Coexistence of Democrats and Republicans
“Politics by definition involves conflict…” (Shapiro & Bloch-Elkon, 2005). Seeing that America is a huge country populated by people with different educational backgrounds and from diverse cultures, the Democrats and the Republicans cannot help disagreeing as they represent conflicting views of Americans on the political platform. The Democrats have liberal views, for example they believe that abortion should be legalized. The Republicans, on the other hand, hold conservative views; so, for example, they believe that every citizen should practice religion (Felkins, 1999). But, the two political parties differ on foreign policy issues outside the scope of their liberal-conservative division to boot. The Democrats, for example, had openly criticized former President George W. Bush for misleading America about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (Shapiro & Bloch-Elkon). Of course, a large number of Americans had agreed with the Democrats about this. Then again, President Bush continued to follow the Republican agenda for the reason that the Republicans, too, were supported by American public opinion.
Despite the fact that the Democrats and Republicans hold differing views that spur essential political debates across the country, both political parties remain united in their ideology to support America in progress and protect it from danger. Violence between the two political parties is unheard of. Thus, their conflicting views spurring important debates should be considered a necessary part of American intellectual evolution. After all, it is only through deeper analysis that Americans reach conclusions about matters of importance.
Just as it is impossible for a high school graduate to hold the same opinions as a college graduate, political parties must disagree. Through their conflicts they learn from each other and convey what they learn to the rest. But, most importantly, the two major political parties of the United States enjoy peaceful coexistence as they stimulate the American mind with conflicting views. Both have the best interests of Americans at heart. It is for these reasons that America continues to value political parties as representatives of the people in the government.
References
Felkins, L. (1999). How to Tell a Democrat from a Republican. American Politics Journal.
Retrieved Mar 22, 2009, from http://www.americanpolitics.com/030499dictionary.html.
Shapiro, R. Y., & Bloch-Elkon, Y. (2005, Dec 2). Partisan Conflict, Public Opinion, and U.S.
Foreign Policy. Retrieved Mar 22, 2009, from http://www.hks.harvard.edu/inequality/Seminar/Papers/Shapiro05.pdf.
