CAPS #2

   I am confident in many of my identities, one in particular is my political identity.  I have decided to explore the conservative side of American politics, the Republican party, in comparison to the one that I identify with.  To better the intercultural communication aspect of this cultural it helps that we understand everything that makes the culture what it is.  We can look at the cultural group histories for this.  According to our book, cultural group histories are defined as  "the history of each cultural group within a nation that includes, for example, the history of where the group originated, why the people migrated, and how they came to develop and maintain their cultural traits."  

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         When discussing the attitudes and beliefs of those in the Republican culture, one may think of things such as opposition of marriage equality, Roe v. Wade, government assistance, gender pay equality and many other things.  The histories of the Republican party show a different light on the beliefs and values of its culture though.  The Republican party began in Wisconsin in 1854, with its main purpose of fighting against the south to abolish slavery (http://www.ushistory.org/gop/origins.htm).  The party began as an anti-demcratic group, who's aim was to take down the south and allow freedom for slaves, but today acts as more of a conservative group who believes in the benefit of the individual rather than the country as a whole. The dynamic of the group, the party, seems to have changed and the histories of the party have surely shaped that.  Looking further into my final project I hope to discover why this has changed and how these changes were communicated.  Also how this over time, effected the other political parties. 

         While there are several political affiliations someone in America can decide to belong to, the major ones focused on are the Democratic and Republican parties.  Having a better understanding of the group culture that is the Republican party can be a powerful step in the intercultural communication in our country.  Understanding the dynamics and histories of one of the major political parties such as this can broaden our views and allow us to look beyond what we see in the news or what is portrayed on the Colbert report. 

N/A. (N/A). The origins of the republican party. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/gop/origins.htm

N/A. (Videographer) (2007). The proud history of the republican party [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj0vzAuHqPk