William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

2020 Chapter 1 | Understanding American Politics

Resolving Conflict: Democracy and American Political Values

When we say that rules shape how conflicts are worked out in American politics, most

of the time we are referring to formal (written-down) constraints that describe how

the actions taken by each participant shape the ultimate outcome. For example, most

American House and Senate elections are decided using plurality rule (whichever

candidate gets the most votes wins), while a few states require winners to receive an

absolute majority ( 50 percent + 1) of votes cast. However, some of the most important

EXPLAIN HOW THE AMERICAN

VALUES OF DEMOCRACY,

LIBERTY, AND EQUALITY

WORK TO RESOLVE POLITICAL

CONFLICT

“Why

Should

I Care?”

The first step in understanding any political conflict is to determine who wants what.

Who is involved? What do they, or their side, want? In modern American politics,

citizens’ demands are often connected to their economic interests, values, race,

gender, ethnicity, and ideology. As a result, the group affiliations of individuals often

tell us a lot about what they want from candidates and the government, and why they

want it.

this issue, libertarians are generally conservative in areas such as social welfare policy,

environmental policy, and government funding for education and generally liberal

on issues involving personal liberty such as free speech, abortion, and the legalization

of drugs. For libertarians, the consistent ideological theme is limiting the role of

government in our lives.

Personal ideologies are not always consistent. Someone can be both a fiscal

conservative (favoring balanced budgets) and a social liberal (favoring the pro-choice

position on abortion and marital rights for gay men and lesbians), or a liberal on

foreign policy issues (supporting humanitarian aid and opposing military intervention

overseas) and a conservative on moral issues (being pro-life on abortion and opposing

stem-cell research). Ideology is a significant source of conflict in politics, and it does not

always operate in a straightforward manner. In Chapter 6, we explore whether America

is becoming more ideological and polarized, deepening our conflicts and making

compromise more difficult.

Even so, there are clear areas of agreement in American politics, even on issues

that once divided us. For example, while there is still considerable disagreement

over same-sex marriage, public opinion has clearly shifted toward accepting these

unions. Along the same lines, two generations ago Americans were divided on the

legality of mixed-race marriage, while today very few people would object. Thus,

even though conflict is a constant in American politics, it is wrong to say that we

are divided into two groups, red and blue, that oppose each other on all issues of

significance.

24%

of millennials give consistently

liberal responses across a range of

policy questions, while 3 percent give

consistently conservative responses.

Source: Pew Research Center

DID YOU KNOW?

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