different views, there were both protests against and for stances on certain issues, like abortion rights and environmental issues. One such example of opposing views on abortion rights is that many “pro-life” protesters feel like Obama Administration was an “eight-year presidency that participants said was dismissive of their views”, whereas many “pro choice” protesters loved Obama due to his progressiveness on abortion and other women’s rights issues. The fact that people say a presidential administration was “dismissive of views” proves that in America we have a conflictual political structure. It is obvious that we do not all agree on what’s right and wrong, and some people are fighting over whether a woman should have the right to her own body. Those who say we have a consensual political structure have to look at rallies like these, because they simply would not be occurring if everyone shared the same values.
Another example of the conflictual political culture of America is the Charlottesville protest. The protest was in response to the City of Charlottesville deciding to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee. Participants in this rally included white supremacists and neo-Nazis. These people were holding signs with racist and antisemitic slogans on them, and some were even carrying guns. The afternoon of the rally, “a man linked to white-supremacist groups rammed his car into a crowd of counter protesters about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) away from the rally site, killing one person and injuring 19.” This is an example of conflictual political culture because two different groups with opposing views on the same issue clashed so violently someone was killed, and many other injured. If we had a consensual political culture in America, something this violent due to opposing views would never come up. And this example is just the most recent, there have been many more in the past that have been much more deadly.
My final example of conflictual political culture in America is one’s political alignment. If we all truly shared the same values, there wouldn’t be such a broad spectrum of beliefs and opinions over the same issues. People take so much pride in whether they’re democratic, Republican, socialist or anything else. Many of these groups hold wildly different views. For example, republicans are usually portrayed as more old fashioned and less progressive than Democrats, even though this may or may not be correct. And while there may be some radical liberals, the generalization that all liberals want to overthrow the government is simply incorrect